Eat Fiber

Fiber: good for you and good tasting too

Eating more vegetables will defnitely increase your fiber intake.

So if you are like I am and not used to eating a lot of fresh veggies here are a few hints I uncovered on WebMd.com.

Brussel sprouts, eggplant, spinach, beets, and broccoli are tried and true "fiber rich" vegetables can be a tough sell sometimes, but this article at WebMd will help you pep them up quite a bit.

Lose Weight and Improve Health

MayoClinic.com published an article focusing on the numerous benefits of adding fiber to your diet. Here's an excerpt:

"Eating a high-fiber diet may also help with weight loss. High-fiber foods generally require more chewing time, which gives your body time to register when you're no longer hungry, so you're less likely to overeat. Also, a high-fiber diet tends to make a meal feel larger and linger longer, so you stay full for a greater amount of time. And high-fiber diets tend to be less "energy dense," which means they have fewer calories for the same volume of food." Read more...

Also from MayoClinic.com, this chart provides information regarding high-fiber foods:

Fruits	Serving size	Total fiber (grams)
Pear	1 medium	5.1
Figs, dried	2 medium	3.7
Blueberries	1 cup	3.5
Apple, with skin	1 medium	3.3
Strawberries	1 cup	3.3
Peaches, dried	3 halves	3.2
Orange	1 medium	3.1
Apricots, dried	10 halves	2.6
Raisins	1.5-ounce box	1.6
Grains, cereal & pasta	Serving size	Total fiber (grams)
Spaghetti, whole-wheat	1 cup	6.3
Bran flakes	3/4 cup	5.1
Oatmeal	1 cup	4.0
Bread, rye	1 slice	1.9
Bread, whole-wheat	1 slice	1.9
Bread, mixed-grain	1 slice	1.7
Bread, cracked-wheat	1 slice	1.4
Legumes, nuts & seeds	Serving size	Total fiber (grams)
Lentils	1 cup	15.6
Black beans	1 cup	15.0
Lima beans	1 cup	13.2
Baked beans, canned	1 cup	10.4
Almonds	24 nuts	3.3
Pistachio nuts	47 nuts	2.9
Peanuts	28 nuts	2.3
Cashews	18 nuts	0.9
Vegetables	Serving size	Total fiber (grams)
Peas	1 cup	8.8
Artichoke, cooked	1 medium	6.5
Brussels sprouts	1 cup	6.4
Turnip greens, boiled	1 cup	5.0
Potato, baked with skin	1 medium	4.4
Corn	1 cup	4.2
Popcorn, air-popped	3 cups	3.6
Tomato paste	1/4 cup	3.0
Carrot	1 medium	2.0

Fried Foods

Eating fried foods is a sure fire way to weight gain in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. I love Waffle House restaurants, eating french fries, and donuts for breakfast, but there's a price to pay. There's a bible verse that says "the wages of sin is death" and to turn it around, "the wages of fried foods is fat", which can lead to the other thing over a long period of time.

If  you need more convincing...take a couple hours one evening and rent Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock. It will convince you. It convinced me.

I haven't eaten at McDonald's since I watched it. Aside from a couple visits to Burger King, I've sworn off fast food.

Exercise

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that no diet or weightloss program is effective unless it's also accompanied by some type of increased level of exercise. A healthy diet and exercise are the one-two punch for losing weight.

It's well documented that the benefits received from 30-minutes of regular walking will do wonders for your health. You'll feel better, your attitude will improve, and you'll meet neighbors you didn't even know you had!

I've found it easier to stick to an exercise program if I perform the exercise immediately following my return home from work. I don't eat, I don't sit down and watch television, but I head straight outside for my nightly walk.

There are too many distractions for me to do it any other way. The telephone will ring, I'll side-tracked checking e-mail, watching the news, or who knows what else.

If you're having difficulty sticking to an exercise program, try varying the time of day you exercise until you find a time that works best for your lifestyle.

Fiber Drinks

For the most part beverages are "fiber-free". The typical flavored coffee contains 2 to 3 grams of fat and no fiber whatsoever. Alcoholic drinks like beer, vodka, whiskey and rum have no fiber content. Caffeine drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are also sans fiber as well.

If you like the idea of supplementing your fiber intake with a fiber drink, there are some drinks on the market that do offer several grams of dietary fiber. I'll be honest and say that I've never tried any of these, but here's a list of drinks with their fiber content:

Ensure w/fiber added -- 6 grams

Slimfast Ultra -- 5 grams

Swiss Miss, lite -- 2 grams

Weight Watchers shake, low fat -- 2 grams

One word of caution regarding health drinks....Some of the meal replacement drinks on the market are very high in fat content. There are some with more than 10 grams of fat. So when picking out beverages to supplement your weight loss program, it pays to read the label carefully.

I plan on taste testing some of these soon. If you drink any of these on a regular basis, I'd be interested in receiving your comments.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

My wife got this breakfast recipe from the USA Weekend newspaper insert.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

1 egg

3/4 cup fat-free half-and-half

3 T canola or olive oil

1/3 cup Splenda

1 medium apple, peeled and chopped

3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup cooking oats

1/4 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsps cinnamon

Mix egg and liquids in bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Bake 15-20 minutes.

This is not a "high" fiber recipe, but compared to regular muffins and breakfast rolls, it's a nice alternative. (Each muffin contains 3 grams of fiber and 8 grams of fat.)

Body Mass Index

Being overweight or obese is a leading contributor to poor health among adults and children.

Being overweight can create associated health concerns including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, and hypertension and many, many others.

How do you know if you're overweight? Calculating your Body Mass Index (BMI) and taking a waist measurement are good starting points.

According to the National Heart and Blood Institute , a waist measurement of greater than 40 inches and greater than 35 inches for women increases obesity health associated risks dramatically.

A BMI greater than 30 is reason for immediate concern and for those with a BMI greater than 25 weightloss is suggested, which a great reason to learn all you can about adding more fiber to your daily diet.

Recalculating your BMI on a monthly basis can help you assess the progress you're making toward improving your overall health. If you consciously follow the 20/30 fat and fiber plan, I think you'll be surprised at how quickly you BMI will improve.

healthy cooking

Oatmeal for Breakfast

Get things started right with a healthy breakfast on a daily basis.

During one of my "phases" several years ago I'd skip breakfast and go directly to snack time. Sometimes I'd grab a packet of crackers at the local convenience store, or worse--a Snickers bar--and a Coke to eat and drink during my 45 minute commute to work.  On weekends I used to eat a more traditional breakfast of bacon, eggs or sausage and toast.

The last couple of years I've been grabbing some fruit and eating a bowl of oatmeal. Oatmeal has changed since I started eating it 35 years ago. Quaker Oats has some flavored oatmeal that makes a sometime ordinarily bland food pretty tasty. This morning I had banana bread flavored oatmeal consisting of 6 grams of fiber and 3 grams of fat.

For those of you keeping score in terms of the 20/30 Fiber Plan, that leaves me 24 grams of fiber and 17 grams of fat to go today.

Here's some helpful breakfast nutrition information courtesy of the Quaker Oats website and the USDA.

Fat Loss for Idiots

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breakfast

Eating More Fiber

Want to get more fiber into your diet? It's easy. Just eat more foods that are high in fiber.

Fruits and vegetables that are excellent sources of fiber:

• Apples
• Beans
• Berries
• Carrots
• Figs
• Oranges
• Pears
• Peas

Here are some good sources of fiber from grains and breads:

• Bran muffins
• Brown rice
• Multi-grain cereals
• Oatmeal
• Popcorn
• Whole-wheat bread

Changing your eating habits doesn't have to be a "sacrifice". You're more likely to stick to your high fiber diet by transitioning to higher fiber foods gradually. Start by adding an apple as an afternoon snack, eat multi-grain breakfast cereals and substitute whole wheat breads for white.

It sounds easy because it is!

Fit Over 40

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weightloss

Eat Fiber, Lose Weight

After seeing a news article regarding the 20/30 Fat and Fiber Plan written by Gabe Mirkin, M.D., I purchased the book to learn more about healthy eating.

Like most people, my wife and I have tried different types of diets, fads, and programs with the goal of losing a few pounds of extra weight. Some worked for awhile, some didn't work at all, and some were just plain too hard to stick with to achieve results we wanted.

To summarize the 20/30 concept in a nutshell....you eat all you want....of the right kinds of foods. There's no need to starve yourself, count calories, or follow the latest craze as long as you eat foods with a high fiber content. The right types of foods, in the right quantities satisfy your appetite and reduce your waistline at the same time.

Ensure you eat no more than 20 grams of fat and make sure you eat at least 30 grams of fiber foods daily.

Meal Plan 101

fat and fiber plan

diet