The Last Straw

I have been at this dieting thing since February. And I have had various little obsessions that have gotten me through and kept things more interesting. Sort of like trends that come and go. For a while, I was all about the convenience of frozen diet foods for lunch (ditched that one). For a while, I decided I was going to drink grape juice every day (didn’t last). For a while, I decided that protein was my thing. And MUFA’s. Then it was all about eating less processed foods.  But some of this, I have incorporated into my diet and don’t really even have to think about it anymore. So on to the next big thing: the obsession du jour is fiber. I think I tend to neglect it, really. Only caring about it if thing just aren’t “going” well if you know what I mean. But other than that, I could go like forever without considering whether I was getting enough fiber or not. I gotta do whatever I can to control my cholesterol. And the potential for preventing some cancers is worth the effort too.

So the big fiber experiment. My goal is to get 25-30 grams of fiber per day. At first I worried that this was going to be hard to do. But then I glanced through several days on fitday to see how much fiber I had been getting before. And most days it was around 18 grams. So with some effort, this should be doable. I am switching out my special k and am going to be trying All Bran Medley with strawberries or whatever they call it. I am switching my waffle with peanut butter with a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter. And I have made a chart of the big hitters when it comes to fiber so that I can put it on my fridge and try to incorporate them into my diet more often. My main purpose in this is to make a habit of getting more fiber so eventually it is yet another thing I don’t really have to think about that much. At the nutrition thing I went to last week, the lady said she divides the total calories by the number of grams of fiber and the lower the number, the better. So I am keeping that in mind when I decide the best sources of fiber. Also, I listed mainly foods that would be easy to incorporate daily.

I ran two miles today (wednesday) and walked one. Decent for unofficial effit week, so whatever. Breakfast was the norm today. Lunch was the norm except that I had a tortilla instead of waffle. Fruit of the day, grapes. Dinner was 4 oz. of pork tenderloin, 1 cup of kale, a sweet potato, and black beans with garlic/onions/jalapeno/tomatoes. It looked and felt like a huge meal. I think because I went lighter on the protein and heavier on the carbs. Calories were 1279 and fiber was 29 grams.

The fiber chart: