Fiber-Girl - Weight Loss

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Get Your Fiber

Remember that old adage "You are what you eat"? Clearly, that's only half the story. Limiting your calories results in a loss of energy and an increase in hunger. But by increasing your fiber intake, you can eat more but retain far less. See my video and home page for more

Fiber is found not just in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, but in legumes. Legumes are the easiest way to increase fiber: they consist of all the beans (except jelly beans), lentils, peas, nuts and seeds. For instance, if you were to take a cup of pistachios with you to work one morning and graze on them throughout the day, you would have consumed 14 grams of fiber - and probably loved every minute of it! Add to that a bowl of split pea soup for dinner, and you have 7 more grams of fiber - you're already nearing your goal of 25-40 grams! Other delicious foods like avocados, guacamole, almonds and peanut butter, apples, oranges, artichoke hearts, popcorn, dried apricots, lentil soup, falafel and hummus, and bean burritos are all very high in fiber.

Nutritionally speaking, legumes (beans, lentils, peas, seeds, nuts, and nut butters) are comparable with vegetables. Botanically, they are very similar. Legumes are usually the "seed" that leads to a vegetable, so they're full of the nutrients the vegetable will eventually contain.

If I were the Food Dictator (and how I wish I were), I would put legumes in the category of vegetables. Imagine how many more people would eat their "vegetables", or how few parents would worry about their children's diet. In fact, without beans my 5-year-old daughter would have starved long ago. How good to know almonds don't just help us lose weight - they nourish us. more...