MM Holiday Gift Guide
Hope you’re having a holly jolly season! If you’re stumped on what to give a certain someone, check out this holiday guide. These are a few of my favorite things: [...]
If you’re here reading this, first of all, you’re awesome. You’re interested in getting more fiber into your diet and that is fantastic because fiber is super underrated!
Fiber is a superstar because it does a really good job of balancing and buffering the blood sugar response after meals. If your goal is fat loss, this is extremely helpful. Fiber also helps to keep us fuller for longer after eating, which is really helpful, yet again, with a fat loss goal.
Fiber is critical too for good gut health and staying regular.
All fiber sources are, essentially, the food that the good bacteria in our guts eat in order to stay thriving and happy. You might have heard of prebiotics before – these are found in all of the major fiber sources!
In case you need a quick refresher, some amazing fiber sources include:
How much fiber do you need in a day?
The goal for most women is about 25 grams of fiber per day and 38 grams for men. If you’re not sure how much fiber you’re currently eating, you can pay closer attention for a couple of days. This Instagram post has a really great summary of how much fiber is a bunch of fiber sources to help you.
If you find your fiber intake to be on the lower side, that’s ok! It’s a great goal to SLOWLY increase this over time. And I emphasized slowly because you really don’t want to bump your fiber intake too fast or you might be visiting the bathroom a little too often. And remember lotssss of water when you increase fiber!
Getting your fiber intake up can be tricky if you’re not being intentional about it, so I have lots of helpful tips and tricks to help.
Don’t sleep on the fiber power of smoothies! Not only are they a great way to get in some fruit, but you can sneak in some veggies and different seeds as well.
For example, some veggies that you literally can’t taste (I promise!) are spinach, kale, zucchini, and riced cauliflower. You can also add chia seeds, ground flax seeds, and hemp seeds to almost any smoothie. If you have trouble with the texture of chia seeds, I can help to soak them in water for a few minutes before blending your smoothie.
Linking some great recipe ideas for you here that can add some fiber to your day:
We also have a complete guide of over 65 smoothie recipes that have been tested and are substantial enough to replace a full meal in your day and boost your fiber:
Next time you’re making a pasta sauce, blend some cooked veggies right into your mixture. This is also the perfect hack for picky eaters you might live with.
Cooked cauliflower, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, or leafy greens would blend really well into a pasta sauce. You could use an immersion blender or put everything in a blender and then combine it with your cooked noodles of choice.
Since you’re probably drinking a cup of coffee most mornings, it can be really easy to add a little fiber to it. Acacia fiber dissolves really well in coffee or hot tea. Sunfiber is also really gentle on the gut and dissolves well in liquids.
Avocados are actually a sneaky source of fiber! Yes, they are a great healthy fat source, but an average-sized avocado has about 14g of fiber. If you add cheese to a lot of meals as a fat source, try adding some avocado instead to bump up the fiber while keeping the healthy fat. You can also add some avocado to smoothies.
Next time it’s taco night, try mixing some cooked riced cauliflower right into the ground beef or ground turkey. It increases the volume, adds fiber, and you hardly noticed it’s there. (another hack for those picky eaters!)
This one is so simple. Try swapping your noodles for higher fiber options. Banza is an awesome brand of noodles and rice that is chickpea-based instead of flour. It’s also available at most major grocery stores.
Edamame– and black-bean-based noodles are another option and they are surprisingly tasty! I find them at Aldi.
You can always choose a whole-grain variety of what you typically buy as well. Just look for whole-grain wheat flour as the first ingredient.
If you typically opt for regular flour tortillas, you could swap for a higher fiber option! Check out this Instagram post for a whole guide on choosing a good tortilla from the store.
The same goes for bread. Instead of a white bread option, try a more whole-grain-based variety. Look for “whole grain” in the first few ingredients and at least 3 grams of fiber or more per slice.
Any fruit is a great choice for fiber, but certain ones get an A+. They include raspberries, blackberries, pomegranates, kiwis, pears, blueberries, strawberries, and apples. Even better, leave on the skins when you can! Especially apples, pears, and kiwi.
Next time you’re baking muffins or maybe some banana bread, try adding some ground flax seeds, chia seeds, or hemp seeds. You can also choose to use a whole wheat flour or oat flour instead of all-purpose for increased fiber too.
Popcorn is a great snack option for fiber! A 3-cup serving has about 4 grams of fiber. I recommend popping plain kernels yourself and tossing in a little coconut oil and salt. Great for movie night or a tasty afternoon snack. Add some nuts + dried or freeze-dried fruit to make a homemade trail mix for even more fiber!
Have you tried chia pudding yet? It’s a great breakfast or snack option that, you guessed it, packs a fiber punch! AND it’s perfect for meal prepping several at a time. I’ll link some recipes ideas here:
Peanut Butter Banana Chia Pudding
When all else fails, use the PHFF method for building your meals. PHFF stands for protein, healthy fat, and fiber. It’s simple, flexible, and easy to remember to get a source of fiber in at each meal. This is what we teach all of our clients to improve their metabolism and lose weight for good. You can learn more about PHFF here.
One more reminder about fiber: focus on food first! Yes, you can use fiber supplements and there are many to choose from, but the best option comes from the variety of foods that we can eat every day. Whole foods provide us with fiber in general, but also a good balance between soluble and insoluble fiber. This helps feed the gut optimally and keep things moving. If we only supplement with one kind of fiber, we might run into trouble later on gut-wise.
It’s easier than you think to eat more fiber. I hope this gets you a little bit more excited and inspired to up your fiber intake and start feeling amazing too!
Stay healthy,
Coach Elle
