The #1 Food For Weight Loss

To lose a few post-lockdown pounds, there's one type of food we can look for jump-start the process.  And it actually tastes good.  

Fiber.

You could make oatmeal and add chunky peanut butter if you really wanted to get wild or add some artichoke hearts to the top of whole-grain avocado toast for something different.  Fiber doesn't have to be boring.

Anything that has fiber will help us stay full longer, and it's a key component in most weight-loss plans.  Eatingwell.com says, "If you find yourself hungry an hour after a meal, think back on how you could pump it up with more fiber next time."

Weight has been an up and down battle for me most of my life, but in the past ten years or so, it's been mostly down.  Protein, fiber, and fat have become my friends, and I've cut way back on dairy and sugar, and that seems to help keep the scale from tipping.

The advice from Eatingwell.com is to get 25 to 30 grams of fiber every day, and it's kind of a challenge to get in that much.  One serving of cereal in the morning amounts to about 5 grams of fiber, and topping it with half a banana adds about 1 and 1/2 grams more.  I've never met anyone who can stop at one serving of cereal, so this might net us all a double shot of fiber to start the day.

It takes some work to get to 30 grams of fiber per day, but other sources include fruits and veggies, legumes, whole grains, and certain seeds, like chia seeds, and popcorn.  I'm a label-reader, and I've notice walnuts and almonds have good amounts of fiber too, along with fat, and that keeps my stomach from growling at work.  I eat an apple every day, and blueberries, and some sort of citrus.  Maybe the fiber has been sneaking in and we don't realize how much we're getting.

I've also noticed, if I go overboard on the fiber, I'm miserable til Tuesday.  I guess we all have to get to know our fiber tolerance.  Fiber isn't sexy, but it works.

There's no fiber in alcohol, unfortunately, so we'll have to get it from other sources at happy hour tonight.  Have a great weekend.