Something Unexpected

I suddenly had an epiphany and I'm curious in whether anyone else has been so lucky.

Allow me to explain mine.

I have been having, digestive problems, to put it lightly. I don't eat fruits or vegetables and it really isn't the type of thing you do overnight. I never really had any problems with it until I started trying to loose weight. First it wasn't that bad. It would come and go. Then it got really bad - consider going to the hospital bad. Of course, I'm unemployed and do not have insurance, so I started using a stool softener and started for the first time in my life to work on my fiber problem.

What confused me was why it was happening now. I've never eaten vegetables and yet, I never had these problems. I tried to remember when it first happened - what did I change right before that? It never made sense.

Meanwhile, I was looking at the amount of fiber in foods I don't mind. Granola bars, some fruit. I soon realized that everything outside of veggies have about 1 or 2 grams. So how did I ever get enough when I'm suppose to have over twenty?

Finally tonight it hit me. No matter how much you eat, you still only need that same amount of fiber. Three Oreos have 1 gram of fiber. 1 gram per slice of bread as well as anything else made with flour, even if it is the evil, not-whole-grain, flour, like too many slices of pizza or brownie. It also explained why going out of town (and therefore cheating) I wouldn't have problems.

I'm still a bit uncomfortable and will be until I figure out how to up my fiber (I think I'll try salad), but I really was wondering if anyone else had a similar epiphany as they journey into weight loss.

Hey there!

I definitely had a "Fiber Epiphany" around the same time that I started to change my eating habits to lose weight.  Once I started recording what I was eating, I realized that I was getting sometimes just 5 grams of fiber a day (or worse!)....it was like "No wonder I can't go!"  So I started making it a first priority to get more fiber into my diet....and guess what, I made this great discovery:

Fiber....is AWESOME! lol

Number one reason...fiber (along with drinking plenty of water each day and exercising) is one of your biggest allies in weight loss.  Fiber makes you feel full quicker, keeps everything "moving along nicely" if you get my drift, and has lots of other benefits. 

Other times that I had tried to lose weight, I focused mainly on just restricting calories and fats.  But this time around, my top priorities are getting enough fiber and protein, burning more calories than I take in, and making sure that if I'm gonna have fat, it needs to be "Good Fat."  Because I don't feel like I'm starving myself, this has been much more effective and I feel so much better.

One of the best ways to get more fiber in my opinion, is to make sure that all of your breads/pastas/cereals/etc are whole grain.  Stay away from "white" stuff.  It may take a few days to get used to the taste but trust me, after a bit, you will start to enjoy the taste of the whole grains more and will really appreciate how filling they are for the calories.  Beans are also a great source of fiber, as well as lots of veggies.   Sometimes I drink a Benefiber drink, but I find that its more helpful to my diet if I eat fiber-rich foods.

I still have a ways to go...I usually just get about 20 grams of fiber a day but my bathroom problems are pretty much gone and I am incredibly thankful for that.

Good luck!!

Surely you can't hate all fruits and vegetables... Try preparing them in different ways. They are delish, low calorie and full of fiber AND vitamins!  Try adding steamed broccoli and carrots to a tomato sauce for some whole wheat pasta... Or how about a baked potato/sweet potato (more of a starch, but full of fiber)

Do you like oatmeal? Half a cup of dry rolled oats has a whopping 4 grams (and 5 of protein)... It's the reason everyone says it 'sticks to your ribs'

Fiber One cereal is another good way... if you can stand the taste...
I add at least half a cup of berries to it myself (also contain fiber) with a little sugar/sweetener ontop. Yumyum.

I can't really say I've had the fiber epiphany myself (but I get at least 35g a day anyways) but congrats! Good luck with your salad and finding some vegetables that you like, and your weightloss journey! : D

Noo body expects the Spanish Inquisition!  Ooops, sorry wrong thread.

I've been trying to get more fiber in my diet as well.

Fiber One Bars are great I Looooove the Oats and Apple Streusel 9 gs of Fiber

I tried the regular Fiber one Cereal and it was horrible in my opinion, but the Honey Clusters are great with 13 g of Fiber. I bag some up and eat it as a snack sometimes.

Every day I put a serving of Kellog's Bran Buds in my yogurt. It is not very good on it's own but great in yogurt or with ice cream...no wait, not with ice cream! 1/3 cup is only 70 calories and 13 grams of fiber, can't beat it. In my house they are referred to as Butt Buds cause they work so well.

When it comes to adding more fiber to your diet, regardless of what you're eating to do it, I was told you add it slowly. It has to be built up over time until you're eating the recommended amount of grams per day, and you also need to make sure you're drinking plenty of water to make sure things move through your system. Otherwise all that roughage is going to get blocked up if you do it all too quickly. Once your body becomes used to eating proper amounts of fiber, you'll find it's actually much easier to go to the bathroom.

As for ways of incorporating fiber, if I find I'm falling a bit short on fiber grams in a day, I eat fiber plus dark chocolate almond bars. 9 grams a serving, lower in calories than fiber one (only 130), and they taste really yummy. It feels like you're eating a candy bar instead of something healthy. :)

Fiber One yogurt (I know, sounds weird, but it tastes good with flax granola or Fiber One cereal) is pretty good. Also, drinking lots of water helps. If you are really, really, really backed up, try some sugar-free candy made with sugar alcohols. It draws water into your intestines, which makes bowel movements easier. Just don't make the mistake of eating the whole bag, or else you will be on the toilet all night.

There is a high fiber oatmeal..also high in protein..

There is Fiber One Wheat bread..10gms of fiber in each slice..

Watermelon and blueberries are great//

Fresh apple cider is great..

I have had the opposite problem..

For a woman my age...I should only be taking in 21-25 grams of fiber..

I was taking in 50....way too much and left me and still am very bloated...

Check out what is suggested for you...

You might want to try a probiotic as well...keeps everything healthy and working..

Best of luck!!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try some of them (I'm being honest :P).

And extra thanks to ddrtist, I think that had sort of occurred to me, but more of the "there won't be an immediate effect" than "it may make things worst if you aren't careful".

-X