McVember replaced by Fiber Target Month - get this right and the rest will follow?

Soopatt

You might remember me as the one who had plans to have a McVember (just eat McDonalds and see if I can balance my macros and lose like that other guy) but I decided to shelve the idea for a couple of reasons.

The first reason was that I tried a couple of full days of McDonalds last month and the salt and sugar balance in the food (despite fitting in my macros - check it out) really did not suit my taste buds all day every day. I could make it fit, but I was going to be pretty unhappy on it. That alone would not have been enough to stop me, but I am also travelling for work this month so I would be away from McDonalds for two of the four weeks, so that settled it. I was kinda relieved I had a chance to back out, to be honest

The puritans might be amused to know that just a few weeks of on and off McDonalds experiments drove me to the vegetable isle. All I want is vegetables. Vegetables without tons of salt and sugar added to them. Plain vegetables in piles.

So, instead of McVember, I am doing a fiber challenge instead! I have struggled for a long time to hit my fiber targets, so I want to see if I can get it right more consistently. Someone commented on another thread that if you get your fiber right, the rest will fall into place and you will never be hungry. Lets see!

I got some Benefiber to help me get there, but ideally, I would like to get my fiber in through food alone, but I am not prepared to give up carbs and protein in order to just eat veggies to do it. I like my protein on the high side, it keeps me full. I eat to 1200 as a base, but do go over when needed.

Why the challenges? If I have something to push up against, it keeps me motivated and I have been bored and sluggish the past two months. I enjoy a dare.

My diary is open.

TL:DR - I am trying to hit my fiber targets this month to see if this improves the rest of my eating habits. I would like to discuss ideas on how to get there here.

Soopatt

Yesterday was day 1 of my fiber challenge - I fell short -but not by much. I had a macaroni breakfast (yummy leftovers) and I didn't realize how much this would impact my ability to hit my fiber. I ran out of calories before being able to get enough fiber, despite supplements and making a valiant effort at dinner time.

Today is day 2 and it is going much better. I have hit my fiber targets by lunchtime. Yay Peas!

bover145

Interesting idea. Made me go look at my fiber. I only hit the goal once in last 3 weeks. So today I will see if I can up it.
Good luck on your FibTarMo.

Soopatt

You have to drink a ton of water to feel comfortable doing this. Only the second day and my stomach is sore. Maybe I went too high too fast

Lourdesong

If you want an easy and low calorie food to hit your fiber target (and then some) red beans will do it. Small red beans are also the tastiest beans imo. Also, beans don't bind me up, and that is something you should be mindful of when increasing your fiber intake. Fiber can, generally, get things moving, but the exact opposite is also true esp if your fluid intake doesn't increase as well.

I have a huge benefiber container I purchased from Costco when I first started out 1.5 years ago. I soon ditched it because the amount of fiber I got for the amount of gastrointestinal distress I experienced from it wasn't a worthwhile tradeoff.

Too bad about your McD's experiment, maybe another month down the line it'll work out with your schedule.

scolaris

How much fiber are you going for in grams each day? Just curious...

jofjltncb6

Suddenly increasing your fiber intake can be like an abrasive to your intestines.

Good luck with that.

Also, maybe you should challenge yourself just to eat at a reasonable calorie deficit while hitting your macro targets from a wide variety of food sources for a sufficiently long period of time to reach your goals?

Hornsby

jofjltncb6 wrote: »

Suddenly increasing your fiber intake can be like an abrasive to your intestines.

Good luck with that.

Also, maybe you should challenge yourself just to eat at a reasonable calorie deficit while hitting your macro targets from a wide variety of food sources for a sufficiently long period of time to reach your goals?

This seems like a logical starting point...

usmcmp

I find that hitting fiber does not impact how well I adhere to calories or macros.

Setting a goal to have protein and fruits or vegetables at each meal goes a lot further than hitting fiber. You'll get a lot more fiber in naturally having fruit at breakfast and vegetables with lunch and dinner, plus it will be less damaging to your gut bacteria than taking a fiber supplement. You'll also have an added bonus of getting micros in.

EvgeniZyntx

Why not challenge yourself on more important targets than fiber or burgers? Reasonable calorie deficit, macros, greens in diet, exercise, variety?

starwhisperer6

I eat fiber one original. just two servings of it at 120 calories, with a 25 calorie cup of cashew milk hits my 100% for the day on fiber. It is also tasty in some greek yogurt.

jofjltncb6

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

I think having these types of personal challenges can be helpful.

Fiber intake was the second thing I worked on after starting MFP. First was calories and protein. After I got that down, I worked on fiber. I didn't necessarily make it a challenge, but I did do research and try incorporating food that was higher in fiber into my diet. I easily managed the 25g recommended while I was losing. Now that I'm in maintenance, I've changed my goal to 30. I start my day with a corn bran cereal and a banana. This is 9-10g. Mid-morning snack is a Greek yogurt with a packet (12g) of milled flaxseed - 3g fiber and good fats. The rest of my day varies daily, so I can't help much. The spinach I ate yesterday had 4g. Avocado has a lot. Garbanzo beans in my salad. Raspberries, blackberries, pears, red bell pepper, sweet potato, winter squash, nuts, whole grain breads.... Lots of choices without resorting to a supplement. A lot of the items marketed as low carb have a lot of fiber because that's how they get their numbers down - Things like pastas and tortillas can have good fiber if you find the right ones.

There's nothing wrong with making a focus and working on it. I've worked on many different aspects of my diet during my two years. After fiber, I worked on fats and worked on increasing my polyunsaturated fats. After that I worked on potassium intake. Then, I moved on to magnesium, which isn't even a tracked micronutrient. But, I like learning how to get all my nutrients filled through food and having these little goals helped the time I was losing weight to pass quickly.

Good luck on your fiber quest.

Micro-goals in the context of and in support of an overall plan are great.

Micro-goals in lieu of an overall plan that lead to jumping around sporadically and never making any real progress are not so great.

As usual, it's the bigger picture/context that determines the bigger picture success or failure of an approach. Majoring in the minors can be a real issue.

Soopatt

Thanks for your comments and ideas everyone.

Just to clear things up - I am trying to hit the 25g fiber target recommended by MFP. I would prefer to do this with regular food, but I do find that I struggle to get that right without sacrificing protein, which is why I have added the supplement. It has only been three days and I had a very low fiber month last month, so perhaps my stomach ache yesterday is just an adjustment period. If the supplement does not agree with me I will stop taking it. I also think I don't always drink enough water and that needs to be a dual focus with the fiber.

I am not doing this instead of calorie counting - as @HappyCampr1 pointed out (thanks for your post - I think you get it!) - it is something to keep me motivated and focused and a way to pay attention to how my body responds to different things as I move toward improving my health and mindset. I am still weighing and logging all my food as I always was and I still stick to my calories at least 5 days out of 7 (on the other days I am often a little over, but not by much and it is all logged). I am still losing weight steadily.

This is not about fads - perhaps me wanting to do a fast food experiment might make people decide certain things about me - but actually, the plan was to adhere to macros while eating at McDonalds, not to live off off sugar or ice-cream (it can be done). I saw that I could do that if I made careful choices and I found the idea intriguing and fun, which is why I was considering it. I was always going to count calories, that is always the basis for whatever I do.

The fiber idea is a different experiment I suppose - but it is also a chance for me to try new foods and new things and experiment with different ways to hit my macros and my calories. I get stuck in a rut and if I don't challenge myself I am the kind of person who won't try new things.

I am not doing this because my weight loss is stalled - it is not.

I do some mild exercise and I am happy with those levels at the moment.

Soopatt

Weird thing to note - I am not sure if it was mind over matter - but these supplement coffees seem to fill me up - like a snack would. Even if I am just imagining it, it is quite a cool perk.

Soopatt

My lunch today - a totally delicious salad from a restaurant near my office. No calorie information available, I had to try to work it out based on eye-balling the ingredients (herb salad, cashew nuts, butternut, avo, feta, beetroot, honey vinaigrette).

That was a mountain of green stuff and nuts, but according to my calculations, not even a third of my daily fiber requirement. Even if I just eat another salad for dinner, I am not going to crack fiber today, despite adding supplements and not having breakfast. This is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be, IMHO.

EvgeniZyntx

Well, in my eyes you are focusing on the wrong thing. But if this is what you want to do - forget salad and nut. Those aren't high fiber sources. Time to add cabbage, carrots, celery or peppers or eat high-fibre fruits like apples, mangoes, avocados and berries. Beans and lentils...

Lettuce? Not so much.

Lourdesong

If what you're struggling with is increasing your fiber while keeping your macros, you could track foods that list net carb counts. The US includes fiber as part of the carb count but I don't believe Europe and the UK do, fiber is its own thing. Obviously, including fiber in the carb count means that increasing fiber will consequentially increase your carbs.

With the popularity of low-carb diets it's very easy to find net carb entries in the database. I usually seek out net carb entries on high fiber foods.

Soopatt

Lourdesong wrote: »

If what you're struggling with is increasing your fiber while keeping your macros, you could track foods that list net carb counts. The US includes fiber as part of the carb count but I don't believe Europe and the UK do, fiber is its own thing. Obviously, including fiber in the carb count means that increasing fiber will consequentially increase your carbs.

With the popularity of low-carb diets it's very easy to find net carb entries in the database. I usually seek out net carb entries on high fiber foods.

Good tip - thanks - this is certainly part of the struggle. I ramp the fiber and my carbs get out of hand and my protein level makes my intake feel low and unsatisfying. I need to get a handle on the right choices.

@EvgeniZyntx - I like all the things you recommend, but choosing some of them is related to the carb/protein balance problem. There are some of them that are not going to cause that of course. I need to pay attention when I visit the grocery store tonight (after a bit of research).

jofjltncb6

To be clear, my post wasn't saying that *you* were doing it, but was more of an observation of what frequently happens when people focus on seemingly minor aspects.

Best of luck to you.

Soopatt

I went into the supermarket with new eyes last night. Raspberries are in season here so I bought a large punnet as well as four different types of beans. After all my moaning, I finished yesterday with 4g more fiber than my target and still under calories

I made a batch of peanut banana overnight oats and plugged the recipe into MFP. I had a portion for breakfast this morning. An excellent 7 grams of fiber in just that! I will get the hang of this yet.

sallygroundhog

What an interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.

Soopatt

Update : It has been a couple of days and I am doing really well on my fiber challenge. I am *proud* of my diary for the first time in ages. I am eating delicious food and even managing to fit in some treats.

I am not sure the fiber supplement is agreeing with me though. I feel bloated and I might be retaining water. I have had a sore stomach on and off these past few days.

I was determined to give them a fair trial though so I will stick with them till the end of the week and then do without them next week while keeping up my fiber, and compare the results.