Here’s the deal: Over the next 30 days, follow these fabulous guidelines set out by Mairlyn Smith to boost your fibre intake. Just one tip at a time or one action step a day!
Keep us updated on social media by using the hashtag #CitylineFibreChallenge on all your posts + pics!
DAY ONE: Flaxseed for the win!
Add 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed to your day, working your way up to 2 tbsp per day over this Fibre Challenge month. Sprinkle it over yogurt, cereal or add to a smoothie.
Either grind your own flaxseed in a coffee bean mill, buy ground or try whole seed from Flax for Nutrition- a flaxseed that has been grown and processed in Saskatchewan and requires no grinding. Store ground flaxseed in your fridge.
Try my recipe for Afternoon Snack Bars or Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
DAY TWO: Drink more water when you start to increase your fibre consumption – or you might get constipated. You need extra water to help digest and to keep things moving in your GI. Drink an extra glass of water today.
DAY THREE: ½ cup/125 mL of cooked vegetables is a serving of vegetables and a great way to increase your daily fibre intake. Make sure that you have at least one serving of vegetables at dinner tonight.
Try this recipe for brussels sprouts, it’s the only way my brussels sprout hating husband will eat them.
DAY FOUR: Fibre helps keep you regular but it also helps to reduce cholesterol and it helps control your blood sugar–this is especially important if you are living with diabetes. No action step today, just a reminder of fibre’s fabulousness.
DAY FIVE: Fibre is found in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and pulses: chickpeas, beans, lentils and split peas. Next time you go grocery shopping add a new fibre rich food.
DAY SIX: Eat an apple everyday with the peel. Just rinse well and pack. Canada grows so many different varieties, change it up and try a new variety. Honeycrisp, Ambrosia or a SweeTango – they’re crispy and delicious and great to eat as is. Great as an afternoon snack with your favourite nut butter.
DAY SEVEN: There are two types of fibre. Insoluble and soluble. You need both. Soluble fibre helps regulate your blood sugars and helps to reduce your cholesterol. Oatmeal is a great source of soluble fibre.
DAY EIGHT: Insoluble fibre keeps things moving in your gastro intestinal tract, health speak for it will help keep you regular. It’s found in whole grains, wheat bran, and the skins of certain vegetables and fruits.
DAY NINE: Add barley to your diet. It is loaded with soluble fibre and can help lower your cholesterol and help control your blood sugars.
DAY TEN: Eating foods rich in soluble fibre can help slow down the digestion of food, making you feel fuller longer. If you are starving before dinner eat an apple 15-30 minutes before, it will help stave off hunger plus as a bonus you will feel fuller during dinner and not overeat on the main meal.
DAY ELEVEN: Find a way to incorporate one of these into your diet today, all great sources of soluble fibre: lentils, black beans, soybeans, kidney beans, chickpeas, oats, oat bran, barley, barley flour, psyllium, apples, oranges, brussels sprouts, carrots, peas, apricots, sweet potatoes, asparagus, turnip, broccoli, pears, grapefruit, peaches, nectarine, mango, eggplant.
DAY TWELVE: Depending on your age your need for fibre varies, these are the suggested recommended amounts (Age group recommended amount per day):
Children 1-3 years old 19 grams
Children 4-8 years old 25 grams
Boys 9-13 years old 31 grams
Boys 14-18 years old 38 grams
Girls 9-13 years old 26 grams
Girls 14-18 years old 26 grams
Men 19-50 years old 38 grams
Men 51 and over 30 grams
Women 19-50 years old 25 grams
Women 51 and over 21 grams
Pregnant women 28 grams
Breastfeeding women 29 grams
DAY THIRTEEN: Walking helps digestion and any gas you might have from increasing your fibre intake. Go for a stroll after dinner to help digestion.
DAY FOURTEEN: To increase your fibre, choose whole grains over refined grains. Choose stone ground or whole grain whole wheat flour over all-purpose flour. Buy bread that says either 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat or 100% Whole Grain Whole Wheat or Whole Wheat flour with germ in the ingredient list.
DAY FIFTEEN: 1/2 cup/125 mL of cooked beans adds 7-8 grams of fibre to your day. Try my recipe for black bean salad.
DAY SIXTEEN: To increase your fibre, choose brown rice over white rice. Try this recipe for a brown rice and lentil salad.
DAY SEVENTEEN: To increase your fibre, choose pot or pearl barley over white rice.
DAY EIGHTEEN: To increase your fibre, choose steel cut oats over instant oats. Here’s my recipe for overnight blueberry Irish oatmeal.
DAY NINETEEN: To increase your fibre, sprinkle 1 Tbsp hemp hearts over your cereal today.
DAY TWENTY: Berries taste fabulous and add fibre to your day. Choose seasonally. In the winter choose frozen blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries. Add frozen blueberries thawed to your plain yogurt.
DAY TWENTY-ONE: Eating a small handful of nuts in the afternoon will give you a boost of fibre, heart healthy fats and protein. A small handful is about ¼ cup/60 mL. Size matters and eating too much is still eating too much.
DAY TWENTY-TWO: Choose whole vegetables and fruit over vegetable or fruit juice. If you do drink juice limit it to ½ cup/125 mL per day.
DAY TWENTY-THREE: Choose a small fruit salad for dessert, a spoonful of yogurt on top adds a hit of calcium as well. A seasonal fruit salad could be cut up pears, apples, bananas and dried cranberries.
DAY TWENTY-FOUR: Add a salad to your dinner. Eat seasonally. Change it up and make cabbage, kale, or arugula salads in the fall and winter months and leafy salad greens in the spring and summer months. Make my super easy kale salad!
DAY TWENTY-FIVE: Bean and vegetable soups for dinner are hearty, heart healthy, add fibre and are economical.
DAY TWENTY-SIX: Hummus and vegetables are a double hit of fibre: chickpeas and veggies especially raw carrots is a fibre win/win. Check out your local grocery store, there are tons of new varieties of hummus.
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Eating fibre fills you up. Eating a high fibre diet can promote weight loss, because high fibre foods tend to less calories and make you feel fuller faster.
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: When reading package labels a high fibre food must contain 4 grams of fibre or more per serving.
DAY TWENTY-NINE: Make a stir fry tonight for dinner, it’s a great way to add many servings of vegetables all at once.
DAY THIRTY: You made it! Thanks for joining me on the Fibre Challenge. Keep up the good work, your body is thanking you. Wishing you Peace, love and fibre, Mairlyn.