Over the last month, we’ve discussed the benefits of hitting your daily fiber intake goals. We’ve also covered how probiotics and fiber work together to maintain a healthy gut. Today we’re discussing the HOW of it all: how to eat 25 grams of fiber per day and still hit your macros.
At first, it might feel impossible.
I mean, a lot of foods advertised as “high fiber” disappointingly contain just 2 grams of fiber per serving. And, as we’ve learned previously, a lot of our dietary fiber will come from carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
So, the question becomes:
“Okay then, how do I hit my goal of 25-30 grams of fiber per day and hit my macros?”
The answer?
Intentionality.
It’s true; when you’re first trying to consume 25 grams of fiber per day, being intentional about your food choices is helpful.
First, take a look at how you eat regularly. Odds are, if you are at this point of fine-tuning your diet, you have some staple foods you eat that you know will help you reach your macro goals.
If this is the case, are there any foods you could swap in to get a little bit more fiber?
Let’s take a look at our meals each day.
Breakfast
For example, every morning I like to start my day with a piece of toast before my coffee and protein.
However, while I was mindful of eating lower-carb bread, I wasn’t optimizing how much fiber that bread was giving me. A quick run to the store and now a single piece of toast gets me started with a whopping 3-5 grams of fiber in the morning! And the carbs are still relatively low!
If toast isn’t your thing, swap out your eggs for protein oatmeal. One cup of oatmeal will generally get you 4 grams of fiber and if you add a handful of berries you can boost that number to 7 grams!
I know what you’re thinking, “But oatmeal is a lot more carbs than eggs, and a high-fiber toast likely is too.”
High-fiber breads like Ezekial bread clock in at about 15 grams of carbohydrates per slice. And one cup of cooked oatmeal is only 27 grams of carbs.
Add a protein shake or egg whites to either of these meals and you’ve got yourself a well-balanced breakfast packed with fiber, carbs, and protein to kickstart your day and keep you feeling full.
Lunch
Lunch is probably my favorite meal of the day. It gives you a forced break midday to sit down and tune into your body. It also happens to have a lot of opportunities to get some extra fiber in!
If you’re a sandwich kinda dancer then please, feel free to use the high-fiber bread swap again and get yourself another 6-10 grams of fiber from your bread alone.
Are you a pasta fiend? Great! Try swapping out your regular pasta for chickpea (or other legume-based) pasta. This can add a lot of fiber to your diet without affecting your macros much at all.
More of a salad person? Salads are an awesome way to pack your diet full of fiber. Not only do they tend to be high-volume foods, but the toppings you can add to them are endless!
Add a scoop of brown rice, quinoa, beans, or chickpeas, and watch your fiber intake shoot up. What’s great about this is, that salad toppings like legumes like chickpeas, kidney beans, and quinoa, also tend to be nutrient-dense.
What does that mean? A whole lotta bang for your buck!
Once again, none of these swaps have boosted your carb, fat, or protein intake so much so that your macros will be knocked off course. Especially if you are in a season of measuring your foods.
Dinner
Okay, here we get to play around a bit.
Do you like Taco Tuesday? Me too!
I love tacos as a healthy macro-friendly meal. But once again, when I ate tacos I wasn’t optimizing my fiber intake.
Cue another trip to the store. There I found fat-free refried beans. Oh, the joy I felt in my heart!
Half of a cup of these refried beans contained around 5 grams of fiber and just 15 grams of carbs!
Maybe you’re more of a steak-for-dinner person. Great!
What side dishes are you eating? Could you swap out your baked potato with a sweet potato to get a few extra grams of fiber in? Or maybe try a blend of whole grains or quinoa on the side.
Again, intentional swaps can go a long way in hitting your fiber goal of 25 grams of fiber per day.
Snacks
If you’re good at math you might be noticing that each of these meals might’ve only boosted your fiber intake to about 5 grams per meal.
And if you eat 3 meals a day that’s only 15 grams of protein.
But let’s be real, we all love a snack. Let’s say mid-morning, after your audition, you have an apple with some cheese slices as a pick-me-up (a perfect pairing of pre/pro-biotics!). The average apple contains about 4 grams of fiber!
Then, maybe mid-afternoon you might get a little “snacky.” Swapping out your afternoon coffee for just a quarter cup of hummus and veggies can add up to 6 grams toward your goal of 25 grams of fiber!
And just like that boom, you’ve hit 25 grams of fiber without going over your macros.
The Reality
If you paid close attention, most of these suggestions did not require adding or subtracting anything out of your diet. It simply required making a few strategic swaps to get you closer to your goals.
Now, there are going to be some days when you don’t want to make those swaps and that’s okay! Like anything, you do your best but you also must enjoy your life.
Maybe on those days, you focus more on having fruits and nuts as your snacks to boost fiber between meals – or, maybe you don’t worry about it for one day.
The choice is yours.
Want more nutrition tips, fitness tips, and even workouts? Check out these quick reads: Follow Your Heart? Everything You Need to Know About Heart Rate Variability Training, A Gut Feeling: Breaking Down the Facts on Pre Pro and Postbiotics, Workout Wednesday: The Basics Workout
