Weight-Loss Is anyone else a fiber freak?

Weight-Loss
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SarahL

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Fiber supplements (?)

Hey everyone..I've got a question. I know we in the US don't get enough fiber (or so my doctor told me) and we are supposed to get 25 grams or more a day. So, he has suggested Metamucil or Citrucel etc...to supplement...like some fiber before every meal etc.

Well, the question is...my mother told me yesterday that if you start drinking the fiber supplement drinks (metamucil etc) that your system will start depending on it and you won't be able to function without it.

So...I read the bottle of it..and it shows psyllium husk as the main active ingredient. Well, psyllium is a natural bulking fiber.

I don't know...I understand that if you took chemical laxatives everyday that your body will start to depend on them, but, a natural bulk fiber...?? I don't think ma is right, but...what do you all think?

I know that I have been extra 'bloated' since I have started the increase on fiber...but, I think that happens until you get used to more fiber in the diet and it probably shows that you haven't been getting enough before?

Also, what have you all heard about increasing fiber to aid in weightloss? My doctor wants me on 800-1000 calories a day and that is why he said to take the fiber before eating to increase your 'full feeling' before you eat...so you won't take in as many calories...

Thanks for reading this, it was rather long-winded!!! :rolleyes: :eek:
 
My experience with it is that supplements just don't what you can do if you eat naturally high fiber foods. With no food source of fiber, do you know how much of that stuff you'd have to take to get the 100% rda of fiber? I'm not saying they're useless, but for me pretty close to it. Almost everything I eat now is high fiber except for lean meat, and it only took less than 2 weeks after I started my diet for the bloating and stuff to go away.
 
natural or not, I think your body can get used to anything... and can become dependent upon it...

what i've read - to prevent the bloating - take Bean-o ...

or slowly increase your fiber intake- don't do it all at once...

25 grams in a day really isn't that much... a person should be able to do that thru diet if they are eating fruits and vegetables...
 
Yeah..I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables...high high fiber foods already..and breakfast is usually AllBran-High fiber w/.5c light soymilk. So, who knows..I may stop the supplements all together...but, if it curbs my appetite...that might be the only positive...:)

-Sarah
 
This month's issue of health magazine had this question asked... and they had a gastroenterologist answer the question... His answer was, it's prerferred that fiber comes from your actual diet, but taking fiber every day, or even taking laxatives every day, does not lead to a dependency on them nor are they bad for you... He also said that the "women's laxatives" were no different than the other ones, they just came in a pretty pink box, but they all had the same ingredients.

I'm sure if they interviewed 10 doctors, the split would have been 50/50 but this one doctor says, it's ok for you and your syste,
 
Yeah, I started the Metamucil about four weeks ago and got so bloated that I have now stopped.
It was actually really uncomfortable at times. I have been trying to get it through my diet.
A.
 
Fiber Pills

First of all:
-Stats (age, height, weight, Body fat %) age 22 height 5'7 weight 250.2 bf: 50.3 % Hydration: 36.7% (the last trwo is what my scale tells me not sure how correct it is)
-Diet (in detail meal to meal, overall daily caloric intake, ratios) Overall calories is under 1,500.. i aim for 1400 ( i know not very healthy.. ) I eat usually breakfast piece of fruit or a glass of OJ, Lunch lettuce, sometimes light salada with little chicken or cheese, dinner is mostly sandwich, wheat break piece of meat and cheese. I only drink water or green tea throughout my day.
-Exercise routine in detail (cardio/weight training) Morning I do a 15-25 minutes cardio consisting of "knee highs" Jumping Jacks, bike riding running stairs up and down. Afternoon i do cardio on odd days, weight training on even days (with light carido) Basically same thing.. but more intense, more running. I dont know tghe name of the machines for the weights but they are not free weights and i never use over 10 lbs (mostly because i'm weak lol)

my current weight is 250.. my goal (for now) is 180

I've been doing this type of exercising (well not as intense) for about 2 months, about 3 weeks ago i moved it up to twice a day and less calorie intake, because I wasn't losing weight at all, seriously 3 pounds a month was amazing for me.

May 9th I find out if i have a thyroid problem, but i dont know if that could affect my weight loss


My question is a lady at work said she has had some of the same struggles with losing weight and started taking some fiber pills and it helped speed up the process for her. She told me maybe i shoudl try it but would that do anything? I dont have a problem going to the bathroom as it is, and i dont wantg to start taking more pills then i have too not knowing if that would help or hurt me.

So Fiber Pills... a do or a don't?

Oh and if this was posted in the wrong area i'm sorry.. let me know i'll move it! (yea and don't point at the screen saying .. wow she's a moron.. i'll cry.. lol)
 
Are you sure that what you are eating adds up to 1500 calories or even 1400?
Those foods don't sound as though they could add up to that much. I'm not trying to be rude, but I have read a lot about it and think that maybe you started out eating too little. Your body is always going to get used to it's current calorie intake so if you do 500 calories for 2 months and stop losing weight- you just created your new maintenance level at 500 so in order to lose weight you must decrease calories again or step up your workout, but sooner or later you will end up with no calories at all.
If I were you, I would try to really eat 1500 calories a day for a week or two...it is possible that your body thinks it's starving so it stores every bit it gets...I have to up my calories every few days to lose weight- my body dumps it because it realizes it isn't starving. 1500 calories is more like....2 servings special K with skim milk and a banana (large) = 390 calories. Lunch a sandwich with 2 slices 2% cheese, 4 thin slices of ham on two pieces of whole wheat breat (low fat bread) and light light mayo. and maybe a small salad with nothing (dressing or cheese) on it= 270 calories Dinner you could eat Baked or BBQ'ed chicken or fish (3-4 oz), veggies, a salad (again with no dressing) and probably even some rice and not go over 600 calories.
That is 1260 in calories. You could add in 2 snacks (trail mix bar by Kashi) for 140 each = 1540 per day.
See what I am saying about your not eating enough???
I'm really sorry, but I wanted to help. I always did the same thing...think I was stuck or with thyroid problems, but the truth was I was eating way too little. I started out at 245 and actually changed what I was eating for 2 months in may of last year and got down to 220. My son got sick and I got stressed, stopped caring about my diet and went back up to 226.8 by may of this year. Now I have been on my "diet" for 1 week (the proper way) and am down to 220. I'm sure my loss will slow down and I will have to step up my workouts, but at least I have a LONG time to go until I run out of things to do.

Sorry to hijack, but to answer your earlier question about the fiber pills, I think they are a waste of money. I asked a doc about it once and he said that you can get your fiber naturally for free and that the fiber pill may help you lose weight, but that it was a minimal amount- like over the course of the year they lost 10lbs more than other people who were not on the pill. (Possibly people not dieting or having the same diet).
I think the PP is correct in saying to try getting it naturally. I think that the underlying problem might just be that your caloric intake is a little too low.
Just My opinion. Good luck with your weight loss, it's hard as hell, but you can do it!
Alicia
 
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Fibre is very important to weight loss, weight maintainence, and health. It also helps to give you that 'fill' feeling and supress hunger.

I agree with mreik - its quite easy to get enough fibre into your diet through eating oats, other wholegrains, nuts, seeds, greens, other vegetables, and fruit. Not only will these natural fibre rich plants supply you with ample fibre, but with lots of other essential nutrition such as vitamins and antioxidants. There is a lot to be said for eating wholesome and natural foods over eating badly and trying to supplement it with pills.
 
If you are going to get a fiber supp, then don't do it through pills. Get yourself the powder and scoop it into your drinks. It just makes more sense to take one scoop of somthing then possibly having to down 4-5 pills to equal the same amount of fiber you could get in a single scoop.

None the less, i agree with mreik (hey mreik didn't know you were over here)
Get it from food. Besides most fiber pills are filled with insoluble fiber, which only real benefit is adding "bulk" to your bathroom visits. The "Soluble" is the fiber that actually has the "bulk" of the health benefits.
 
It sounds to me like you are not eating enough calories as well. I'd suggest taking a few weeks and increasing your calorie intake and I bet you'd be surprised at yourself losing weight (as long as you keep exercising etc).

I don't really know about the fiber pills but like with most things, I'd suggest getting it naturally.
 
Thanks for all your help guys, finally found this thread again!
I thought maybe i wasn't getting enough food but i'm never hungry, always full so i kept track in writing for about 3 days, showed my doctor and he says i'm fine, could eat more.
I wasn't thinking about using fiber pills, just getting more information from what I was told. And i have no need for them really, so I'm not going there.

Found out that it's not my eatting that is slowing my weight loss, it's my thyroid, which hopefully will get better with this medicine i'm on. i see a specialist on tuesday so I'm trying to keep myself together and see what he says, hopefully it will get my body working againa nd get my metabolism actually working. My test results were very poor and the doctor said it has basically slowed down so much that Im gaining all the time. But the working out has helped since i've been losing weight as far as the scale says.

Other than that i'm all good :)
 
Too much fiber

So I learned the disadvantages of eating too much fiber.

I would suggest to others that it is a bad idea to eat a cup of fiber one cereal. A cup gives you 28.8 grams of fiber, or 116% of your daily value. And of course you get other sources throughout the day.

It is just pretty rough on your lower gastrointestinal tract. And it lasts for a couple days.
 
this really is a relative thing. most people can handle 29 grams of fiber without difficulty. there are other factors to consider as well. too much fiber without enough liquids can give you bowel troubles. and often times it is more the other things consumed with the fiber that cause issues. honestly, id rather not scare people away from fiber with a rather isolated experience such as this, considering that a very large percentage of the population do not get nearly enough fiber, and even more importantly, considering the health benefits of fiber. you might do well to break up your consumption a bit though, 29 grams all at once might be the real cause. try a half cup instead of a full one.

i've had days where i have taken in 50+ grams of fiber with no issues, so dont discriminate against fiber right off the bat... give it another shot
 
yeah I try to get as much fiber as I can. I just learned the hard way that it's not always a good idea to have all of it at once.
 
I am happiest at 50 + grams of fiber a day -anything less than 35 makes for a very unhappy me (i know i know how can you tell the difference :)

keep hydrated and your intestines keep moving..
 
When I was last tracking (in February), I was consuming 46 grams per day, and if anything I imagine that I have increased consumption of fibre. It hasn't given me any problem, and I feel that it has given me a level of well being.
 
As someone with IBS, I know quite a bit about fiber. I get 35 grams of fiber average daily (sometimes more), and I could easily eat more. The RDA is actually quite low. The trick is to not increase it significantly in one day. You have to work your way up to larger amounts. A sudden increase can shock the system and lead to temporary problems. It is very difficult to have too much fiber though.

As CoachCrimson said, plenty of liquid is also important, especially water (when is it not? :) ). Water will help keep things moving smoothly.

Also, there are actually two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble fiber. Here is a quick summary of both (

* Soluble fiber slows digestion and helps your body absorb vital nutrients from foods. It can be found in peas, beans, and apples.
* Insoluble fiber adds bulk to the stool, helping foods pass more quickly through the stomach and intestines. It can be found in wheat bran.

Both types are important. For more in depth details about the types of fiber, you can check out this IBS website:
 
I love fiber. I take at least two heaping tablespoons of pysillium fiber every day. It is a soluble fiber & much easier on your system than insoluble fiber.
Also good for your heart & a side benefit is it fills me up too, so I eat less!
 
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