Welcome back to my own little corner of cyberspace and the blogosphere. I promise to finish my blog tonight. Last night I was well past the state of exhaustion. Today’s picture was taken at our hotel before I left this morning. The blouse I’m wearing was one of my thrift store purchases from last year. On the way from Virginia to my daughter’s in Pennsylvania today,we stopped at a Good Will. I got 6 tops for $18.91, 3 at $2 apiece, and 3 at $3.99. Is that a deal or what? One is a summer one, all the rest I can wear now. I think I have accessories with me that might work with one. Staying at my daughter’s through Friday. Then she’s taking me home. She’s going with just my granddaughter and staying at her brother’s Friday and Saturday. They have two boys. So they’ll be around for my birthday on Saturday. I’m really happy to spend some time here. My granddaughter is a trip. I got a real greeting tonight. She was so excited to see me this time. She must have heard when we got here, because she ended up getting out of bed and then stayed up for quite awhile. So now we will finally get to what I was supposed to discuss last night. We’re going to talk fiber. We’re going to use something found in Fitness Magazine entitled,”Fiber: The New Fat Fighter”. Are you always hungry? Research shows that filling up on foods high in fiber, can boost your health, keep you from overeating, and help you lose weight. A few years ago, no one wanted to talk about it. Now you see it mentioned everywhere and see it on packaging, in all kinds of items at the grocery store. Last year, manufacturers introduced more than 1,500 high-fiber, whole-grain products. That’s an increase of 121 % since 2005. Now you can get high fiber English muffins or even whole bean chocolate bars. Studies have linked a diet of fiber rich foods,to a reduced risk of heart disease,diabetes, and cancer, and also to losing weight without feeling hungry. Researchers at Harvard Medical School , found that women who increased their intake of high-fiber or whole-grain foods, over a 12 year period, were half as likely to become obese , as those who decreased their consumption. So how does fiber work? Basically it’s the part of plant foods, ( fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, legumes, and seeds) , that your body can’t digest. There are two types of fiber; insoluble, and soluble. Insoluble fiber helps foods pass through the digestive system, and soluble fiber helps eliminate fat and lower chloresterol. Thanks to soluble fiber, sugars and fats enter your bloodstream at a slower rate, giving you a steady supply of energy. When you eats foods that lack fiber, your blood sugar can spike quickly. Then it crashes, causing hunger and overeating. The more fiber a food has, the better. Fiber packed foods tend to be low-cal so you can eat a lot. I will post the link to the info found here,, and you can read who the author is who talks about the information, and a book that they wrote on the subject. http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/fiber-the-new-fat-fighter/. Fiber makes you full because it swells in your stomach when it absorbs liquid. Fiber is also a heart hero. It helps to lower chloresterol and blood pressure, and it increases blood flow. Because of soluble fiber’s potent effect, the FDA allows companies to advertise this fact on products like oatmeal. The nutrient also reduces levels of C reactive protein ( CRP) a marker of inflammation. Remember I talked about this in a previous issue. Rose and Chris , make sure you notice this tie in. Also note this. Researchers from the Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, found that people with the highest fiber intake were 63% less likely to have these elevated levels, than people who followed low fiber diets. So why do you need more fiber? The simple answer is that most of us aren’t getting enough. The average American woman, consumes about 10-15 grams a day, about half of what’s needed to meet the basic reccomendations of 25 grams. And experts say more is even better, maybe 30 to 40 grams. We’re going to stop there for today and try to finish up tomorrow. Go to the link I posted above and look through the section after this, that shows a 7 day no hunger diet. I will discuss a little more from this article tomorrow. After we finish up on this, look forward to something I recently received a request for. We will be doing various segments on lower calorie ethnic dishes as part of my daily blog. Think you’re gonna really love this idea. So that’s it for this time. Committ to having the start of a successful week. You can do it. Everyone has it in them. Reach back and grab what you know is inside of you, and harness it to begin your greatest success to date. Till next time, God Bless.

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