Jordan Ring's Blog

A recent report by the NY Times has highlighted the ongoing work by scientists to discover why fiber is so good for you.  While scientists are still trying to pinpoint exactly why, they are clear as to its benefits: a diet that is rich in soluble fibers such as oatmeal, beans, and nuts – as well as insoluble fibers found in vegetables, cereals, and whole grains – can help lower the risks of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and arthritis, as well as improving heart health.  For this reason, fiber has always been recommended as a staple ingredient in balanced diets; it’s hard working and sensible, rather than faddy or glamorous.  Remarkably, though, Americans are still only eating around half the daily amount recommended by the American Heart Association (25-30g). That means the majority of people are missing out on the many health benefits it has to offer.  Maybe it’s time to celebrate what fiber can do for the rest of your body. Can it really make you more beautiful?

Tipping the scales

A commitment to looking good often includes adopting a healthy, balanced approach to your weight.  Not only do insoluble fiber-rich foods fill you up and keep you feeling satisfied for longer (no more snacking on biscuits here and there!), they can also take longer to chew, giving you time to realize that you don’t need to keep eating.   Fiber can also bind with sugar and fat molecules in your body and move them through the digestive tract, giving you less time to absorb them and their associated calories.  A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who ate 30g of fiber daily, alongside those who followed a similar diet but without the fiber, lost a significant amount of weight.  Of course, beauty can’t be measured on the bathroom scales, but achieving a healthy weight and feeling good about your body will give you a glow that lights up any room. Apples, pears and pistachio nuts are excellent fiber-rich snacks you can keep with you for a tasty treat anytime.

Flawless follicles, fabulous fingers

The spring/summer 2018 catwalk shows were full of tumbling curls and natural looking, healthy hair.  Happily, fiber can help you achieve this without setting foot in an expensive salon. The reason? Digesting food that’s rich in soluble fiber helps to give your body time to absorb the protein that it needs.  A recently updated Harvard Health blog credits protein as essential to good health.  Put simply, it’s a building block for everything in your body from muscle repair to shiny hair.  The article goes on to explore just how much protein adults need per day; but regardless of how much you eat, giving your body time to digest it is the key.  A structural protein called keratin is one of the key ingredients for healthy hair, as it strengthens your hair follicles.  Protein is also used to produce melanin, which gives our hair its natural color and prevents premature grayness.  Conversely, a lack of protein in the diet can cause hair to become dry and brittle, and can even lead to hair loss.

Protein is also essential for growing strong, healthy nails. Lean meats, eggs and seafood are excellent low fat sources of protein, but even better, you could try including lentils, kidney beans, and chickpeas within your diet as they are a great source of both fiber and protein.  Another mineral which your hair and nails really benefit from is magnesium; try pumpkin seeds for a high-fiber, high-magnesium snack.

 

Age-defying skin

Did you know that soluble fiber can help reduce the signs of aging?  Again, it’s because it slows down the time taken for your body to digest your food and absorb what it needs. In this case, the necessary nutrients to produce collagen, which gives skin its elasticity and keeps it looking supple and youthful.  Your body’s natural collagen production declines with age, which is why it helps to boost this along with foods which contain plenty of fiber and vitamin C, such as kiwi, broccoli, and strawberries.

Fiber-rich foods also famously promote a more efficient digestive system, sweeping toxins, fat and waste out of your body.  Left inside, these unwanted by-products can cause breakouts on your skin, which are not only unpleasant, but also potentially scarring.  The other key factor in ridding your body of these toxins is water: drink plenty of it each day to help the fiber do its job. Try and cut down on caffeine where possible, as this dehydrates your skin and reduces your collagen levels, effectively cancelling out all the good work your new fiber-rich diet is doing.

Understandably, many of the headlines surrounding the benefits of fiber tend to focus on the serious diseases it can help to combat.  After all, for something which is relatively inexpensive and easy to find, fiber has been shown to have remarkable effects on vital parts of the body, including your heart and your bloodstream.  It’s also well known for promoting a healthy gut, helping to relieve symptoms of IBS and reducing constipation. However, fiber’s effect on broader body issues – the benefits it offers for weight loss, hair, skin, and nails as above, for example – is no less important.  Although it is often forgotten or overlooked, it’s clear that fiber is an essential building block to be included in any balanced diet; how lucky for us that it comes in so many delicious forms. If you’re really struggling to include enough fiber in your diet, you could of course consider supplements.  However, ideally, sourcing fiber from any of nature’s tasty options should give you all that you need for a healthier, happier body. Moreover, there are lots of easy ways to include it in your whole family’s diet, and build healthy habits from now.

Final Thoughts

Fiber needs an opportunity to be celebrated as a one of the most hard working unsung heroes in our diets.  Recognizing its beauty credentials might just be the first step.

The post The Unexpected Beauty Benefits Of Fiber appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

The following is a free contribution from Jennifer Dawson. Enjoy!

In 2012 an EPIC study smashed away all remaining doubts over the health benefits of fiber. EPIC, (the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) studied the diets and health of 477,312 people (of whom 4,517 contracted colorectal cancer) and concluded that there is a direct link between low fiber diets and an increased chance of contracting cancer. To put it simply – the higher the levels of fiber in your diet from cereals and vegetable the lower your risk of colorectal cancer.

Superb Soluble Fiber

One of the greatest myths surrounding fiber is that all fiber is the same. Many insoluble fibers have been considered by some to be little more than junk for our bodies whereas the role of soluble fibers has been all but ignored by the mainstream media. Foods such as coffee can play a vital role in our diet by providing vital soluble fiber. Soluble fiber is a prebiotic and as such can promote a healthy gut fauna. By feeding your gut bacteria your general health improves in multifaceted ways.

Multiple myths

There are a large number of myths surrounding our diet such as the persistent idea that a high carbohydrate and low fat diet is in some way healthy (when the opposite is actually true). The benefits of high levels of fiber in some fruits can be negated by the high levels of sugar in them and in fact the negative impacts of sugar on our health is often ignored. Very few vitamin supplements do anything for your health and provided you don’t boil your vegetables to mush cooking them is actually more likely to make nutrients available to our bodies than destroy them. To a layperson it may seem confusing but to many scientifically literate people the advice being given out on diet for years has made very little sense.

High fiber foods

A 1979 study on the link between fiber in the diet and health concluded that there either was no link or that it may actually be the case that fiber was bad for you. The same team returned to the subject in 1985 and concluded that the problem had been with calculating the actual level of fiber within foods. Revisiting their original study they were forced to conclude that some of the diets they thought were high in fiber were not and vice versa. If some of the best nutritional scientists in the world could make a mistake as large as this in living history what chance do we have? Thankfully we’ve had 40 years since this mistake to truly study which foods are high in fiber and which fibers in particular are best for us.

First up is the source most highly recommended by the EPIC study – Cereals. Grains are heavily processed in our modern world and this refinement will remove all that is good in them. White and brown bread along with the majority of pastas do nothing good for your health. Wholegrain and wholemeal cereals are the only grains that contain the vital fiber you need. Beans and pulses are fantastic sources of fiber but once again they are often processed. Peeled pulses and processed beans will often remove the fibrous content so to ensure that you get all the benefits from eating them ensure that they still have their skins on (the same is true of potatoes).

The future

Nutrition is an ever-changing subject and one that is far more complex than most people realise. The role of our gut fauna on our health is a topic that we are only just beginning to appreciate. The well-studied role of fiber in the prevention of colorectal cancer is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the benefits of fiber. By acting as a prebiotic for these bacteria, soluble fiber may well end up being associated with prevention against a huge range of cancers and even diseases as diverse as heart disease and strokes.

The post Tackling the Myths That Surround Fiber in Your Diet appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

The following is a free contribution from Jennifer Dawson. Enjoy!

How Coffee Can Improve Fiber Intake

Fiber is an important yet often underrated part of a balanced diet. Soluble fiber helps to lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels, while insoluble fiber is essential to healthy digestion. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t meet the Institute of Medicine Adequate Intake recommendation that adult men get at least 38 grams per day and adult women get at least 25 grams.

The most common way to increase fiber intake is by making dietary changes. Most nutrition experts recommend eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but there’s another daily source of fiber that many people don’t even realize they’re consuming.

Coffee Contains Soluble Fiber

Coffee beans contain plenty of fiber, but does any manage to make its way into the pot? When you brew coffee, a significant amount of soluble fiber passes from ground beans and into your beverage, making coffee more rich in fiber than drinks such as wine or orange juice.

According to the National Coffee Association, 82 percent of American adults drink an average of 3.2 cups of java every day, with each cup containing as much as 1.5 grams of fiber. This unexpected source of fiber helps to keep digestion smooth and cholesterol in check.

In addition to improving digestion through increased fiber intake, caffeine is also known to help ease the passage of food through your tract. Coffee encourages the muscle contractions that your body needs to glean nutrients from food and pass waste through the bowels. If you’d like to take advantage of these fibrous benefits, but find caffeine to be slightly bitter for your taste, then you might be interested in mixing some salt into your coffee which has an amazing effect on your tastebuds.

Combine Coffee with a Healthy Diet

Coffee can help to improve your fiber intake significantly, but it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for fruits and vegetables. The healthiest way to get enough fiber is to combine coffee consumption with a balanced diet that’s rich in greens and whole grains.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who don’t get enough fiber in their diet, it’s important to make some changes in the name of health. Luckily, one of the country’s most popular morning rituals can help to provide you with plenty of fiber. By combining coffee with a healthy diet, you can improve your fiber intake and take control of your health.

-Jennifer Dawson

https://defendyourhealthcare.us

The post How Coffee Can Improve Fiber Intake appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

How Coffee Can Improve Fiber Intake

Fiber is an important yet often underrated part of a balanced diet. Soluble fiber helps to lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels, while insoluble fiber is essential to healthy digestion. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t meet the Institute of Medicine Adequate Intake recommendation that adult men get at least 38 grams per day and adult women get at least 25 grams.

The most common way to increase fiber intake is by making dietary changes. Most nutrition experts recommend eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but there’s another daily source of fiber that many people don’t even realize they’re consuming.

Coffee Contains Soluble Fiber

Coffee beans contain plenty of fiber, but does any manage to make its way into the pot? When you brew coffee, a significant amount of soluble fiber passes from ground beans and into your beverage, making coffee more rich in fiber than drinks such as wine or orange juice.

According to the National Coffee Association, 82 percent of American adults drink an average of 3.2 cups of java every day, with each cup containing as much as 1.5 grams of fiber. This unexpected source of fiber helps to keep digestion smooth and cholesterol in check.

In addition to improving digestion through increased fiber intake, caffeine is also known to help ease the passage of food through your tract. Coffee encourages the muscle contractions that your body needs to glean nutrients from food and pass waste through the bowels. If you’d like to take advantage of these fibrous benefits, but find caffeine to be slightly bitter for your taste, then you might be interested in mixing some salt into your coffee which has an amazing effect on your tastebuds.

Combine Coffee with a Healthy Diet

Coffee can help to improve your fiber intake significantly, but it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for fruits and vegetables. The healthiest way to get enough fiber is to combine coffee consumption with a balanced diet that’s rich in greens and whole grains.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who don’t get enough fiber in their diet, it’s important to make some changes in the name of health. Luckily, one of the country’s most popular morning rituals can help to provide you with plenty of fiber. By combining coffee with a healthy diet, you can improve your fiber intake and take control of your health.

-Jennifer Dawson

https://defendyourhealthcare.us

The post How Coffee Can Improve Fiber Intake Guest Post from Jennifer Dawson appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

A guest post from my friend Joe over at ViveHealth.com-

For active adults, a healthy diet not only helps enhance and maintain your overall health but can also improve overall athletic performance. If you don’t maintain a healthy diet, you’ll get tired, perform poorly, and your health might also deteriorate gradually. Whether you’re in competitive sports or just enjoy a casual activity every now and then, keeping a few simple diet tips in mind can improve your health and help you achieve better results.

A healthy diet for athletic adults isn’t greatly different from that for a normal, healthy person. It is an ideal mix of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fluids (especially water), iron, vitamins, and other minerals. An ideal diet depends on three key factors:

 The type of physical activity or exercise you do. A runner’s diet will be different from that of a weightlifter. Likewise, someone who just does simple cardio, like running, vs. someone who does advanced workouts, like toning their muscles with resistance bands, may need different diet plans.
The amount of training you do every week. Do you have a 3-day split or do you hit the gym five times a week?
The amount of time each workout lasts.

How much to eat and how long before the workout?

The answer depends on your digestive system. You could eat a well-balanced, nutrition-packed meal one or two hours before the workout or a small, easy to digest snack about half an hour before. If you eat too early or too little, your energy will crash leading to dizziness and tiredness. Eat too much and your digestive system and muscles will start competing for blood flow when you exercise. Your muscles always win, leaving the food undigested in your stomach, that can cause pain in the gut.

Simple rules to maintain a healthy diet: load up on complex carbs and fiber

Carbohydrates should be the source of any athlete’s main fuel. 65%-75% of your calories should come from carbohydrates. Foods like vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, whole grain bread, bagels, and cereals are packed with carbs, energy, vitamins, fiber, and minerals, yet low in fat. Your body stores carbs as glycogen (a type of sugar) in your muscles and liver, and uses it during the physical activity. So, make sure you load on carbs before any workout and during an extended activity that lasts longer than an hour. For shorter workouts, sipping on some water should suffice. Also, reload the energy in your muscles after an intense workout.

Note that we are talking about complex carbs here. Simple carbs such as sugar, candies, jams, and soft drinks are packed with calories but don’t offer any nutritional value as there are no vitamins, minerals or other nutrients in them.

Eat proteins but in moderation

Protein intake, when coupled with strength training, can build, grow, and repair muscle. An average person should eat about 1 grams of protein per each pound of body weight. For extremely active adults, and especially those who are trying to lose some fat, up to 1.5 grams of protein per each pound of body weight can be consumed. Some ideal sources of protein include fish, poultry, lean meat, milk, egg whites, nuts, and beans. On the flip, eating too much protein can cause an increase in body fat, boost chances of dehydration, and can put added strain on your kidneys.

Ease up on fat

Fat, especially good fats, might not be as bad as many think. As per U.S Department of Agriculture, active adults should get about 25% of their calories from fats. For extended exercises and marathons, your body turns to fat to get energy once it runs low on available carbs. Good fats mean unsaturated fats that come from vegetable oils, fatty fish (trout, tuna, salmon, catfish, etc.), avocado, nuts, seeds, olives and so on.  Bad fats, i.e. saturated, and trans fatty acids can raise cholesterol level and cause diseases, especially heart disease. These are commonly found in animal products such as dairy, poultry, eggs, partially hydrogenated oils, etc. Vegetable fats that stay liquid at room temperature also fall into this category.

Stay hydrated

One overlooked, but most important part of an active adult’s diet is fluids, especially plain water. Water, fresh juices, fruit smoothies, green tea, and skim milk help you replenish the fluids lost as sweat during exercise, and keep your body temperature at an ideal level. In just one hour of intensive exercise, your body can get deprived of several liters of sweat.  Drink plenty of water before exercise and continue sipping during the workout, with every meal, and throughout the day. Depending on the weather, your physical condition, and your workout routine, you might need to drink anywhere between 6-10 8-ounce glasses of water every day.

To see if you’re properly hydrated or not, look at the color of your urine. A pale yellow to clear is the ideal color, indicating your body is well-hydrated, the darker it gets, the more dehydrated your body is. An orangish yellow urine hints you’re severely dehydrated and need to see a physician.

Thanks for reading!

-Joe

The post A Healthy Diet for Athletic Adults appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

Guest post by Jennifer Dawson. Thanks for reaching out and writing up an awesome post!

Guest Post by Sarah Jones. Thanks so much for reaching out Sarah and for writing this up! Very much appreciate it.

With almost everyone trying to achieve their personal fitness and health goals, making the best dietary choices are an absolute prerequisite. But with so much information out there, who knows what exactly we should be eating after a workout.

The majority of Americans are not consuming enough fiber in their daily diets, which means this may be the key to completing your pre, mid, and post workout diet. Most Americans only consume about 14g per day while the recommended target is between 20 and 38g.  

Why fiber

Fiber is essential for the human body. Without fiber, your body may experience constipation, hemorrhoids, or other conditions like diverticulosis. Also, the food with the most fiber, such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains are also very low in calories.

The reason fiber is often touted for weight loss benefits is that fiber rich foods, while being low-calorie sources, are also more filling, flows straight out the body does not add to your calorie storage. The effort required to break down the fiber within the mouth leads to a prolonged eating session, which causes people to be more mindful of when they are full.

Fiber snacks

If you’re interested in adding more fiber to your diet for whatever reason, you can rest easy knowing that there are plenty of ways to add fiber to your breakfast, lunch and dinner meals.

One great example of a high fiber super food is chia seeds. Not only can chia seeds make the insanely trendy chia pudding, but it can also be used for baking, to thicken up meatballs or soups and can also be turned into a homemade energy gel.  

To make the homemade energy gel, simply combine a few tablespoons of chia seeds with some coconut water, let the mixture sit for a few minutes so that the chia seeds can soak in the coconut water and then, you are all set to be revitalized after your exhausting workout. Don’t forget you can even use them before workouts.

Everyone loves a good protein bar or energy bar, but normally they are loaded with additives and it can take a while before you find a brand that actually tastes right, so what’s a girl to do?

Make your own, of course, to make these breakfast bars you will need: oats, peanut butter, flax seed, wheat germ, protein powder, cinnamon, honey, vanilla essence, and salt.

Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ones in another. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet bowl, pour them into a baking tray, shove them straight into the oven for 20 minutes while you get a cup of coffee. Once they’re done remember to let them cool while still in the pan and then simply cut them into the correct portions for the week.

The important thing to remember while making yourself these snacks is that they are meant to be eaten for the week and not to wolf them down in minutes, which has been known to happen. If you are truly lazy and lacking all sense of imagination, then a piece of fruit or some chopped up carrots are a great option. My personal favorite combo is chopped carrots with apple slices and some peanut butter for dipping.

A great example of a quick, easy fiber filled snack is of course popcorn, but if you are in the mood to create something spectacular then you can’t go wrong with raw little energy balls. These little balls are stuffed to the max with fiber and plant protein to ensure you keep operating at maximum speed for hours.

For this variation we are going to need almond butter, coconut oil, ground flax powder, honey, steel cut oats, chocolate chips, chia seeds, raw cacao and of course a little salt. Mix all the wet then add in the cacao, then slowly add in the dry ingredients. Finally, move onto the fun part, roll your mixture into little balls and pop them in the fridge to eat at your leisure.

If you are wondering about what exactly the effects are of eating such a fiber filled dish after a workout, then fear not. One of the best effects of fiber is that it helps to regulate the body’s internal processes and thereby leads to you being more likely to achieve a better night’s sleep. That and it’s healthy for you.

Fiber is extremely easy to include in your diet. From popcorn and apples to broccoli and homemade energy balls, anyone can eat a more fiber filled diet. So the next time you head home after a workout and are staring at the fridge wondering what to make before you pass out from hunger, why not try a fiber-filled snack and help your body heal from the inside out?

Sarah Jones

Bio: Sarah began writing Simmer and Zest when she first started becoming more involved in her kitchen. SInce then, she has learned more about food and wants to share it with everyone who enjoys it as much as she does

The post Fiber-Rich Workout Snacks: How to Make Them appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

[image error]Hey guys and gals,

Today we are blessed to hear from another blogger, Kelly Crawford who writes for Hardboiledbody.com

She is going to talk about high fiber diets and how they can fight diabetes. This ties in perfectly with my new book on the subject of reducing sugar intake so I though it would resonate on this site.

Take it away Kelly:

High Fiber Diets: Can they control Diabetes?

[image error]If you suffer from diabetes, taking control of your diet is of paramount importance to your health and well-being. Most people, diabetic or not, do not have enough fiber intake from the correct foods, which gives the long term prospect of staying healthy and challenging diabetes, somewhat an uphill struggle.

If you have diabetes, the most important thing is to maintain your blood sugar levels. Fiber certainly assists with this, plus, the correct daily intake will improve your heart health and combat cardiovascular disease which is a serious danger for diabetics.

What is fiber?

When people hear the word ‘carbohydrate’, most instantly assume that these are bad for you. However, dietary fiber is a carbohydrate gleaned from plant-based foods. The difference between this type of carbohydrate and the ‘naughty’ ones, is that it is not digested or absorbed into the body, but it has a starring role in keeping you healthy. There are two types of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble, neither of which is better than the other.

Dietary fiber does absorb fluid, the consequence of which is an increase in waste matter from your body, in the form of stools, which become much softer and easier to dispel or excrete.

What foods contain fiber? [image error]

For soluble fiber, the best food groups are bran, oat bran, barley, beans, linseeds, lentils, nuts, pulses and soya. For insoluble fiber, bran, nuts, seeds, wholegrain cereals and fruit and vegetables, particularly with the skin on. White bread, cakes, pastries and cookies are unlikely to possess any useful fiber, unfortunately! High fiber foods are considered to be those with a minimum of 5g per serving.

If you are going to eat grains in particular, make sure that they are whole-grains and free of sugar. Oatmeal will always provide a healthy breakfast start to the day and will help prevent ‘snacking’ as generally, it will satiate your appetite for a good few hours. Likewise, any pasta consumed for lunch or dinner must be whole-grain, and rice should be brown and untreated. If in doubt, quinoa is another very good option, or try buckwheat or rye to be certain.

Your body needs fuel, but it has to be the right fuel to maintain good health and keep you operating like the well-oiled machine you should be. After all, if you put the wrong gas into your car, that certainly won’t work either!

High fiber vegetables are essential – broccoli, peas, Brussel sprouts and cabbage or spinach are excellent choices. Beware of peas though, they are quite high in carbohydrate value, as is corn. They are both nutritious, but a potential danger zone for diabetics.

Beans have some of the highest value in terms of fiber, with somewhere between 5 and 10g per half cup (this is dependent on which type of bean). Kidney beans and navy beans have some of the highest fiber content.

 Best fruits to consume are apples, pears and berries, but pay attention to any of the fruits higher in sugar content, such as pineapple or mangos.


How much fiber is the right amount?

It has always been assumed that the beneficial amount of daily fiber does vary according to gender and age, but the USDA have now specified that this is not relevant and should be based on the amount of calorific intake http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/recommended-daily-serving-fiber-4262.html

However, The American Diabetes Association recommends 25-30 grams per day, better consumed as food, rather than supplements. Whole foods also contain other vital nutrients such as vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

The benefits of a high fiber diet

There are several other health risks involved with diabetes, that a high fiber diet can help reduce.

Cardiovascular disease
High cholesterol
Hypertension
Colo-rectal cancer
Obesity

Whilst increasing your fiber intake by consuming the right foods is not a cure for diabetes, it is a huge step in keeping the disease under control. If consuming more fiber has not been on your agenda, do start slowly, to avoid any digestive disruptions, and certainly consult your medical practitioner.

Be a smart shopper

By shopping cleverly, you can help yourself keep on the right path on a high fiber diet. Read labels properly; look for ‘wholegrain or whole-wheat’ products in your basic shopping for bread, cereals and as a treat, crackers. Stock up your store cupboard with canned beans, pulses, lentils etc. You will be more inclined to eat these high fiber foods if you don’t have to cook them from raw. They can be easily put into stews, casseroles, curries and also to boost your fiber intake in salads.

If you are changing your normal diet, go slowly to avoid any digestive problems, and certainly consult your medical practitioner before any alternations to your normal pattern.

About the Author

[image error]Kelly Crawford is passionate about health, well being, running and minimalist. As a competitive runner, she has insight into the struggles of  balancing work-outs with good nutrition and injury prevention. She is a contributing writer for HardBoiledBody.com – a site dedicated to health,

nutrition and fitness advice.

You can find her here:

https://www.facebook.com/hardboiledbody

The post High Fiber Diets: Can they control Diabetes? appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

[image error]Hey guys!

I have the pleasure of introducing one of my friend’s in the publishing world, Rob Archangel. He is a fellow health guru that also happens to runs his own publishing company (how cool is that!?). I asked him to share a little bit about his own journey and what follows is his story.

I have used the services his company offers several times to make the covers for my books. Their customer service is top-notch, and I won’t go anywhere else because the quality is always spot on.

Beyond that, him and his team actually care about my success as an author and as a person. Building relationships is a major key to success in any endeavor, and they are doing it right. They want my books to be a success as much as I do.

If you have any interest in writing your own book you should check out their current promotion. It is a crazy good deal offering a book cover and formatting services for a price that can’t be beat.

I believe everyone has something to say and that everyone has at least one book in them.

Here is what Rob has to say:

“Dear Fiber Warriors,

Rob Archangel here. My team and I had the pleasure of helping Jordan with a couple of his book projects. He asked me to contribute a little something about health and writing.

Why would anyone care about a publisher’s take on health? Funny you should ask; my interest in this topic actually started me down the path of helping authors share their stories. How so?

A few years ago, maybe like some of you, I was a voracious reader in the health and fitness arena. In high school, it was because I wanted to get in shape and find dates. I went down the rabbit hole, and over the years became a vegetarian, then vegan, then paleo/WAPF-ish locavore. I actually worked on a permaculture homestead for a while and helped run an uncertified organic CSA. Learned a lot about small business and economics in the process, but that’s a story for another day.

Eventually I found my way to the site of my company co-founder Matt Stone. He was a similarly voracious reader but had been applying himself, writing essentially as a health journalist for several years, and had some interesting takes on things.

What struck me about him was that he had read all the books I had, all the books I had on my docket but hadn’t yet read, and a bunch of books not anywhere on my radar. And he had some different conclusions than me. I thought I was approaching the end of history, and everything health and fitness-related would neatly wrap up pointing toward low-carb paleo/psuedo-paleo diets as optimal for all people everywhere and at all times, and as the fix for what ails us personally, socially and ecologically.

I realized that easy story might not be right, I might have blind spots, and things might not wrap up so neatly. Maybe sometimes, the answers to health lied elsewhere beyond more and more aggressive dietary interventions. So the pursuit of truth and health and happiness took new directions.

Matt and I became friends over time, and eventually he needed some help expanding his reach as an writer. We boot-strapped our way into the self-publishing world, putting up his books into Kindle, paperback and audiobook format, and later started doing the same for others. With an expanded team, I’ve now had the good fortune of helping hundreds of authors.

I realized my own well being was partly linked to having a sense of purpose and excitement, to sharing a message I thought had value. I wasn’t creating much content (though I did create some), but I enjoyed getting the message out as best I could. It was in my wheelhouse to pay attention to detail and navigate through uncertainty to find and present work with clarity.

Writing for some people is like that; it provides a sense of purpose, and camaraderie. It’s satisfying to interact and connect with people who have similar perspectives, and grow together, to be exposed to new information and incorporate that into our lives.

Taking care of the basics is important; you still want to generally eat quality food, move your body in challenging and satisfying ways, and sleep well. But after you’ve taken care of those essentials, you might enjoy some health benefits in cultivating meaningful relationships and pursuing creative and stimulating work. That might be your drum hobby, open-mic nights, volunteering, or writing for an audience.

Whatever it is, experiment with an open mind and follow what strengthens you and provides meaning. If you are ever interesting in writing and publishing your work, we’re here at Archangel Ink and would love to help. But that’s not the crux of this message; my hope is to contribute something of value here to your pursuit and health, and I wish all you receiving this the best on that front. ”

Thanks for reading, now go write that book!

-Jordan

 

The post Guest Post: Living With Purpose and Direction Beyond the Essentials appeared first on Fiber Guardian.

Hey guys!

The holiday season is one of the best times of the year. with snow falling (for those northerners) and Christmas music seemingly blasting from every known source of sound, the spirit is with us all.

This time can be a great time to spend with family, enjoy cool new gadgets, and be merry.

But we all know how difficult the season can be as well, especially when we are trying to eat healthy. My wife and I are going to Mexico in January and we want to look good for each other.

The biggest problem? 

January comes after December, and the Christmas season is FULL of cookies, cakes, brownies, punch, huge meals, and delicious homemade bread! And of course, as well know, this does NOT last just one day or one night. We ALL have multiple times per day when we are tempted to reach for a sweet or overindulge during a pot luck.

I don’t know about you, but I love big family meals around a big table. There is something pleasing and uplifting about enjoying good food with good company. But this just isn’t usually a good thing for healthy eating. Unless you have a family full of vegans and health nuts, those big family home cooked meals are not going to be that good for you.

The solution?

Here are 7 tips for avoiding an expanded waste line this holiday season. Nothing here is overly difficult to put in practice. Take these few simple steps seriously and I can guarantee you will have a more enjoyable holiday season.

Tip #1: Make a Plan

There is no faster path to failure than not having any sort of plan. This is especially true when trying to take it easy by not over indulging on a lot of unhealthy foods. If you make a plan, even if you don’t stick to it 100% at least you have something to revert back to.

It can be really easy to continue indulging in bad foods when you have the “well its Christmas” attitude. This attitude is actually okay and even encouraged up to a point, but when you look back at your day and realize you had 3 brownies, a soda, and more chips than you can remember, you know why your stomach doesn’t feel that great.

A good plan limits the bad foods you want to eat in order to be able to savor them. You want to make a plan that you will be comfortable with and that supports your current goals. It might be best to avoid any bad food completely, but this won’t be necessary for most. For me, I love a good piece of chocolate pie, and if one became available on Christmas day I would most assuredly indulge.

Plan to have a good day, but also plan to limit yourself so as to stick to your weight loss and healthy eating goals.

Tip #2: Drink Water

This one is a no-brainer, but there are so many people that don’t drink enough water. Drink it when you wake up, drink a glass before every meal, and drink a glass whenever you think of it. Water is the #1 tool to use for weight loss, and it only makes sense to stay focused on it during the holiday season.

This is the one tip you just can’t forget.

You don’t like the taste?

Get over it. Getting healthy means drinking more water, period.

Tip #3: Carry Around an Apple

Please don’t take this one too literally, but if it takes actually carrying around an apple to help you to lose weight and make better decisions, embrace it and don’t feel ashamed.

Keep something healthy like an apple or mixed nuts with you when your family takes a day trip to the movies or to go ice skating. It is a much better snack than most refreshment stands offer.

This is very similar to tactic #8 in my book The Action Diet in which I talk about the importance of having something healthy for every meal. You always want to get something good in your system no matter what else you are eating. Carrying around healthy snacks allows you to do this at all times.

Tip #4: Make Fitness a Family Event

Some of you might do this already, but my family always goes out and plays football together every year at Christmas time. “Family Football” is a great time to get out there and earn those calories.

It doesn’t matter what kind of physical activity is it, but doing something active is always a good idea, especially in the holiday season. This means you can:

Go for a walk
Play an active “board game” like charades
Throw the frisbee or football
Wrestle with your brothers
Have a jog in place competition
Take a hike with your family

Basically anything active is a good idea here and will help to keep the holiday bulge away