Can Eating Fiber Help You Lose Weight?

Good old fiber, no matter how hard you try to run away from it, you just can’t. It’s like having an ex., everything else still reminds you of her, in the best way of course. 

Her braided hair, her nice brown caramel skin, her walk and well-mannered temperament. A wonderful soul that unfortunately did not work out, but you genuinely wish her happiness and love. 

How this went from a supposedly nutrition article on fiber and weight loss to talking about your ex-girlfriend to random strangers on the internet is beyond me. Beyond me. 

The analogy doesn’t even make sense, trying to compare fiber to your ex-girlfriend

 Come to think of it, I think this is the silliest thing I’ve ever said. Ever. 

Let’s just dive into the article before things get any weirder….

Before diving into what fiber does, let me quickly explain to you what it is first. 

I know. I know. Just bear with me for a few minutes, it’s all tied back to how it can help you lose weight. I promise. Don’t quit on the article just yet. 

Fiber is a form of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, instead it goes through the body undigested. It comes in two forms, soluble and insoluble fiber.

I am not interested in giving you formal definitions on what each one is, I don’t think it brings you any value at all and most importantly you can literally just google it if it’s something you find interesting. 

Instead of definitions, let me tailor the topic to a more practical use of your time. 

Soluble and Insoluble fiber are both necessary for improving gut health as well as helping you lose weight; however, there are subtle differences.

Soluble fiber helps control glucose and cholesterol levels and much more. 

Insoluble fiber on the other hand, makes it easier to have frequent bowel movements by softening your stools. 

I am treading on a thin line here, right at that intersection between gross and uninteresting to educational and helpful. Hopefully I haven’t crossed that line yet. 

That’s it. I am done. As much as you may want to hear about poop all day, this articles title didn’t entice you for that reason. Your main goal is to lose weight. 

This is coming from one man’s point of view, but if I were to guess, the reason you stumbled on this article is by navigating the net in the hopes of finding helpful articles/videos to help you better understand how you can lose weight. I hope this article can do just that. 

Moving on…… 

Let’s all relax for a second. 

Come on now, give me some credit, I didn’t take that long to get to your favorite part of the article. 

It wasn’t that bad. You’re being a bit dramatic here. 

Fiber similar to protein is great at keeping you full for a long period of time. What that does is, it reduces overall caloric consumption. If you’ve read any of my previous work, calories matter. Calories are king, be it for muscle growth or weight loss. I have spoken it about this ad nauseum and I don’t think it merits reiteration. 

Feeling full on fewer calories may sound like another weight loss gimmick, it’s actually not. That’s exactly what eating high fiber foods does. The concept of food energy density really matters and it can help you make better choices to attain your goal. 

Energy density is the number of calories (energy) in a specific amount of food. 

High energy dense foods are foods loaded with calories in small amounts of foods 

Low energy dense foods are foods with fewer calories in large amounts of foods If that sounds confusing don’t worry, you’re not alone. Let’s try pictures to see if that can help.

High Energy Dense Foods

Low Energy Dense Foods 

When your goal is to lose weight, striving for low energy dense foods is paramount. You can eat far more foods with fewer calories which can help you feel fuller throughout the day. 

If my prior example still didn’t quite make sense to you. I’ll go even simpler. Let’s take grapes and raisins for example. 

High Energy     

Low Energy 

The calorie difference between the two is what dictates whether the food is high or low energy. As you can see raisins are far more energy dense then the grapes, 480 calories compared to 104. This is a prime example of why making better food choices throughout your weight loss journey matters so much. 

I hope this made more sense. 

Shall we move on???? 

Great question.

I’ll give you the general dietary recommendation from google and then I’ll give you my personal recommendation. 

Googles recommendation: 25g/day for women and 38g/day for men 

My recommendation: Try your best to include fiber in all your meals/snacks. You have a life outside of fitness. I don’t expect you to sit there and jot down your daily fiber intake you’re supposed to meet. 

The bottom line is, try your best to get fiber when you can. Period. End of story. 

Here are some high fiber foods you should try in case you were wondering. 

• Chai seeds 
• Black beans 
• Chickpeas 
• Lentils
• Pears
• Avocado 
• Edamame 
• Almonds 
• Raspberries 
• Almonds 
• Collard greens 
• Blackberries
• Baked Potato 
• Peas 
• Popcorn 
• Whole grain bread 
• Strawberries 
• Quinoa 
• Broccoli
• Kiwi
• Blueberries 

As I’ve alluded earlier, calories are king. Don’t expect to lose weight if you aren’t eating in a deficit, regardless of how many high fiber, fruits, vegetables and lean protein you eat. 

If the number of calories you eat supersedes your maintenance weight, you will gain weight. 

If the number of calories you eat keeps you at maintenance, you will maintain your weight. 

It’s the law. Either you get on board or you don’t. Your choice.

Let’s recap once more how fiber can help you lose weight 

#1: It helps you stay full for long periods of time because it takes time for your body to digest it. As a result, you end up eating fewer calories throughout the day. By eating fewer calories, you essentially place yourself in a deficit, which results in weight loss. 

#2: Food energy density plays an important role in weight loss. It dictates the number of calories each food hold. High energy dense foods have far more calories than their counterpart (low energy). 

Your goal is to strive for low energy dense foods because you can eat more of them with fewer calories, which is paramount in your weight loss journey. 

#3: Try to include fiber in every single meal if you can. If you have a hard time hitting the recommended daily amount, don’t sweat. Use the list I created from earlier as a guide. 

That’s it folks

Sayonara