Fiber is a key ingredient in everybody’s eating plan. This powerful nutrient is critical to get enough of if you are losing weight.

Here are nine important facts about fiber that will help you feel great and lose weight.

1. Fiber is a natural fighter of diseases. A diet that is rich in fiber helps in the prevention of colon cancer and heart disease. Fiber also helps in the elimination of cholesterol by the action of binding it to the digestive tract. Fiber also helps in stopping constipation.

2. Fiber helps in cooling off your body when it is over-heated. High fiber foods usually take longer to chew, thereby they take longer to digest thus making you feel satisfied for a longer period of time.

3. There is very little fiber in popular, processed foods. If you eat a lot of processed foods instead of a lot of fruits and vegetables, they you probably need to increase your fiber content.

4. The best sources of fiber are concentrated grain products and whole grains.

5. It is essential for kids to have fiber. Children older than two years should include fiber in their diet. They are most receptive to getting their daily fiber intake through fruits, fortified breakfast cereals and vegetables.

6. The more fiber you ingest, the more water you must drink. For fiber to move through your digestive tract, a lot of water is needed. When a diet rich in fiber is consumed, a minimum of eight glasses of water per day are necessary.

7. The health benefits of fiber are not lost during cooking. While cooking fruits and vegetables there is no need to worry about losing the fiber content. The fiber found in these fruits and vegetables aren’t only in the skin.

8. Fiber must not be taken beyond a certain limit. You should not ingest more than 50 gms per day as this may lead to diarrhea and bloating. Too much fiber can also interfere with the absorption of other minerals into your body.

9. It is a common misconception that it is hard to get enough fiber in your diet. This is not true! You just need to eat the right kinds of foods and take a fiber supplement if necessary.

Eating fiber is an important part of achieving a healthy lifestyle!

There’s nothing like biting into a sweet, crunchy grape on a warm day.

Grapes make for excellent snacks, or as added bursts of flavor in salads and chicken dishes.

Always be ready to eat grapes when you buy them because they are only harvested when fully ripe.

When choosing grapes, use color as your guide. Red grapes should be a deep crimson, not a milky or pale red. As well as choosing the grapes by their color, make sure the stem is a green color: the greener the stem, the fresher the grapes. They should also be firmly attached to the stems.

Keep grape bunches in the refrigerator, and they will stay fresh for a week to ten days. Washing and removing grapes from their stems is about all that is needed to prepare grapes before you’re ready to eat them.

Grapes are excellent in cold salads, especially chicken, turkey, or tuna salads. They’re also perfect to add to your kid’s lunches for a sweet treat during school time.

Sorting out the different types of fiber can be confusing. Here’s a quick run-down:

Soluble fiber may help promote normal blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Find it in oatmeal, barley, nuts and seeds, beans, and fruits and vegetables like Brussels sprouts and oranges.

Insoluble fiber promotes regularity by helping food move through the digestive system. Food sources include bran cereals, whole-wheat breads and pastas, and fruits and vegetables, such as carrots and apples.

Health authorities don’t give specifics on how much of each type of fiber to eat, so focus on eating a variety of fiber-containing foods to meet recommendations. Getting 25 grams of fiber per day is a good goal for many people.

To get your fill of fiber, eat at least 2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of vegetables daily. Replace foods made with refined grains (such as white bread) with alternatives like whole-wheat bread and pasta, oats and brown rice. Choose bran or other high fiber cereals. Include beans and lentils in your meals regularly. Remember to gradually add these fiber-rich foods and to drink more fluids as you increase the amount of fiber you eat.

You were probably losing weight successfully for the first few weeks after you joined a new diet program, only to be stuck to a certain point later. When people start a diet program they rapidly lose a few pounds, because most diet programs are created to offer you ‘instant weight loss’. Sadly enough, this ‘instant weight loss’ is more often than not ‘temporary’ weight loss.

You will lose weight very quickly for the first few weeks but after that, you will suddenly discover that the scale is not going down anymore! You are not losing any more weight than what you have lost already! You have hit a situation commonly known as weight loss plateau! In such situations, the only remedy is a complete overhaul of your lifestyle habits.

You have probably done the same sets of exercises as well as ate the same types of foods over and over again during those first few weeks when you were losing weight. As a result your body got accustomed to your diet and exercise routine. When that happened, your weight loss methods failed to bring any sustainable results!

If you want to go beyond this point, you need to change your diet and exercise regimen.

Here are two methods you need to follow to get out of the weight loss plateau.

1. Calorie-counting is not the way to go: When you count your calories, you basically limit the intake of calories to an abnormally low level. When you eat low calorie foods, there is no incentive for your body to increase your metabolic rate since it has to burn only a few calories. The result is that your metabolic rate always remains at a very low level. When your metabolic rate is low, you aren’t able to burn fat!

In order to burn fat and lose weight successfully, you need to forget about calorie counting and eat enough so that your body is forced to keep your metabolic rate at a high level. Your body needs fuel to burn fat, and it can get that fuel only from foods!

2. Exercise more: If you have been avoiding exercises altogether, or have been doing only light exercises, then you cannot lose weight. Weight loss is only possible if you perform high intensity workouts daily. Instead of being afraid of exercises, try to love them. Exercises are yet another powerful way of increasing your metabolic rate.

Follow these two methods and you will soon be able to acquire the slim body you desire!

Not Really! Just Teach Me Their Secrets

Considering that a huge proportion of our population is overweight, you probably have a friend or two that wants to lose weight too.

Partnering up to be “weight loss buddies” will significantly benefit BOTH of your progress. It also makes the habit changes you’ll be making easier since you’ll have someone to talk to who understands what you are doing.

Since you will be making lifestyle changes, it always helps to have a partner. For ideas, for support and for celebrating your success, a weight-loss buddy is key!

Why the banana of course! The banana is the most well known and eaten tropical fruit.

I eat a banana every day. They are said to contain everything that a human body needs nutritionally. They contain all of the 8 amino-acids that our body cannot produce by itself.

Bananas are available all year round and they are a great source of instant energy.

They contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol. Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 and they are a great source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.

A medium size banana contains approximately 110 calories and 4 grams of fiber. They are easy to digest and very few people have allergies to them.

Bananas are good for your mood because they contain serotonin and norepinephrine. Their nutritional value makes the a great post-exercise snack.

Bananas are great for your meal plans because of their convenience. They make great snacks by just peeling and eating. They even come in their own “packaging” (very “green” and eco-friendly too)!

TIP: Peel your banana from the bottom up and you won’t have to pick those little “stringy things” off it. Thats how the primates do it!

You can use bananas in a variety of ways. You can cook them or freeze them and even make mock ice cream with them!

There are several types of bananas – most popular is the sweet banana pictured here. Plantains are a type of banana most often used in cooking.

There are some great recipes for bananas in my e-book, The Super Simple Weight Loss Plan – Tips and Techniques for Fast and Permanent Weight Loss Without Dieting, Drugs or Surgery.

Did you know that you can make your face look 10 pounds lighter with just makeup? What if you have a really important event to attend and you don’t have time to “diet” away those extra 10 pounds that shows in your face?

Well, you can use makeup to make your face look 10 pounds lighter in just 10 seconds. You can even use the makeup you already have. Sounds amazing but it’s true!

An awesome lady named Tif P, who has been in the modeling and entertainment industry for most of her life, shows you exactly step-by-step how to lose 10 pounds in 10 seconds.

Check out her website at www.MarvelousMakeup.com or all the details. She will teach you her quick makeup trick that she learned over her many years in the modeling and acting industry. Now you’ll know the trick used by top models, actors and makeup artists everyday!

My 3rd secret Super Simple Weight Loss is to manage your stress and emotions. Why? Because you want to avoid the dreaded “emotional (over)eating” syndrome!

Since one of the keys to Super Simple Weight Loss is to “eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full”, it is important NOT to eat for emotional reasons.

Eat only when you are hungry, I mean physically hungry, not emotionally hungry. If you are emotionally hungry, no amount of food will satisfy you. If you are really hungry, you will get full as you eat!

If you are emotionally hungry, you can do something besides eat. You could take a walk, listen to some music, call a friend, run an errand, do a hobby, play with the dog, meditate, exercise, or any number of non-food solutions.

Movement is a great way to satisfy emotional hunger. Click here for more information.

What kind of language do you use with yourself when talking about weight? The language you use makes a big difference to you success!

When I changed the words I use, my weight loss efforts became Super Simple.

Make your changes gradual. Remember your mind replaces one habit with another and it takes 21 days to create a new habit. So, practice, practice, practice …

Start with the following:

1. Replace the word DIET with the words MEAL PLAN.

2. Replace the words WEIGHT LOSS with the words WEIGHT RELEASE.

3. Replace the word EXERCISE with the word MOVEMENT.

That is a great start towards changing your attitude about your weight.

Do you blame yourself for being overweight? You are not alone! Blame is a normal reaction when you feel your weight is out of control.

But here is the REAL truth! You cannot lose the weight that you want to lose or have the body that you’ve always dreamed of unless you address the REAL issues that are holding you back, not just what you think is holding you back.

Unlike what you’ve been told for so long, it is NOT because you aren’t disciplined enough, or dedicated enough, or you don’t try hard enough or don’t really want to lose the weight badly enough.

None of that is true and it never was. There are hidden obstacles that have been holding you back all along and once you uncover them, you can have the perfect body that you’ve always wanted!

There is a great 8-hour audio series that shows you how to uncover your hidden obstacles to weight loss. It works in all areas of your life and has helped me so much. It is an amazing program. Find out more at www.FreeingYourInnerWinner.com.