Welcome to Week 2 of our New Year’s Nutrition Boot Camp! Before we officially move on to our next challenge, there’s a piece of business we need to take care of first:
A GIVEAWAY!
One lucky boot camp participant will be receiving a FREE infusion water bottle this week. These water bottles are great to add whatever type of *natural* flavor you’d like to your water! Hopefully this will keep on track with consuming your 8 cups of water each day!
Instructions to enter the giveaway:
- After this week’s challenge ends on Sunday, leave a comment below letting me know how week 1 went and how many points you earned in week 1
- The giveaway will close Tuesday at 11:59 EST
- The winner will be picked at random (not by points)
- The winner will be announced on Wednesday
- You have to have been officially enrolled in boot camp by yesterday (Jan 8) to enter
- If you’d like to jump in with our challenges then please join us!! click here for sign-up details
Now that we are nice and hydrated from Week 1, it’s time to move on to our second goal 
Your goal for this week
Your goal for this week is to consume the daily recommended amount of dietary fiber. These recommendations come for the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans. You can find the specific amount of fiber recommended daily for your age group below:
Use your Week 2 Food Diary to keep track of your food intake and fiber goal. Download it here!
Here is a list of foods high in fiber from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
You can check nutrition labels for fiber content, and you can also look up foods individually on meal tracking websites like My Fitness Pal.
Why is fiber important in our diets?
Remember last week when I said I see people making 3 primary mistakes when it comes to weight loss? The first was not staying hydrated. The second is not eating enough fiber. The average American does not consume the daily recommended amount of fiber, despite many health benefits:
#1- Fiber is great for weight loss because it helps you to feel full! Foods low in fiber are typically not as filling compared to their high-fiber versions.
#2- Fiber helps with GI health
#3- Fiber slows down the digestion of carbohydrates in your body, which can prevent a spike in blood sugars (great tip for those with diabetes)
#4- Fiber helps lower your cholesterol
#5- Fiber has also been shown to lower blood pressure
Foods that are higher in fiber include: whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.
Rule for this week
Fiber supplements (powders, pills, etc.) do not count towards your daily goal
The overall purpose of this week is to choose food items that are rich in nutrients and fill our bodies up with all of the good stuff. What we DON’T want to do is reach for heavily processed items that have been fortified with added nutrients to meet our fiber goal. So I would strongly encourage you to try to meet your fiber goal with foods that are naturally high fiber… whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Your foods that are made to be “fiber” products usually have added sugar and a long list of unfamiliar ingredients. Just something to keep in mind!
Tips for this Week
The average American does not consume the daily recommended amount of fiber. In case you find this week’s goal a bit challenging, here are some tips that may help you:
- Before Monday, pick a day from your Week 1 food diary and add up how much fiber you ate that day. This will give you a good idea of where you’re starting.
- Remember that food in its most natural form will have more fiber than the heavily processed version. Here are some examples:
- Fresh fruit has more fiber than fruit juice
- Whole grains have more fiber than refined grans (ex: whole wheat bread has more fiber than white bread)
- Split your fiber intake up throughout the day instead of trying to consume it all at one meal. For example, if your goal is 28g then aim for 9-10g at each meal.
- Don’t forget to bulk up your snacks with foods that contain fiber! Check out this post for snack ideas.
- Keep up your water intake!!! Increasing fiber is good for your GI tract but you have to stay hydrated
Check back on Tuesday for a post- “10 tips for adding fiber to your diet”
P.S. It’s not too late to join the New Year’s Nutrition Boot Camp!!! click here for sign-up details.
I started the new year with bronchitis, which meant a lot of rest and not a lot of steps at the beginning of week one. Thankfully, drinking plenty of water helped me recover! I’m feeling much better now, and I’m happy to be back on my feet. I earned 12 points this week, and I am excited for the fiber challenge in week 2!
Well, I managed to get a lot more water in than in the past, earning me 2 points this week–can easily make it to 5-6 but 8 glasses gets tricky when I am in the clinical area at work and cannot sip.
I have been keeping up with my steps on my phone and just can’t get past 7,000. I have cut back on the sweets, especially since it’s post holiday, and the water is helping. So I am on the right path….baby steps!
The water part was not hard for me, but have no way of tracking my steps.I’m looking forward to this next weeks challenge.
The water part of the challenge was not too tough for me– it was the steps that were more difficult! I’m currently in my dietetic internship and I’m really struggling fitting in physical activity. I don’t think I’ve met my Fitbit step goal more than a dozen times in the past few months… really upsetting! But I tried to be intentional about it this week. I’m really excited to see what the next few weeks hold– this is just what I needed to get a reboot on my eating habits. I ended with 12 points this week :)
I did great through the week, but I failed both steps and water Saturday and Sunday. I only earned 10 points.
Water not a problem for me daily I love water, steps a challenge on 2 days so I got a total of 12 points.
But I’m a little excited I lost 3 lbs!! I know this isn’t about weight loss but hey!
Mary Ann
I got 5 points. I bought a Fitbit and will work on getting my steps in.
I thought I was going to blow this challenge out of the park this week when it came to water. I couldn’t keep track of my steps (just ordered a fitbit so I will be able to soon!) but I did track my water. I noticed I do really well when I’m at work and absolutely poorly when I am home. I earned 3 points this week (worked only 3 days this week). Though now that I notice the trend I think my water intake will be much better. Baby steps!
Water part was easy but didn’t track steps. 7 points
My daily goal is 8 16.9oz bottles of water so the water side is pretty easy. I do group fitness classes 3 to 4 days a week so I had over 10000 each day but Wednesday when I wasn’t feeling well. Week 2 I will have all my steps. 13 points for me this week.
I did great. I averaged 13k steps a day.. Helps that I’m chasing toddlers all day at work then come home to another. Water was easy at the beginning of the week. Towards the end it got tougher- I just haven’t liked the taste. Luckily I’ve been extremely thirsty. I managed to reach all both goals everyday this week. So I got 14 pets. This coming week will be a little more difficult thrying to up my fiber intake. Loving this boot camp so far!!
Should be pts. Not pets. Gotta love autocorrect!
I don’t usually track steps, so I turned on the tracker on my phone and figured I’d give it a go this week. Turns out when I am not running I am really, really inactive. Definitely something for me to work on going forward. 7 points for week 1.
7 points for me!! Never made it to 10,000 steps everyday but most time only 8,000.
I typically drink about 100 oz water/day – it is easier for me to get my h2o in during the week v. the weekend…going to the water fountain gives me an excuse to get away from my desk fro a few minutes! My husband and I got fitbits last week which has made it easier to track my steps. On off days from the gym, I have to make more of an effort to move and get those steps in. 10 points total for the week.
I didn’t reach my water goal everyday, but I did drink more water than I normally do as a whole, so I am calling that a win! I did better on the steps than the water. Total points 7.
Thank you so much for organizing this program for us, Sam! It has definitely made me more mindful about my water intake and exercise. My water bottle was always close by (except for Sunday!), and I managed to exercise every day of the week (hikes, and runs). I bought a FitBit to help me keep track of my steps as well – it really helps me stay active during the day. I got 13 points this week.
Drinking enough water and getting enough steps were both big challenges for me. I am someone who always goes for the sweet tea or soda in my refrigerator before I go for a glass of water. Also, as a full time graduate student, I sit behind a desk all day studying instead of walking and moving. With that said, I gave my best effort and managed to earn 7 points. I hope to continue increasing my water intake and steps as the challenge continues!
The fist week started off great I met both goals every day up until Friday, then a nice cold knocked me down and forced me to the couch (where I am still stuck as I write this) but I was still able to get my water goals in each day. Not where I wanted to be but I managed to get 11 points this past week. I hope to continue the hydration and step goals along with this week’s fiber challenge.
I feel that I get most of my water intake in the first 1/2- 2/3 of the day, and drink less when I get home. I just need to remind myself to still have a few glasses at night. I haven’t reached 10,000 steps every day (but most I have due to my workouts and running!) and really try to fit in a quick night walk around the neighborhood on those that I don’t. I ended week 1 with 12 points
I managed to get my water down 5 days which gives me 5 points! The weekend was much harder, I was away from home more on those two days. As you and I talked, getting those steps in are much harder for me so I am using my wiii and also have a pedal exerciser( so I am just pedaling away)!!!!
I came down with a wicked cold halfway through the week, and even though I know that means I should’ve had MORE water, I started downing tea and orange juice (which is one of those things I only drink when I’m sick, but I craaaave it then), which cut way into my water. I only got 5 points – three days of water and two days of steps (though I got in the 8-9k range most days, despite being a sicky!) :(