Little Weight Loss, Big Benefits

When you have a large task before you, whether it's work-related, a home improvement project or even a financial issue, breaking it down into smaller increments can make things seem much less overwhelming. The same is true for weight loss. In fact, aiming to lose just 10 percent of your total body weight—that's 18 pounds if you're 180—is a great place to start. This works for two reasons: It breaks bigger goals down into more manageable pieces and achieving that smaller goal can mean a big boost, both to your health and motivation. Here's what losing 10 percent can do for you (or someone you love)....

Decrease your diabetes risk. Your body uses insulin more efficiently when you drop some weight. This can help prevent pre-diabetes from developing into diabetes; or if you have already diabetes, it can make it easier to control your blood sugar and prevent serious complications like kidney disease, blindness, and neuropathy. Don't have diabetes or pre-diabetes? Dropping 10 percent of your weight can reduce your risk of getting it.

Help your heart. A 10 percent decrease in weight can help lower your cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides, all things that reduce your risk for heart disease.

Put more pep in your step. Imagine carrying five-, 10-, or 20-pound weights around with you while you try to jog, play tennis, or simply go for a walk. Losing 10 percent of your body weight can make exercise and everyday activities feel like less of a struggle. You'll be more energized and literally "lighter on your feet!"

Help you sleep more soundly. People who are overweight are more likely to have sleep apnea, a condition in which you stop breathing for short periods during the night. Sleep apnea can leave you feeling sleepy during the day, interfere with your concentration and even lead to heart failure. Losing weight can significantly reduce your risk for the disease—or help you reverse the condition if you already have it.

Increase your motivation to lose more. Losing that first 10 percent can be a powerful motivator to keep up the good work. Once you've met that goal, know you can do it, have seen the benefits, and know what it takes to get there, you'll not only be driven to keep going but you'll be realistic about how much more weight you want to lose and how long it will likely take.

The Rookie Diaries: Getting a Healthy Dose of Fiber—and Liking it!

If there is one word that elicits more of a groan from healthy eaters than "fiber," I'd like to hear it (seriously, feel free to come up with equally frightening alternatives—honorable mention goes to "flax"). What comes to mind when you hear these five letters strung together? Shredded wood chips passing as cereal. Whole-grain bread so heavy and dense you could use it as a dumbbell. Sinewy vegetables that won't dissolve, no matter how long you chew them. Most of us think of fiber as the polar opposite of cake and candy and creamy goodness.

And yet…there's no denying its power as a dietary wonder. The science is solid: Fiber can lower your risk for cancer (it's found mostly plants, so you get cancer-fighting phytochemicals along with it); it's linked to a reduction in total cholesterol and, hence, heart disease; and fiber can help with weight-loss because it adds bulk to food without adding calories (we don't digest it), so it helps fill you up for less. (And yes, it's often referred to as "nature's broom" because it, ahem, "sweeps" things through our digestive tract, but you already knew that.) People are always looking for a magic bullet for weight loss, and fiber is as close as any nutrient to fitting the bill. Women need 25 grams of it daily; men 38. In fact, if you only made food choices based on fiber content as you tried to meet your daily requirement, you'd be eating an incredibly healthy diet, and one that would likely shed pounds as well, as you'd be eating mostly whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables.

I eat fairly healthfully, though I don't go overboard. I certainly don't choose foods just for their fiber content, though it's in the back of my mind—like the soundtrack of a movie, I know it's contributing to the experience, but it's not the main attraction. Still, I assumed I was getting close to the 25 g requirement, I just wasn't quite sure how close. So I tracked my fiber intake for a day to see if I met the mark. Here's how I did:

Breakfast
½ cup whole-grain flakes cereal (3 g fiber) topped with ¼ cup blueberries (.9 g), ½ cup fat-free milk (0 g), 1 cup coffee (0 g), ¼ cup fat-free milk (0 g)
Total: 3.9 g

Lunch
1 cup gazpacho made with 2 tomatoes (3 g fiber), ½ cucumber (.5 g), ¼ red onion (.5 g), 1/3 green pepper (.5 g); 1 medium whole-grain roll (4.5 g); tuna sandwich with 3 ounces tuna (0 g) on whole-grain bread (2.8 g) with 1 lettuce leaf (.1 g); Diet Snapple.
Total: 11.9

Snack
2 sugar cookies (.2 g fiber), 1 chocolate chip cookie (.3 g)—a coworker was having a bake sale for a charity. I HAD to buy them, it was the right thing to do!
Total: .5 g

Dinner
5 ounces trout (0 g) covered in 2 tablespoons corn meal (.8 g), 2 tablespoons almond slices (1.4 g), topped with grape-mint relish: 2 tablespoons chopped red onion (.5 g), ¼ cup red grapes (.4 g), 6 mint leaves (0 g), 1½ cups lettuce (1.5 g), ½ cucumber (.5 g), 5 black olives (.5 g).
Total: 5.6 g

Dessert
½ cup cinnamon apple sauce (1.35), 1 mini bag 100-calorie popcorn (4 g)
Total: 5.35 g

Day's Total: 27.25 g fiber

Hoorah! I did it. And you know what tipped me over the edge? My end-of-day snack of popcorn with a whopping 4 grams for just 100 calories! And when I look back over my diet, there's not a single meal that says "cardboard" or "mealy mush" or "laxative." Even my whole-grain breakfast flakes were sweet with the addition of fresh blueberries. And all of the yummy Best Life Meals and Snacks will add up to at least 25 grams of fiber/day, so you don't have to worry about adding up your grams if you're following Bob's meal plans. So let's recap, what did we learn?

• You can get enough fiber and eat tasty food—the two are not mutually exclusive.

• Popcorn is an amazing source of fiber (just make sure it's air-popped and not dripping in butter; try Smart Balance's Smart 'n Healthy popcorn, which is Best Life approved).

• Cookies are not a good source of fiber (sob).

• Foods that are round (olives, grapes, blueberries, tomatoes) have decent amounts of fiber

• Fish has no fiber (but it's still a lean source of protein, so who cares?).

• Corn meal has fiber—cover everything you can in corn meal!

• It's summertime, so chilled gazpacho is a no-brainer. With nearly 5 g of fiber, it's almost 20 percent of your requirement.

Chewing the Fat

You probably already know how dangerous trans fats are. Not only can they interfere with your weight-loss efforts (foods with trans fat are often higher in calories), they're also raise total cholesterol and also lower HDL or "good" cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk for heart disease.

Unfortunately, many people are confused about where these harmful fats lurk. In a recent survey of 1,000 Americans done by researchers at the University of Colorado in Denver, 92 percent had heard of trans fats and 75 percent knew they were bad, but only 21 percent could name three food sources of the fat.

There are many foods that typically contain trans fat—see the list below and do your best to avoid them whenever possible. And of course, you should always check a product's label. Remember to look not only at the nutrition facts panel, but also the ingredients list. Because of an FDA loophole, products that have .49 g trans fat or less per serving can say they have 0 g. The best way to check for trans fat: Look for "partially hydrogenated fat/oil" on the ingredients list—it's the source of trans fat.

Fortunately, many companies have been making the shift away from using partially hydrogenated oil and they now offer reformulated trans-fat-free products. For instance, Lean Cuisine meals with the Best Life seal don't contain trans fats. Smart Balance Buttery Spread is another Best Life approved product that's free of the harmful fat.

And remember, just because a product is trans-fat-free doesn't mean it's automatically healthful. Companies had to replace the fat with something, and that's often saturated fat. While saturated fat is OK in moderation, too much can increase levels of LDL ("bad" cholesterol). So, compare labels and buy products with lower levels of saturated fat.  

Main Sources of Trans Fat

• Margarine
• Vegetable shortening
• Cookies
• Microwave popcorn
• French fries
• Frozen meals
• Crackers
• Ramen soups
• Cake mixes
• Nondairy creamers
• Chips
• Candy

For more healthy-eating advice, check out TheBestLife.com.