Canyon Ranch told my friend to do this, here’s what I suggested

My friend mentioned, in a text, that she had been to Canyon Ranch last weekend. I expressed my jealousy, she then asked “do I really need 30 grams of fiber every ding dong day?”

I told her what I’m about to tell you and that’s that normal people don’t count their food in grams. They don’t. I love fiber, fiber helps with digestion and satiety. Fiber feeds those good bacteria we’re so fascinated by. Fiber helps your weight loss efforts. Fiber and I have no issues. I just prefer a common sense, tedium-free approach.

SO here we go

Let’s say you had yogurt and raspberries or eggs with avocado this morning (or perhaps you followed Carolyn’s advice with Breggie).

Raspberries- the fruity, fiber queen give you 8 g of fiber per cup.

Eggs/avo 4.5 grams in ½ a Haas (better eat those avos before they’re taxed).

Hit up Sweetgreen for lunch and have everyone’s fave Rad Thai  salad (personally I adore the Omg salmon offering).

No fiber facts are listed on Sweetgreen’s website so I had to friggin’ count.

I’ll say 15 grams of fiber (even though 16.7 by my calculations)

Conservatively you’re over 20 grams at this point; it could be over 24.

In the afternoon, I’d suggest our Foodtrainers' nutcase (pictured above) fill it with almonds for another 4 grams of fiber.

Maybe for dinner you have some chicken and broccoli (I’m into roasting broccoli lately),

7.5 grams for the broccoli (Brussels and cauliflower also high in fiber).

Go wild and add in a sweet potato for 31 total fiber grams (lowballing).

So, the morals of the fiber story are:

You get a big fiber bang for your buck with a veggie-filled salad in your day.

OR if you’re not into salads have vegetables 2-3 time daily.
Consume nuts or seeds once a day in some form.
And any time an expert gives you annoying advice, ask them if they do what they’re suggesting.

Finally, life is too short to count fiber grams.

No reason hormones need to drive the bus.

There are certain annoyances we need to accept: a rainy day, unanticipated traffic, and a blister from a new pair of shoes.  However, when it comes to our bodies many of our issues can be solved or certainly ameliorated with food. For many of my clients, there is no greater source of dietary derailment than PMS and cycle-related issues can last over a week. That’s 25% of each month feeling and often eating off.  And it’s not just a female issue if you live with a crazy, bloated person, right?

You may know I’m not a fan of adding one food in for a desired effect. If you’re concerned about getting sick I’ll suggest you add multiple immune boosters and the same goes for PMS. Carolyn, Joanna and I created what we feel is the ultimate anti-PMS arsenal. In our Monthly Morsels newsletter today we mapped out a sample “Peace Out PMS” day of food, selected the best PMS supplements and I’m proud to introduce our super, duper PMS Kit.

The kit includes the following:

Cacao Magic-  from Philosophie our favorite, new line of smoothie powders. This cacao is really magic and a tonic for cramps, crankiness and appetite surges.

Natural Calm- powdered magnesium supplement is a “mood must”. Magnesium is helpful for PMS but most of us are deficient so many find it helpful as a daily ritual.

Probiotics- did you know most of our serotonin is produced in our guts? If you have “gut clutter” mood can take a hit. And when it comes to PMS that gut clutter will also lead to ultra bloat. A probiotic supplement is an insurance policy but probiotic foods are also necessary. Sunbiotics chocolate probiotic almonds contains both cacao and probiotics, how’s that for double duty (or doody).

Sweet Riot- these dark chocolate covered cacao nibs (look like chocolate rice krispies) are great a post-meal treat (one 1 calorie per piece!). Take that PMS weight gain.

Explore Asian Organic Black Bean Pasta- contains both magnesium and B6. We call B6 “be happy” because it  plays a key role in the production of mood neurotransmitters. Plus, how about pasta with 12g of fiber and 25g of protein per serving?  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and add  asparagus (you can toss asparagus in pasta water for last 5 minutes) for bonus B6 and debloating action.

Heather’s Fennel Tummy Tea – these tea bags are jumbo size and potent.

Fennel is one of my favorite debloaters. A cup of tummy tea after dinner and that PMS pooch will not be there in the morning.

Of course these items are available a la carte. It just depends how horrendous your hormones are (ours can be pretty bad).

Do you suffer from PMS? What are your main symptoms? What’s in your arsenal?