Have some water and fiber

So far, my husband and I have gone to four family/friends' gatherings, and we've four more scheduled until New Year (plus one more after, but I'm not counting that). This being the Philippines, all these gatherings center around food—mounds and mounds of food.

And whether it's potluck or catered, there's never enough healthy food, if you know what I mean. Beef, pork, dessert—that's it. Sometimes, there's chicken or seafood, but rarely is there salad or other vegetables. Pasta, noodles and rice are always the white kind, never whole-grain. My body's screaming for fiber and sweet, fresh vegetables!

This afternoon, after running errands, we ate at a small vegetarian restaurant where we both had our fill of tofu and mushrooms. And at home, we've stocked up on high-fiber muesli, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta. We just had smoked fish for lunch on the 24th, and my next dish will be a seafood and vegetable stew.

Nothing beats fiber for sweeping away all the excesses of the season, however. Okay, make that everyday! The huskier, the better. Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals. Psyllium in particular has had lots of good P.R. lately, but I think that anything whole-grain should be good, as long as you don't get ones loaded with sugar too. I've discovered that the best time to have a high-bulk meal is breakfast—the full feeling stays with you the whole day. But to help the fiber do its job better, you also have to drink lots of water. (In fact, the psyllium fiber supplement I used to take had a warning: if you don't drink at least a liter of water a day with it, the fiber might clog your small intestines. Yuck. That scared me so I stopped taking it, even though I drink more than two liters of water a day.)

So if you come visit us, my offer of hospitality will be "Have some water and fiber!" They're good for you.