The Fiber Struggle is Real

I need to talk about fiber. Specifically, about how I apparently cannot eat enough of it to save my life.

Let me show you the pattern. Every single day, the food log ends the same way:

• Calories: close to target (sometimes over, sometimes under)
• Protein: crushed it (usually 140g+, sometimes way more)
• Fiber: missed by a mile

Here are some real numbers from the last few weeks:

See that? Protein is consistently in the 150 to 200 range. Fiber is consistently in the “are you even trying?” range.

The Protein Powder Hack (That Doesn’t Help Fiber)

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Here’s the thing. My morning routine is dialed in. Two scoops of Naked Whey Isolate protein powder in my coffee, plus a Clif Bar. That gives me 71 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber before I’ve eaten any real food. It’s a system that works beautifully for protein.

But protein powder has zero fiber. The Clif Bar has 5 grams, and then I need to get another 20 to 30 grams from actual food during the rest of the day. And this is where I consistently fail.

Lunch ends up being something convenient: leftover chicken, a sandwich, pizza if I’m out. Dinner is whatever the family is having: pasta, steak, chicken, rice. None of these are fiber foods. I mean, they have some fiber, but we’re talking 2 to 5 grams per meal when I need 10 to 15.

The Unicorn Day

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February 5th, 2026. Day 26 of Streak #2. The day everything clicked.

Breakfast: the usual, 2 scoops of powder in coffee plus a Clif Bar (71g protein, 5g fiber). Lunch: a banana and an apple (2g protein, 7g fiber). Snack: a cup of Greek yogurt (20g protein, 0g fiber). Dinner: three bowls of homemade sausage vegetable soup (52g protein, 14g fiber).

The totals: 1,815 calories, 145 grams of protein, 26 grams of fiber.

I hit all three targets on the same day. For the first time.

Let me say that again. After 26 days of tracking every meal, February 5th was the first time I hit protein AND fiber AND stayed close to my calorie target all on the same day. It was a unicorn. A beautiful, three-bowls-of-soup unicorn.

What Made It Work

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The answer is embarrassingly simple: vegetables. The sausage vegetable soup was loaded with them. Three bowls meant I was eating a significant volume of vegetables without even thinking about it, because they were floating in delicious soup. The fruit at lunch helped too, the banana and apple added 7 grams by themselves.

It wasn’t rocket science. It was soup.

Why Fiber Is So Hard

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I’ve thought about this a lot, and I think the problem is that high-fiber foods require either preparation or intention. Protein is easy because I can dump powder in coffee. Calories are manageable because I just, you know, eat less. But fiber requires me to actually go buy vegetables, prepare them, and eat them in volume. Of all three targets in the Eat Like You Mean It pillar, fiber is the one that fights back the hardest.

The foods that would fix this problem are obvious:

• Black beans (6g per half cup, plus protein)
• Broccoli (5g per cup)
• Lentils (8g per half cup)
• Brussels sprouts (4g per cup)
• A big salad with actual stuff in it

I know this. I’ve known this for weeks. Chipotle bowls with black beans and brown rice are basically the perfect fiber meal, and I’ve proven that when I eat one I get 9+ grams of fiber just from the beans and rice. But I don’t eat Chipotle every day, and on the days I don’t, the fiber target is just sitting there, unmet, looking at me judgmentally.

The Plan Going Forward

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I don’t have a perfect solution yet. But I know what works:

1. Soup. Homemade vegetable soup is a fiber delivery system disguised as comfort food.
2. Fruit at lunch. An apple and a banana is 7 grams of fiber for 200 calories. Just do it.
3. Chipotle with black beans. When eating out, this is the move.
4. Broccoli as a side. Even the frozen cheesy kind has 5 grams.

The protein system works because it’s automatic. Powder in coffee, done. I need to make fiber automatic too, the same way I made the streak automatic with bedtime yoga. I haven’t figured out how yet, but at least I know the problem.

For now, I’m going to remember February 5th as the day that proved it’s possible. 1,815 calories, 145 grams of protein, 26 grams of fiber. If I did it once, I can do it again.

I just need more soup.