p class=ipf-article-metaspanBy Elizabeth Ward, R.D./spanbr /Women#39;s Health/p pa href=http://hayesjeff.typepad.com/.a/6a00e00986beda883301116899dea0970c-pi style=FLOAT: rightimg alt=Asian_pear class=at-xid-6a00e00986beda883301116899dea0970c src=http://hayesjeff.typepad.com/.a/6a00e00986beda883301116899dea0970c-320wi style=MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px //a We all know our bodies need calcium for bones, vitamin C to fend off colds, and chocolate to save relationships. ;) But when it comes to losing weight, the nutritional information is a little more confusing. The mighty trilogy of nutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fat - garners most of the diet industry#39;s attention, but it#39;s becoming much more clear that fiber needs to be the fourth leg of the dietary table. Study after study shows that not only does fiber help lower your risk of cancer, heart attack, and high blood pressure, but it also keeps you full and helps you decrease the total amount of calories you consume every day. Trouble is, most of us think that getting the recommended 30 grams of fiber a day means eating cereal that tastes like the box it comes in. But that#39;s not the case; you can sneak fiber into your diet anywhere. Use these fiber-friendly tactics to eat more - and weigh lessspan style=FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana./span/p pstrongspan style=FONT-SIZE: 15px; COLOR: #bf5f00; FONT-FAMILY: Verdanaspan style=FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: VerdanaAt Breakfast/spanbr //spanbr /Spice up your eggs./strong One-third of a cup of chopped onion and one clove of garlic will add 1 g of fiber to scrambled eggs. Or fold the eggs omelette-style over 1/2 cup of cooked broccoli for an additional 2 g./p pstrongDrop a whole orange into the blender/strong to flavor your morning smoothie. One peeled orange has nearly 3 g more fiber than even the pulpiest orange juice./p pstrongFill your juice glass with nectar/strong instead of a watery juice from concentrate. Nectar is apricot, peach, pear, or papaya juice, mixed with fiber-rich pulp. It packs more than 1 g of fiber per 8-ounce glass./p pstrongHeat up a bowl of oat bran/strong instead of oatmeal; it has nearly 2 g more fiber. Add even more flavor and fiber by stirring in 1/4 cup of raisins or chopped dates before nuking it./p pstrongSprinkle ground flaxseed over your favorite cold cereal/strong, or stir a few spoonfuls into a cup of yogurt. Two tablespoons equals close to an extra 2 g fiber./p pstrongGrab an Asian pear./strong Similar in taste to other pears, the red-colored Asian variety has an apple-like crispness and shape, and it delivers significantly more fiber - 4 g per pear./p pstrongBuy spreadable fiber, like almond butter,/strong for your whole-wheat toast. Two tablespoons adds 2 g of fiber, along with a healthy dose of heart-protecting fats and vitamins like E./p pstrongWhip up a pack of hot-chocolate mix/strong instead of that second cup of coffee. Most instant-cocoa mixes have as much as 3 g of fiber per cup./p pstrongspan style=FONT-SIZE: 15px; COLOR: #bf5f00; FONT-FAMILY: VerdanaAt Lunchbr //spanbr /Don#39;t like whole wheat?/strong Make your sandwiches with rye bread. One slice has almost 2 g fiber - twice the amount found in white bread./p pstrongOpt for burritos instead of tacos./strong Flour tortillas have more fiber than taco shells. Even better, make the burrito whole wheat for still more fiber per serving. Now, order that burrito with meat and beans instead of meat alone. Half a cup of beans adds 6 g of fiber to your meal./p pstrongStow some microwavable soup in your desk/strong for when you need to work through lunch. Lentil, chili with beans, ham and bean, and black bean each have between 6 and 10 g of fiber per cup./p pstrongShower your pizza with oregano or basil./strong A teaspoon of either spice adds 1 g of fiber. Order it with mushrooms and you#39;ll get 1 g more./p pstrongBuild your burger with a sesame-seed bun/strong instead of the plain variety. Sesame seeds add 1/2 g of fiber per burger./p pstrong#0160;span style=FONT-SIZE: 15px; COLOR: #bf5f00; FONT-FAMILY: VerdanaAt Dinner/span/strong/p pstrongToss 1/2 cup of chickpeas into a pot of your favorite soup./strong They#39;ll absorb the flavor of the soup and tack 6 g of fiber onto your bottom line.br /br /strongSwap a sweet potato for your standard spud/strong. Sweet potatoes have 2 g more fiber per tuber than the typical Idaho variety. Not a fan? At least eat the skin of the regular potato - it alone has 1 g of fiber.br /br /strongGo wild when you make rice./strong Cup for cup, wild rice has three times the fiber of white.br /br /strongAdd some green to your red sauce./strong Doctor your favorite jarred pasta sauce with 1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach. The spinach will take on the flavor of the sauce and pad your fiber count by more than 2 g.br /#0160;br /strongCook broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots/strong, and you#39;ll take in 3 to 5 g of fiber per serving, as much as twice what you#39;ll get if you eat them raw. (Heat makes fiber more available.)br /br /strongUse uncooked oatmeal/strong instead of breadcrumbs in your next meat loaf. Add 3/4 cup of oats per pound of ground meat, and you#39;ll boost the total fiber count to more than 8 g./p pstrongBoot campers! Good luck on the PT test tomorrow. You will rock#0160;it. PM camps have one#0160;more#0160;evening to get that bod in tip top shape for the PT. So, stick with it#0160;#39;til the end!/strongbr /#0160;/p