Core Daily
One Small Change
Contributing writer Joe Kita dares to make one little, healthy change every month. Past experiments include giving up caffeine, napping daily, and stretching like it's your job.
One Small Change
Fill Your Breakfast with Fiber
Adam Gault / Getty Images
Judging from the size and looks of consternation (constipation?) on the faces of most Americans, it should be obvious that as a nation we are not getting enough fiber. In fact, some will argue it’s a moral as well as dietary deficiency. Fortunately, I’ll only be addressing the latter dilemma this month as I try to lose my winter gut by doing nothing more than eating 14 additional grams of fiber per day. You heard right. No extra workouts, no dieting, no other changes. My life will proceed as normal except for some extra birdfeed.
One Small Change
Eat More Fiber to Lose Weight
David Cordner / Getty Images
If, like me, you still haven’t lost the weight you gained from eating so many Christmas cookies but, nonetheless, have just ordered a dozen boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, then the apocalypse could indeed be upon us. But suppose, just suppose, that there was a way to turn yourself into a Thin Mint™ without giving up your Do-si-dos™? No doubt, you’d say Thank U Berry Munch™. But I digress. (Does it sound like I’m obsessed?)
Not long ago researchers at Tufts University reviewed every study they could find on fiber consumption and weight loss. What they discovered was even more miraculous than those delicious Peanut Butter Patties™. (Have you tried them frozen?) Specifically, the researchers determined that study participants who ate an additional 14 grams of fiber per day—about twice what they had been eating—consumed 10 percent fewer calories overall without even trying.
One Small Change
A Charitable Resolution
This past year I made 12 small changes in my life for the sake of this monthly blog. These ranged from the indulgent (napping for 20 minutes daily) to the nearly incontinent (drinking 120 ounces of fluid every 24 hours to stay fully hydrated.) Some of these small changes stuck with me (like eating real food and stretching regularly) but others I’ll never revisit (like giving up caffeine and drinking 120 ounces of fluid every 24 hours). But no small change has proven more perplexing and personally troubling than the one I undertook this month.
One Small Change
The Altruistic Workout
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All this month I’ve been experimenting with a new kind of heart workout. Instead of just exercising my heart aerobically as I usually do, I’ve been trying to exercise it altruistically by donating time and money to worthy causes and individuals. Last week, I rung up $608 as a Salvation Army bell ringer, and this week I’ll be handing out fifties to complete strangers. As it turns out, this type of workout may actually be as beneficial to health and longevity as running intervals.
In his book Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Stephen Post, Ph.D., a professor in the school of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, presents findings from more than 50 studies supporting this connection. Some of them are downright amazing. For instance:
One Small Change
Ringing in the Holidays
The author shows off his ringing technique from his command post.
This month’s One Small Change is about exercising my maximus philanthropis, or building up my heart muscle in a way that for once isn’t cardiovascular. As part of my attempt to make a small change in my life to help others, and in the process discover strategies for you to do the same, I volunteered this past weekend as Red Kettle bell-ringer.
One Small Change
It’s Better to Give When Not Deceived
Image Source / Getty Images
Years (okay, decades) ago when I was a cub reporter at a small-town newspaper, I was sent to cover a meeting of the local United Way. It was at a nice restaurant, and I was shocked to see board members ordering top-shelf booze, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and surf-and-turf. Being fresh out of college and a product of the Woodward and Bernstein era, I thought I was about to break the next Watergate—how these hometown fat cats were wasting donor dollars on bibs and brown butter. I’d even snapped a few clandestine photos and sweet-talked the waitress into giving me a copy of the check as evidence. When I handed the story to the city editor, he just smiled at my naiveté as he dutifully redlined (yes, these were the days of paper and pencil) all the juicy material. When he finished, my story was devoid of color and criticism—little more than a recitation of the meeting’s minutes.
One Small Change
A Month of Giving
Jeffrey Coolidge / Getty Images
Since December is the season of giving, this month’s One Small Change—my monthly attempt to make one little, healthy change in my life—is going to involve actually giving away some small change. I’m going to take a portion of the money I receive from writing blogs throughout the year—$2,000 to be exact—and give it away to 40 strangers in $50 increments.
These people will be totally arbitrary; I will not research worthy causes, visit children’s hospitals, hunt down the homeless, or seek personal gain by tipping waiters, store clerks, strippers, or personnel at other places I frequent. (I was kidding about the strippers, dear.) My plan is to always have some fifties in my pocket so when an opportunity arises I’ll be able to practice a little spur-of-the-moment philanthropy.
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Daily Quick
32
gramsThe amount of fiber you need in your diet daily, according to the National Fiber Council.
"People always ask about the best exercises. Think about some of the old calisthenics like squat jumps and burpees. Those are tremendous exercises and when you do them with enough intensity, you get an incredible metabolic effect."
— from "New Way to Torch Fat: Cardio Strength Training"
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gallonThe amount of water we recommend you drink each day.
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