On Saturday another group of our members finished their 12-week shoot.
It’s always a good day.
You see people who’ve spent 12 weeks training hard, watching what they eat, having good weeks, crap weeks and everything in between finally get to the finish line.
Most get there.
Not everyone does.
And one of the biggest battles isn’t training.
It’s hunger.
Because here’s the annoying thing about getting lean.
At some point, you need to eat fewer calories than your body is using.
That’s how you lose body fat.
The maths is easy.
Living with the maths is the hard bit.
You’ve eaten your tea.
You’ve hit your protein.
You’ve got 150 calories left.
It’s 8:47pm.
And suddenly every cupboard in your kitchen has become incredibly interesting.
That’s the bit nobody means when they tell you to “just stick to your calories”.
So a big part of our job during a Transformation HQ shoot isn’t simply setting your calories.
It’s helping you make those calories actually fill you up.
Protein gets most of the attention here.
And rightly so.
But protein has a boring mate.
Fibre.
Nobody brags about their fibre intake.
Nobody finishes a transformation session and says:
“Absolutely smashed my fibre today.”
But if you’re dieting and you’re constantly hungry, it’s one of the first things I’d look at.
The number you probably never track
We’re encouraged to eat around 30g of fibre every day.
Most adults in the UK average somewhere around 20g.
And I’d bet plenty of people reading this don’t have a clue what theirs is.
Which is fair enough.
You’ve probably spent years looking at calories.
Then we’ve nagged you about protein.
Now I’m asking you to look at bloody fibre as well.
But stay with me.
Because this one can actually make dieting easier.
Fibre-rich foods can help fill you up.
And if you’re fuller after your meals, there’s less chance of you spending the afternoon thinking about food.
Or finishing your tea and immediately wondering what else you can have.
And that’s the real benefit.
It’s not about eating perfectly.
It’s about making your calorie allowance work harder.
So how the hell do you eat 30g?
This is where most nutrition advice becomes incredibly boring.
“Replace your white pasta with wholemeal pasta.”
Cheers for that.
Changed my life.
So forget completely rebuilding your diet.
Instead, think about adding little fibre wins to food you already like.
If you have Greek yoghurt for breakfast, throw some raspberries on it.
Even better, chuck some chia seeds on there too.
You’ve barely changed breakfast.
If you make porridge, add berries or chopped fruit.
If you’re having eggs on toast, have decent wholemeal or seeded toast.
Like a jacket potato?
Eat the skin.
Having a chilli?
Chuck a tin of kidney beans in.
Curry?
Add chickpeas.
Bolognese?
You can sneak some lentils into the sauce.
Beans on toast?
Absolutely fine.
Peas with your tea?
Easy fibre.
Frozen veg thrown into a stir-fry?
Counts.
An apple or pear after lunch?
Counts.
Popcorn in front of the telly?
A sensible portion of plain or lightly seasoned popcorn gives you some fibre and feels like you’re actually eating something.
Hummus?
Get some carrot, pepper or cucumber sticks involved.
None of this requires a new cookbook.
And that’s the point.
Here’s how quickly it can add up
You don’t need one magical food containing 30g of fibre.
You collect it throughout the day.
Breakfast might give you 5–8g.
Fruit adds a few more.
Your lunch might give you another 5–8g.
Beans, veg and potatoes with your evening meal can add another decent chunk.
Suddenly you’re somewhere near 30g without sitting down to a bowl of tree bark.
That’s how I’d approach it.
Don’t chase fibre.
Build it into food you’re eating anyway.
Try the 30g challenge.
Here’s your homework.
And it takes about two minutes.
Look at what you ate yesterday.
If you use MyFitnessPal, have a look at your fibre intake.
Or write down a normal day’s food and put it into an AI tool and ask:
“Roughly how much fibre am I eating here?”
You could even go old school.
Pen and paper.
Write down what you’ve eaten for a day and have a look through it.
If you’re doing one of our Transformation HQ shoots, send your diary over to us and we’ll have a look.
You don’t need to obsess over getting exactly 30.0g every day.
I mainly want you to become aware of it.
Because you might discover you’re getting 25g.
Great.
Or you might discover you’re getting 11g and suddenly think:
“Ahhh. That might explain a few things.”
Then don’t go from 11g to 35g overnight either.
Your digestive system probably won’t thank me for that.
Build it up.
Add one or two things.
Drink plenty of water.
See how you get on.
What about fibre supplements?
They exist.
Psyllium husk is one you might have seen mentioned, and there is some decent evidence behind it.
It can be useful if you’re struggling to get enough fibre through your diet.
But personally?
I’d sort the food first.
Fruit.
Berries.
Oats.
Beans.
Potatoes.
Veg.
Seeds.
Foods you’re probably eating already.
Get those right before worrying about another tub of powder in the kitchen cupboard.
Your challenge this week
Don’t completely change your diet.
Don’t start eating foods you hate because Ryan wrote a blog about fibre.
Just look for three easy wins.
Berries on your breakfast.
Fruit with lunch.
Beans with tea.
Whatever works with food you actually enjoy.
Then see how close you get to 30g.
Because during a fat-loss phase, we’re never going to promise you’ll never feel hungry.
Sometimes you will.
But there’s a big difference between accepting a little hunger when you’re getting properly lean…
…and making yourself unnecessarily hungry because the food you’re eating isn’t doing a very good job of filling you up.
Protein gets all the attention.
Fibre is its boring mate.
But when it’s 9pm and you’re somehow not stood in the kitchen hunting for biscuits…
Boring starts looking pretty useful.
-Ryan
P.S
Knowing what to eat is one thing.
Actually making it work around your life is another.
If you’d like a coach checking your food, keeping you accountable and helping you make adjustments when things aren’t working, that’s exactly what we do at Transformation HQ.
Have a look at our 6 Week Meltdown below and see how it works.
6 Week Meltdown 🔥