One of the most challenging aspects of dieting is keeping the hunger pangs away. Here's a tip: If you fill up on fiber during the day, you have a less-likely chance of falling off the diet wagon throughout the day. Starting your morning with a high-fiber cereal is a start, but you can keep your fiber content up throughout the day without resorting to the usual suspects -- prunes, salad and oatmeal. For example, if prunes don't appeal to your palette, eat a pear. An average size pear packs five grams of fiber, compared to only three grams in one prune.

Here, AOL Health features eight more foods chock full of fiber, including edamame, that will give your meals variety and keep you satiated throughout the day.

Are you getting enough fiber in your diet? Find out here.

I was a cheerleader back in my high school days. When my squad was training for competitions, we really worked out long and hard. Many times, the muscles in our legs would visibly shake with strain. Our coach, restricted from recommending vitamins or anything of that sort, always brought bananas with her to practice to help us with muscle weakness and muscle cramps. Bananas aren't my favorite fruit, but I have to admit that they helped.

While bananas are a decent source of potassium, there are many other options. Potassium-rich foods are important for your diet. Not only do they help with muscle cramps, but they can also have a positive effect on blood pressure. Good sources include:

• Avocado
• Baked potato with skin
• Edamame
• Papaya
• Sweet potato
• Salmon
• Tomato sauce
• Winter squash
• Cantaloupe
• Dried apricots

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Soy is slowly starting to get the attention it deserves in North America, and it's about time. Soy products have long been a staple in Eastern cultures.

Soy-based foods are beneficial to health as they've been linked to lowered cholesterol levels. In addition to their inherent benefits, soy products can also replace other foods -- such as meat and dairy -- which can contribute to higher cholesterol. Soy products can also promote bone health and have been linked to a lowered risk of certain cancers.

Are you still not sure if soy is for you? Healthcastle has 10 painless ways to incorporate more soy in your diet. Check out the gallery for some suggestions.

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My niece is an Environmental Science major in college right now. With all the new information she's learning, she recently decided to become a vegetarian because of the negative impact meat production has on the environment. Unfortunately, her new diet has consisted of pretty much nothing but pasta. She's subsequently feeling quite run down.

She recently came home for a weekend, and her mother and I put our heads together to come up with easy, healthful recipes that will better meet my niece's nutritional needs. My niece and sister spent most of the weekend in the kitchen, and my niece went back to school with freezer containers filled with healthful, balanced meals.

Several of the recipes they prepared contain edamame. Just a half cup of edamame has 10 grams of protein. Shape magazine has a recipe for Italian Edamame that sounds absolutely delicious. The edamame is paired with brown rice, herbs, and other veggies such as zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and onion. You've got to try it. And then check out Martha's post about other vegetarian sources of protein.

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You know which foods give you more energy, and you're aware of the foods that will pack on the pounds. But, can certain foods help your love life? According to a recent article on MSN, the answer is yes!

There's a reason people have turned to aphrodisiacs throughout the course of history -- while oysters alone won't turn you (or your date) into a raging sex machine, certain foods have been shown to have a subtle effect on "how amorous you're feeling."

Want to know what foods you should order on your next date? Check out the gallery!

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I recently wrote about how much protein we need to get each day to eat a nutritious diet. And while getting our protein fix isn't difficult for those of us who eat some sort of meat with most of our meals, it's a bit harder for someone who doesn't eat meat -- or dairy either. Vegan protein sounds like an oxymoron to some people, but it's really not. Fitsugar recently compiled a list of the top 5 vegan proteins:

• Tempeh: (like tofu but different -- read more here). There's 22 g of protein in 4 oz of tempeh.
  
• Tofu: It has 19.9 g of protein per 1/2 cup.
  
• Seitan: (a form of wheat gluten.) There's 19.9 g of protein for each 3oz.
  
• Soy Milk: (the plain variety). It has 11 g of protein for each cup.
  
• Edamame: Eat half a cup and you'll get 10 g of protein.
  
  

Any vegans out there want to share their main sources of protein?

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I've come to realize that there are two types of people in the world: the sweet and the salty. No, I'm not talking about their disposition, I'm talking about their cravings. Some people have a major sweet tooth and when they're craving something, they reach for the chocolate or the ju jubes. Others crave salty things and will go for the chips. That's not to say that sweet people can't crave salty and vice versa, but they usually have one or the other as their default craving.

My point? I'm a sweet, so I've done a few posts on low-cal sweets that can satisfy this palate of mine. But I though I'd give the salties something to munch on and offer these suggestions, which include:

• Edamame, which is steamed soy beans lightly sea salted
• Roasted pumpkin seeds with a dash of salt
• Reduced-Fat Triscuits
• Light microwave popcorn (or air-popped -- even better!)

Salties, what's your favourite indulgence?

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I recently spent over a month travelling with two calorie-conscious girlfriends. During our trip, we ate a lot of sushi because one, it's delicious; two, it's a healthy choice amongst the array of deep-fried and fat-filled offerings that dominate the dining landscape; and three, we were right by the ocean and reveled the opportunity to get fresh seafood. But I can't help but wonder: with all that rice, is sushi really the best choice calorie-wise? It has lots of valuable vitamins and minerals like omega 3s, but if you're watching your waistline, would it be better to choose something else?

Let's investigate. An average sushi meal that we had would consist of a California roll (6 pieces), possibly another roll of something with a bit of pizazz, let's say a shrimp tempura roll (again, 6 pieces), and maybe a serving of edamame if we were really hungry. How many calories and fat would be in this meal? Would it be:

a) 962 cal, 46 g of fat
b) 863 cal, 31 g of fat
c) 555 cal, 26 g of fat
d) 231 cal, 2 g of fat

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