Discussion Board

Hoping someone can help me with an issue. I make bread for my family from scratch, both whole wheat and white. I am on MWL plan and stay away from it for about 3 days, tops.

Then, for some reason, I break down, eat some bread and then before you know it, peanut butter and banana on bread, and then down a slippery slope. Takes me a couple of days to get back on track.

Any idea how to break the bread habit? Like I said, I'm fine for about 3 days and then all he$$ breaks loose!

Anyone else have a problem with bread?

Thanks!

For me, bread as with any processed food is on my do not eat list along with all animal foods. I haven't eaten bread in over 3 years and don't miss it. I'd rather have a sweet/potato

Maybe visualize the empty calories of bread attaching itself to your body and you cant shake it off

Sorry that I don't have a better helpful suggestion.

I've had a similar problem, but my addiction was with dairy. I could go about 3-4 days, then the cravings were so bad that I gave in...and went overboard. Then the cycle would start all over again. What I finally did was allow myself to have one small piece of cheese everyday for a couple days, then I went every other day, then twice a week. After a few weeks I didn't even want it anymore, and haven't since. So maybe see if you could go with just one piece - or half a piece and work your way down like I did.

I bought a bread machine to enable me to make bread that was more healthy (no fat no salt) but I've always had difficulty with the fact that we don't have a nice butter substitute. The nearest I got was a smearing of plain soy yogurt. Hummous on bread is great, but hummous on bread is hummous on bread - to me its not a butter substitute.

Something happened recently - not exactly sure why or how - but I discovered smoothies for the first time in my life. Sometimes now I have these for breakfast so I don't have toast. I know many on here consider you should chew your food not drink it and I endeavour to "chew my liquids" a smuch as possible.

Maybe you could just tweak your routine a bit so you find alternatives if you are convinced that you want to eat less bread.

Good luck

Kx

@denise - I'm impressed. You don't miss it at all, especially when it's baking? Wow!

@watermelon lady - love your handle...I think I could eat my weight in watermelon! I just may give your idea a try, thanks!

@KatherineUK - I know what you mean about the butter. My other biggest "red light" food (sorry, old WW term ) is peanut butter...which goes especially well with warm, fresh baked bread. Ugh! I love smoothies, but when I used to eat smoothies or just fruit for breakfast it always left me hungry about 30 minutes later or never filled me up. Glad they're working for you though

I'm not giving up on this...I'll just make the family go on McDougall's MWL with me - right!

I am not on the MWL, but I was making a loaf or two a week and wasn't too worried about it with the weight loss I was looking to achieve. It was from scratch and all healthy. I was not putting PB or butter, in fact I just ate it warmed up or toasted. Tasted great.

I make bread, and do love it. I make sure to only use McD friendly ingredients and then I have a rule that I can only eat the ends (that way I can only eat two pieces per loaf). I eat the first one when it's still warm...what a treat!

Keep telling yourself that you deserve healthy eating! Maybe your family will need to sacrifice bread for a short period of time...just until you have got your craving in check and then you can slowly add it back as you feel you can handle having it in the house. You can do it. I and many others are doing it and you will too.

I can control the amount of bread I eat as long as there's no Earth Balance in the house. I've had to ban that substance from our kitchen except for very special feast days like Thanksgiving. Otherwise, some days I would eat almost nothing but bread and Earth Balance...

The regular program allows bread. I didn't see any limits on it. It's usually what you put on the bread thats a problem. In fact in his new book, The Starch Solution, Dr. McDougall talks about a study in which college students ate as much as 11 slices of bread a day and they still lost weight. Of course it had to be bread with no oil, milk or eggs. I realize that my metabolism is not that of a college student, so I don't eat more than 1-4 slices a day at the most and sometimes I eat no bread on any given day. I love making my own bread and baked goods and there are many recipes for bread, muffins and other baked goods in the McDougall cookbooks. They fill me up and so have completely replaced my hunger for meat, eggs and dairy products which I don't miss anymore.

I put amaranth muesli in mine or oats to thicken them up. You can also add spinach or kale to fruit smoothies to make them more dense if you like. Chia is a good thickener but do grind the seeds they are yukky on their own.

[omg have just googled Earth Balance !!!!!]

I can relate to the title of your post, lol. I make my own bread in the bread machine. The trick I use to keep from going overboard is how I slice it. First I cut the loaf down the middle, then make slices from each half. That way there are 1/2 slices instead of big ones. When I crave bread, I take 1 slice from the freezer and warm it in the microwave. No toppings, and it tastes so good, 'cause I craved the bread, not the stuff I could put on it. Most of the time I don't want another piece.

When I plan my meals for the day, I work the bread in so I don't feel deprived. Last night I had veg soup and one of my slices, yum.

MrsPotatohead,

Such a darling handle - it made me smile just to write it!

Sounds like you might have some taboos connected to bread and once you start, the 'what the hell attitude' kicks in (it's a real phenomenon) and then the pb jumps in for the ride.

At the same time, homemade white bread is like cake and has a powerful pull on your taste buds. And does your ww bread have a lot of white flour in it? If these are trigger foods for you, then why not stop making it so regularly? Show support for yourself by not making it so difficult.

Are you eating enough otherwise of whole, low fat plant foods? If hunger starts rumbling as the day goes by and there's fresh loaf of bread cooling, watch out....

I know there are several ideas here, maybe one of them will connect with you. Bread can be a problem for some, but frankly I lost all my weight - 50lbs or so - eating bread the whole time. But if there's a loaf of sourdough in the house, I tend to be more interested in it than I am of the Demi Panache with only whole wheat, flour, and water. It's just common sense not to have the cake around all the time.

Hope this somehow helps!

Lani

Thanks everyone so much for the help! My whole wheat bread has zero white flour and only 1 T margarine for the fat and no eggs.

What can I use to substitute for the fat - flaxseed?

@funcrunch - I know what you mean about Earth Balance. I keep that yummy stuff out of the house!

@katherineuk - I'll have to try that, thanks!

@lani - I think you're right about bread being a taboo - going to have to work more on the mental aspect of this weight loss!

Not giving up! Have a great day everyone!

Grinding my own flour gives me coarser flour than the storebought one, even the whole grain.
And I don't bake bread, I make buns....every time fresh. Making the dough out of the wholegrain flour, yeast, water and a tiny amount of sugar and salt, letting it rise and then putting it in the fridge. This way it lasts for 3-4 days and if you leave it longer...voila...sourdough
When you are ready for a bun...
Take a small amount, roll into a ball and put into the frying pan and flatten it. Lid on pan. And after about 5 min. you have one wonderful, fresh, tasty whole wheat bun. I admit they don't get that big ( I bet because I am using the coarses whole grain flour), but they taste amazing. And I never ever put anything on them, just have them with a huge salad or a big bowl of soup.

mountain, can you elaborate a little? This sounds great and I'd like to try it! What kind of frying pan? No oil in it, right? "Bake" it on low? Medium?
Thanks.