- Eating white bread helped me lose weight 22 years ago
- I learned a HUGE weight-loss lesson by eating white bread
- Model after healthy eaters
Are you always eating white bread? Never eating white bread? Occasionally eating white bread? Or, do you not eat bread at all?!
Have you ever wondered about what type of bread helps you lose weight?
While whole grain bread is the healthiest option, and the healthiest option helps you lose weight, having a healthy approach to eating bread — and every other kind of food — is more important. I’ll explain …
Eating white bread ruined my diet!
For the 10 years I was overweight the only time you’d catch me eating white bread was when it was out of my control—like if I was at a friend’s house and they didn’t have brown bread.
After eating white bread I’d tell myself I wrecked my diet. Then I’d restart a new diet the next day.
When I heard dieters should cut back on bread, I did that too. I’d actually slice a bagel into 3 and throw out the middle slice.
I had no idea I was making weight loss so d*mn complicated.
What happened when I started eating white bread?
There were lots of pieces of information that helped me get healthy and lose weight.
For instance, I learned:
1. Eating balanced meals helps you lose weight.
This information got me eating entire bagels again.
Why?
Bread is a starchy carbohydrate and should make up about 1/3 of each meal.
And when I understood that fat from a natural source is part of a balanced meal, I began eating full-fat cream cheese on my bagel.
2. A mistake doesn’t ruin the day.
Carrying on allowed me to learn from a choice I regretted.
Like the first time I didn’t make a big deal out of eating white bread, I realized eating it was no big deal. Eating white bread didn’t make me gain weight. It was all the stuff I ate after a “mistake” that made me gain weight.
Being “on” and “off” diets leads to building bad habits between diets. And bad habits lead to more weight gain.
What eating white bread taught me
Eating white bread helped me understand that applying:
- moderation
- variety
- flexibility
to your food choices helps you lose weight and keep it off.
Why?
Moderation and variety prevents cravings which make you less likely to overeat. And being flexible helps you stay on track and reach goals faster. All 3 approaches make it easier and more fun to eat at a restaurant, staff meeting, BBQ or other social setting.
It’s nice to show up at a dinner party and eat what everybody else is eating!
Eating white bread and other less nutritious choices occasionally, is part of a healthy lifestyle. And a healthy lifestyle is long term. Trying to stick to a strict set of diet rules is short term and unnecessary.
Understanding the value of moderation, variety and flexibility also helps you stop feeling guilty when you eat less healthy options.
Along with white bread, I also eat:
croissants
pita bread
focaccia bread
ciabatta bread
baguettes
rye bread
whole wheat bread
olive bread
brown bread
naan bread.
…and so on…
I lost weight when I STOPPED restricting what I ate.
Why I began eating white bread
Around the time I started eating roughly balanced meals made mostly of whole foods (which helped me break the starve-binge-purge cycle) I met my partner, Alex.
Alex eats meals made of each food group and most of the food is natural (not processed). We were starting to spend a lot of time together. So I copied what he ate (in smaller portions.) It often put me outside my comfort zone. But that was a good thing. Soon I was eating many of the (nutritious) foods I feared—like avocados, mayonnaise, the yolks of eggs (instead of just the white) and (drum roll!) less nutritious options like white bread. And I wasn’t gaining weight.
Alex (without knowing at the time) helped me eat a variety of foods in moderation and be flexible.
While I still prefer whole grain bread (because I’m in the habit of eating this healthier option) I don’t worry after eating white bread. Now that I have a healthier approach to eating, I don’t feel like I ruined the day if I eat food that’s more processed.
Eating white bread on Instagram
I use Instagram and I’m one of those people who takes photos of the food they eat—for good reason!
I’m doing this because copying Alex’s food choices helped normalize my eating. The diet industry has trained us to fear fat, drink diet pop and eat diet and low-fat processed foods—choices that work against you losing weight. Choices that ultimately led me to gain more weight. After years of dieting I had to relearn what healthy eating looks like.
Posting roughly balanced meals on Instagram @the10principles is a way for me to pass on the important experience I had of modelling after someone who has a healthy relationship with food.
That said… I’m no food photographer so my pictures aren’t perfectly lit and I don’t know all their best angles 🙂 But @the10principles you’ll be able to see examples of healthy meals that help you reach and maintain a healthy weight naturally, along with other healthy lifestyle information.
My favourite type of bread
While I eat white bread, it’s not my favorite kind of bread. Here’s a link to my FAVORITE bread and the recipe.
And here’s 7 sandwiches I’ve been eating for the last 21+ years that I’ve been a healthy weight.
Make Today Count
Don’t think you’ve ruined the day just because you’ve been eating white bread or anything else that’s not a perfect choice. Don’t get lost in the details! Keep moving forward. Make your next choice one you feel good about. The key is to focus on eating ROUGHLY balanced meals made MOSTLY of whole foods.
Build healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.
Next Steps
Are you fairly regimented about what you eat? I was. For the first few years of my recovery I was scared to eat anything but what I describe at this link. But you can become more flexible! Check out my ONE DAY Meal Plan (below)… it’s an example of the meals and snacks I eat each day that helped me get control of my relationship with food and unlock my HAPPY weight 22 years ago—without dieting.
I had issues with white bread (and many other foods)!
Do you have issues with eating white bread?


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Sharing what I learned makes the 10 years I STRUGGLED worth it
There’s no reason to fear white bread or feel guilty about choosing white bread, like I did for 10 years!
I read this article with interest. I am glad you are able to eat white bread without any consequences. Trouble is I loath the stuff and firmly stick with my homemade wholemeal!!!!
Homemade wholemeal bread sounds amazing. I love the quote: “Good habits are just as addictive as bad habits but good habits are much more rewarding.” It’s great you’re in the habit of eating wholemeal bread Marianne!
Thanks for this great news, Kelly!
Thanks Kathy! I kept telling myself “tomorrow will be different” and trying to eat the perfect amount. Both of these approaches set me up to fail. Now I know weight loss and being healthy is all about moderation (not restricting) and carrying on toward your goals after a less healthy choice. xoK
I love your blog
Thank you Sarah. I love you for leaving that comment! It means a lot to me.
Thanks for this. I eat white bread everyday — that’s right — what is the equivalent of (the now non-existant) wonderbread. I also eat lots of other foods…healthy foods but not to make up for the white bread (I no longer have good-food/bad-food mentality), but to COMPLIMENT it and have a well balanced/well rounded live-it (I refuse to call it a DIE-it.) I’m 5’4″ and 18% body fat, I walk every day (about 4 miles) and I do meditation and focus on less stress. It’s not the food we eat that makes us fat it’s the HUGE AMOUNT OF CORTISOL released when we OBSESS ON AND WORRY ABOUT AND REGRET the food we eat. THERE ARE STUDIES that prove that people’s bodies react differently when told the milkshake is fat/sugar free or a regular milkshake and those who thought it was high cal GAINED and those who thought it was low cal DIDN’T! The brain is very powerful. It’s always important for us to discover OUR OWN FOOD HABIT TRAPS when it comes to our THINKING AND OUR REACTIONS TO OUR OWN BEHAVIORS with what we eat. For example…did you just eat a whole plate of fat free spaghetti and (say 500 calories easy) just so you wouldn’t eat 1/2 of a milkway bar (264 calories)?! The more we do this what I call “avoidance eating” the more we mess up. One day I wanted a/one caramel…but it’s CANDY and candy was a “no no”… so instead I got a yogurt smoothie with lots of superfood crapola in it (found out it was 700 calories!) Then I learned that that ONE caramel would have “cost” me only …. 70 calories! What was I doing to myself. So yes, I gave myself permissions to eat freely (and in moderation) and yes this includes white (gasp!) bread. My weight is stable, nothing has suffered. That study that came out saying that people who eat two slices of white bread every day are “at risk” of other health problems probably had other health problems to start with or …. don’t eat balanced healthy diets to begin with…..did they control for THAT? No. Okay I’ve made my point. Don’t watch your FOOD….watch your CHOICES and your reasoning behind it….does it make sense when you look at the bottom line? No, it’s not all about calories….it’s all about YOU and what makes YOU comfortable. As soon as you enter into the can have/can’t have madness you’re always going to feel denied and if you feel denied you’ll reach for that which you feel justified for…food or otherwise…and it’s THOSE choices that lead to failure. Keep keepin’ on and observing your own choices and behaviors. Only you can change you….most things aren’t as complicated as we make them. Food is JUST FOOD…don’t give it power over your LIFE. Peace Out. (no, I am not a millennial I just like to say that. 🙂
Hypnogal!
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m SO happy you’re loving life and living a healthy life. As I read through your comment I thought of so many blog posts I’ve dedicated to the same points you talk about… like why it’s important to:
–stop dieting
-stop counting calories
-eat treats in moderation
–move your body each day
–simplify eating and exercise
And many, many more! I love what you’ve written and THANK YOU again for taking time to share your success story.
xoxxo Kelly
I really like your article, it is very useful. Makes me more relaxed about having white bread. Thanks! Johan
Thanks Johan! When I stopped being so rigid it was so much easier to reach and maintain a healthy weight. Enjoy your white bread! 😉 Kelly
It seems odd to say that a person is courageous for stating that it is ok to consume white bread. Nevertheless, I call you brave because it seems that people have this urge to find a group and follow the beliefs with out understanding. Between veganism, raw veganism, zero carb, carnivore, keto, paleo, etc., there is tremendous pressure to get people to comply with a particular way of eating (W.O.E). These W.O.E. eliminated entire food groups.
No foods, any longer, have a “hold” on me. I will not be mastered by cravings, nor will I abstain from a food to fit into a cliche. I like toasted white bread with butter and I will continue to enjoy it. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Ray!
Along with having a healthy outlook on food, you’re a gifted writer. Your comment is poetic. I LOVE it!
Thanks so much for sharing your reflections.
And I’m so happy you enjoy toasted white bread with butter… and NOT margarine!
🙂 Kelly