eating white bread - It Took Me 10 Years To Lose 10 Pounds

By Kelly Clark / Carry On

Comments
  • 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?!

eating white bread - It Took Me 10 Years To Lose 10 Pounds

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.

Eatwell Guide - the10principles

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.

eating white bread - Keep Moving Forward

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.

eating white bread - Losing Weight Is About Moderation, Variety and Flexibilty

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…

Thanks to my experience of eating white bread, I’m more flexible about eating a variety of other foods in moderation. When I was struggling to lose weight I only ate boiled potatoes or baked potatoes. For the last 22 years that I’ve been a healthy weight I’ve been eating scalloped potatoes, roasted potatoes, potatoes sliced and tossed in olive oil then baked in the oven to make chips (thanks Marianne!), french fries, mashed potatoes (made with butter and 3.25% milk) 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.

eating white bread - Let's eat an omelette!

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

instagram - the10principlesI 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.

eating white bread - Model after people who have 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

make today count - the10principlesDon’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.

eating white bread - It Took Me 10 Years To Lose 10 Pounds

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?

 

 

  Work with me - 1:1 Coaching Buy Now - It took me 10 years to lose 10 pounds What the F do I eat?

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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!

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