Eliminate the Habit of Eating the One Food That Will Ensure Weight Gain in Order to Reduce Weight

How incredibly well this worked astounded me.

Ahhh, the age-old knowledge. We’ve all heard it before: to lose weight, just move more and eat less. Who knew that if we all jogged for 10 minutes every day and skipped the extra fries, we might all look like supermodels? It’s not like life, worry, or needing to be comforted at times have anything to do with gaining weight, right?

I mean, come on.

How many times have you seen somebody throw out the move-more-eat-less spiel and just rolled your eyes, thinking, “Do they even know what real life is like?” Like, we're all expected to have boundless energy and time to exercise and monitor our calorie intake in order to shed pounds.

Trying to reduce weight is challenging!

Losing weight is not that simple when you’re trying to manage work, education, family, and everything else you’ve got going on. For me, just getting through certain days seems like a success, so finding time to hit the gym and cook a strategically thought-out, 100% healthy lunch is a challenge.

Food can be your best buddy.

And what about the emotional stuff? Comfort food is named that for a reason. It’s so faithful, isn’t it? It’s there for you at moments like when you’re anxious, when you’re celebrating, when you have cravings, or when you need to just unwind and calm out.

Where is your willpower?

I’m sure we all can relate to the idea that losing weight is not simply about willpower. Nah, it’s a lot deeper than that. Eating is often bound up with how we feel, what we’ve been through, and sometimes even how we see ourselves. So, while the move-more-eat-less suggestion might sound easy, really making it happen is something altogether else.

It’s all about food choices.

If you want to reduce weight, you’ve got to pay greater attention to what you choose to consume. Overeating wouldn’t be that bad if you overeat the correct foods to refrain from acquiring so much weight.

Think about that for a second.

Which one of these would put more weight on you?

Stuffing your face with a big bowl of Romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes, olives, tuna, cooked egg, and shredded cheese with oil and vinegar.

Or eating up a double quarter pounder with cheese sandwich, a giant fry, and three chocolate chip cookies.

Which one?The second one, of course!But… what if you deleted the bun and the cookies?

Here’s the #1 food making you gain weight.

It’s too much bread that’s making you gain so much weight. And it’s the bread keeping you from shedding the weight you want; you could.

Now this DOES NOT imply JUST bread. But it includes ALL bread and bready dishes, like:

Sandwich slices, buns, biscuits, toast, waffles, pancakes, croissants, bagels, muffins, crumpets, banana bread, cornbread, baguettes, rolls, garlic bread, pita bread, tortillas, stuffing, crackers, cake, cookies, pie, pastries, crust, wafers, cones, cupcakes, doughnuts, dumplings, hush puppies, breadsticks, and any other bready foods.

Why consuming bread causes you to gain weight

Eating too much bread can make you gain weight since it’s full of calories and carbs but doesn’t give much in the way of good stuff like fiber or protein. Unless, of course, you consume bread that has fiber and protein added.

See, not all bread is awful. Whole-wheat bread, for instance, can actually aid if you’re wanting to reduce a few pounds. The point to remember is that “good” bread is STILL BREAD, and you don’t want to overdo it.

Here are some things to keep in mind regarding eating bread:

Look for fiber- or protein-rich bread.

Fiber helps you stay full longer and keeps your blood sugar constant. When you’re shopping for bread, search for varieties with the highest fiber and the least added sugar. Also, I prefer protein varieties of bread like keto bread. You can purchase gourmet breads in the grocery store.

Watch alert for white bread

White bread is the worst bread you can consume because it’s overly processed and includes additional sugar. And it’s missing ingredients that help keep you feeling full, which causes you to eat more. Plus, it can make your blood sugar increase fast since it’s high on the glycemic index. Research studies suggest that consuming only two pieces of white bread a day raises your chances of obesity by 40%.

How processing affects bread

Simple carbs like white bread break down fast in your body because the fiber that slows digestion is lost during processing. This can slow down your metabolism, which adds to weight gain.

Portion sizes matter for bread.

Portion proportions are important when it comes to bread because it’s easy to overdo it. Bready meals are filled with calories and carbs, so if you eat too much at once, you can wind up consuming more than you should without even knowing it. A bagel, for example, could look like only one serving, but it can include 3 to 5 ounces of grain, which is a big chunk of what you’re intended to eat in a day.

No, you don’t have to be hungry if you limit bread in your diet.

Keyword — limit.

Don’t think you have to give up bread and bready meals totally to lose weight. You just want to quit eating up so much of it all the time.

It is the overdoing it that is the problem. And it is so simple to not even recognize how much bread you’re consuming.

It’s like by the time you have two slices of toast or a couple of biscuits or some pancakes or waffles for breakfast, a sandwich and cookies for lunch, and then a few dinner rolls and cake or pie for dinner, look how much bread that is in a day.

And we can easily consume considerably more than that in a day. It all adds up in the form of too many calories, too many carbs, too much sodium, and extra sugar.

Ideas on how to start cutting out bread

I realize all the meals I described above that fall under the bread category are excellent. And they can be addicting. So just giving them all up totally, cold turkey, is not likely to happen. Let’s face it.

My experience

What I did to start lowering the amount of bread I was consuming comes down to awareness. I paid more attention to my bread servings at each meal. Then I would just cut back.

For example, instead of two slices of bread, I would get one slice of toast. Instead of four biscuits, I would get one or two biscuits. Instead of two slices of bread with a sandwich, I would make the sandwich with just one slice folded over. Rather than ordering two enormous slices of cornbread at dinner, I would get one smaller one.

You got the gist, right?

You can do it too.

Cut your bread intake to 1/2 or 1/3 of what you regularly eat. Instead of five or six slices of pizza, only get two slices, for example.

Another thing that I do is have no-bread days during the week. There’s no reason to consume bread or bready meals every day. Is there? Skip bready meals three or four days a week, every week, every month, and every quarter of the year, and watch the pounds fall off month to month.

How to control hunger while eating less bread

Another thing to do so you don’t become so hungry is to add more whole foods and calorie-dense, healthier alternatives to your diet.

This is what I do.

I eat a lot of fruit, veggies, nuts, and seeds since they are rich with fiber and nutrients, which help me stay full. And, I might take a handful of almonds, apple slices with peanut butter, or a cup of Greek yogurt and add in some granola. I will also eat hearty grains like quinoa or brown rice. And I like avocados, cottage cheese, and roasted or baked potatoes.

These are only some examples of whole food choices that give me energy and protect me from being hungry and consuming bread and empty calories in junk food.

The Takeaway

It’s vital to understand that I’m not suggesting that bread makes you fat. That’s not it. It’s TOO MUCH of it that contributes to weight gain, and we’ve all been guilty of overeating bread and bready things. I’m just saying holding back on it is a definite method to lose weight.

For me, getting control of how much bread I consume has helped me shed weight around my midsection, which is the largest problem area for me.

Eliminating bread has also offered me other benefits, like better digestion. Constipation is no fun. And it could lead to gastrointestinal troubles. Cutting back on bread has also enhanced my energy level, and I don’t look and feel so bloated.

My concern is this: there are so many factors of life out of our control that can affect us. Why not do a better job at the things we can control for improved health, healing, wholeness, and longevity?

In my opinion, it is obvious. Is that so?