Bread

[Donnadek]

Hi as anyone got any tips on giving up bread . I'm healthy eating & exercising & have lost 36 lbs . It's took quiet long (20 months) but I have Fibromyalgia & suffer IBS (Irritable bowl syndrome ) so even though I know wheat hurts me ,I just can't seem give it up . I have done a few times lasting weeks without it but I just keep craving it & going back on it especially for toasting ! Hope some of you have some suggestions on this . Thanks

[Prin]

Don't give it up if you love it cut down! Decide on a plan buy a loaf and freeze it in your chosen portion size and take it out daily 👊good luck

[Jo4950]

I am exactly the same and wheat really seems to intensify the pain I love bread next to my Costa drink it's my very favourite. I found that if you stick to it for about 4 weeks those cravings seem to dissipate. Unfortunately I found that all the substitute gluten free breads are very full of sugar and salt and don't taste very nice. I now make my own so that I can control calories and of course taste. It's so much nicer. My bread machine was the best thing I ever bought. I eat lots of rice cakes with a variety of toppings as rice cakes taste a bit nothingy!!!!!!!

Remember to look at labels, yes I know its time consuming, but you would be amazed how many innocent foods contain gluten. I do find it helps with the tiredness so I know it benefits me in the long run.

Hope you have a fab weekend.

[Donnadek in reply to Jo4950]

Thanks so much for your reply . I defiantly do not want to try the gluten free bread ,I've never fancied it even as an alternative . I'll try your other reccomendations . Thanks you too have a great weekend 😊

[P3nny]

Riveta is good. Anything like that.

[Keeleybee]

Morning donnadek

I have fibro to and starting my weight lose journey.

Ever tried the gluten free bread? X

[Donnadek in reply to Keeleybee]

Hi Keely , it's a pain Fibro there is so many things out there that aggravate our condition. But if you stick to healthy eating , healthy amount of exercise ( I mean inbetween pain & don't feel a failure if some days you really can't exercise, I started really slow as I also have osteoarthritis in my lumber & cervical spine plus other medical conditions ,astma,depression.just listen to your body ) healthier lifestyle you can keep it at bay . Don't get me wrong sometimes it crimes me & bed rid dens me but I've found since I've been trying to treat my body with the most utter respect you can fight back .

I wish you loads of good luck on your journey & hope you reap the rewards for your efforts Hun . Keep in touch & let me know how you're getting on .

No I defiantly don't want to try gluten free bread . I've never fancied it Hun if I can't have the real thing I'll do without lol 😂😎😊

[Keeleybee in reply to Donnadek]

Iv not tried it either LOL

Thank you yes will keep in touch. X x

[Andyt2120]

I have it up. Just didn't buy any then not tempted. Went cold turkey and now don't miss it.

Occasionally have a bit of bread if I'm out having a meal.

Bit simplistic I know but if it's not in the house you can't eat it.

[andrewleeone]

Craving comes in a wave - it sweeps in, rises, peaks and subsides. If we give in before it subsides we learn that craving is in charge of us. You'll have to sit your way through the craving let it peak, let it subside and then notice its gone. Its just a thought you are having. Thats all, it really is just a thought. Its an unconscious one but its a thought - it isn't us! We are much more than that!

Learn about your crave waves and you'll master them in a couple of goes.

I used to be a big bread eater, thinking it was healthy, nutritious, and a good choice. How wrong I was. Its tasty as its full of slat and Carbs (sugar). Add butter etc and you've got what in the food industry is called the bliss point - balance between tat & Sugar - think ice cream.

In so many ways bread can be really bad for us - its not our friend!

I started by simply not having any in the house, had a bit of a struggle with the craving then I got off it. If there is bread in the house now I don't even notice it.

Learn about your crave wave and you'll start to liberate yourself and have real choice!

Enjoy!

[Donnadek in reply to andrewleeone]

Wow !!! Thankyou Andrew it makes so much sense your words . You are so right . I really really know bread is bad for me it really does make me poorly . I think it's the thought of the butter on the hot toast . I don't use it on anything else that I eat . But because it's here in the house for my grown up son & plus the bread it's just too tempting . I am going to ride it out & recognize when this crave is happening . Thank you so much 👏👍😊

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Donnadek,

I personally love bread, and tend to eat wholegrain bread. But I have a friend who doesn't eat wheat, and she makes a loaf that she found really tasty, so she gave me the recipe. I've not made it, but going on her recommendation, I'll share it with you, incase you fancy making it:

It's called 'Flax Sandwich Bread' and is from a book called "Hemsley Hemsley".

Ingredients:

80g ground almonds

250g ground or whole flaxseeds

4 eggs

50g butter at room temperature

1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sea salt

Optional:

1 tsp oregano, caraway or fennel seeds

black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to fan 170'C/Gas mark 5. Line a 23cm square tin with baking parchment.

2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor with 100 ml water and blend until smooth

3. Leave to sit for a few minutes to allow the mixture to thicken up, then blend again.

4. Put the dough in the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon or spatula. Bake the bread for 45 minutes until golden brown and springy to touch.

5. Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack, then turn it out and slice through lengthways to make a flat sandwich bread.

Donnadek - I'm hoping to try the bread recipe myself sometime, but if you do try it (or if anyone reading this tries it out), then please let me know how it came out, as it sounds really tasty.

Lowcal

[Donnadek in reply to Zest]

Wow thank you Lowcal it looks a good recipe. I will try have a go 👍

[Ruski]

Don't give up bread,just change to wholemeal and cut down a bit.

[Donnadek in reply to Ruski]

Thanks Rusti I've tried wholemeal but it seems to be giving me the same problems.

[Penel]

Giving up gluten can be a good idea If you have fibromyalgia. There are a lot of gluten free recipes on line if you want to make your own, but it's never going to be the same as bread with gluten in. The supermarket gluten free bread is best avoided, most of it is disgusting. I eat gluten free oat cake biscuits occasionally, and make gluten free pancakes. Have a look at the websites of the Gluten free Goddess or Deliciously Ella for some ideas on food.

If you just need to give up wheat, try some rye bread.

There are several recipes for bread on this site.

withoutgluten.co.uk

[Donnadek]

Thanks Penel I will look at them 👍 & I didn't think of rye bread I'll have a go.

[OlsBean]

I gave up Bread and Bread Like Products in 2010 when I started my weight loss journey. At the time I was not aware of the anti-nutritional properties of modern wheat I just did it mainly because at the time I wanted to set some simple and easy to follow rules for my "diet" and knew at time this would remove a lot of gash nutrition from life, my journey took a couple of years and my weight loss was very successful.

I then re-introduced bread during my first year of maintenance, I would have days of the week where I would eat bread, "Bread Days". I then changed my maintenance diet after about a year and started following what is commonly know as LCHF, because of this I removed bread and wheat flour completely (amongst other things) and I think that the only time I have eaten bread in the past 18 months or so is on a couple occasions when I've shared a Naan bread with my wife at our local Indian Restaurant.

Avoiding bread/wheat for me has because the norm and is relatively easy as I am very fortunate that currently I'm a "House Husband" and I have the luxury of being able to eat at home most days, it might well be different if I had to rely on eating at a workplace etc.

Both my wife and one of my step-daughters have Ulcerative Colitis (IBD), my wife has been diagnosed for sometime and her symptoms are now normally under control (touch wood) but my stepdaughter is recently diagnosed and has had a real trial with it she has though made massive changes to her diet that include removing wheat and this has helped 10 fold. There is real evidence that modern wheat can contribute and exacerbate Autoimmune type diseases, so you may well see an improvement in your IBS by restricting wheat in your diet.

My son who is 10 needed to lose weight, we were getting quite worried about him, this 6 week Summer Holiday (which in Scotland we're coming to the end of) he voluntarily, removed bread, wheat and cut back dramatically on sugar and he has lost almost 5kg in weight, which is a lot for 10 year old, he has lost "his moon face" as my wife calls it, that he had started to develop over the past year. He's very close to what his normal weight should be now and is going to keep it up, hopefully.

I don't want to jump on the Ban Modern Wheat bandwagon because that's just not me, I think people should be informed and make their own decisions, we're all grown ups after all. There will be lots of people that can regularly enjoy and want to enjoy bread and wheat products and lots will be able to do that without any issues I am sure but I say to anyone that might be suffering from autoimmune, digestive or are generally metabolically unfit/unwell to try removing it to see if it makes a difference. Although be warned wheat in a hell of a lot of products these days!

Good Luck

[Hidden]

I have also been advised to give up wheat for ibs and possible endometriosis (second consultation due in November). Being faced with a possible operation has been a big motivator. A lot of the time I replace wheat with oats as oats are cheap and I do feel daunted by the sheer range of alternative options, so it's helped me to start by keeping things simple. I make my own apple flapjacks, granola, and take oatcakes with for my lunch (with a tupperware full of salad and some hummous). The wheat-free breads are pretty nasty, you have to toast them to make them even edible - if I have to have it I only have 1 slice at a time (I keep a pack in the freezer and just remove one slice when I need it). I've been considering making my own - will def try Lowcal's friend's recipe above! The wheat-free pastas are okay but it feels like cheating, although an easy fallback is no bad thing. I tend to rotate between other carb replacements which I've introduced one at a time. Rice is the obvious one, but also polenta is surprisingly nice grilled, barley works as a kind of risotto alternative, quinoa can be pressed into a thick base under mixed veg or fluffed into a salad with lots of small chopped salady bits. I've basically learned some recipes that are easy and tasty, one at a time, and slowly built up my repertoire.

When I'm out it's more difficult, so I tend to always carry a little pack of oatcakes - they're really compact so that's easy. Then if all else fails you can always just get a salad (e.g. from Eat) or a pot of hummous (everywhere seems to have hummous!). I sometimes have fish and chips but don't eat the batter, and prefer ethnic cuisines e.g. mexican (corn based), mezze (but avoiding the bread), vietnamese (rice/rice noodle based), indian (again avoiding the bread, but the poppadums are fine ).

Think of all the meals you like that involve wheat/bread, and work out things to replace the bread/wheat part so you still have the other part. E.g. have bolognese with polenta instead of pasta, have peanut butter with rice cakes/ homemade oat pancakes instead of toast, etc. Then progress from there. Good luck!

[Donnadek]

Thank you Ruth very much appreciated & I will do that thanks again 😊👍

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi again Donnadek,

I know you're interested in wheat replacements re: bread - and this article appears to address just that issue:

authoritynutrition.com/10-w...

Several things have already been suggested to you, but there is a recipe for a type of bread called "Oopsie bread' which you might like.

Lowcal