To all of you out there who have said I am going to gain weight on the challenge, here’s my answer:
Weigh-in at Day 7:
Weigh-in at Day 14:
Yep, all that bread, for 14 days. Still haven’t gained a single pound!
Sonoma Sun from Alvarado St. Bakery.
I woke up feeling very hungry, so I made a ham egg and cheese sandwich with Sonoma Sun from Alvarado St. Bakery for breakfast this morning. That really hit a spot. Sometimes it takes a good hearty sandwich to start the day right.
Someone critiqued my menu choice and said I don’t eat enough salad and raw green vegetables. I personally am not a salad person. I just find it too troublesome to prepare salad for my whole family, where I could prepare the same amount of nutrients and antioxidants by just blanching some green vegetables and serving it with delicious butter.
“But eating raw vegetables are good for you, all the fresh vitamins and antioxidants are killed in the cooking process.”
I hear this and see kale and spinach salads and smoothies gaining popularity these days. Did you know that eating raw broccoli and kale or other cruciferous vegetables could be harmful to your thyroid? These raw vegetables contain chemicals that block the production of thyroid, and can be harmful to people struggling with their weight, not knowing that they could have hypothyroidism. If you love eating raw kale and arugula, and you’re having weight and depression issues, go check out your thyroid hormone level, and stop eating these raw.
In addition, raw spinach contains oxalic acid which blocks iron and calcium absorption. In order for you to reap the benefits of iron from spinach, you have to cook it. Yes, that is why Popeye got his spinach from a can! I don’t know which health guru started this eating-raw-vegetable trend, but obviously, they didn’t study the science of nutrition. I did try to get a green smoothie the other day, but the lady behind the counter told me she couldn’t blanch my spinach before putting it into a smoothie. So I moved on.
Some other raw veggies that I turn and run from:
- Edamame: Yikes! Protease inhibitors! They reduce your digestibility of proteins.
- Mushrooms: Gross. Do you know what these are grown on? Horse manure.
- Sprouts: Food safety alert!! The water that sprouts grow in are the best medium for E.coli. Why? Because the workers don’t clean their hands when they plant these sprouts. My stomach churn for people who eat organic sprouts because they are not chemically sanitized!
I truly believe that is why humans grew bigger, stronger and lived longer when fire was discovered. We physically used fire to make more nutrients available to us, and this killed all the necessary bacteria that made us sick. So let’s use some heat and logic, to make food more nutritious.
Now, back to bread eating. Bread, a perfectly safe food to eat that is rich in nutrients that are readily available.
My dinner tonight included steak, caramelized onions, portabella mushroom, asparagus and Puratos O-tentic Baguette. Note: my steak is always well done because its proteins are more easily digestible.
Steak, veggies and O-tentic Baguette.
Here’s what I ate on Day 14 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| Alvarado St. Bakery® Sonoma Sun | 5 slices (43g) | 600 |
| Puratos O-tentic Baguette | 285g | 750 |
| Tillamook® Salted Butter | 2 Tbsp | 200 |
| Mango | 200 | |
| Egg | 1 | 78 |
| Tillamook® sliced cheddar | 1 Slice | 45 |
| Smucker’s Sugar Free | 1 Tbsp | 10 |
| Dickinson’s® Lemon Curd | 2 Tbsp | 120 |
| Skippy® Peanut Butter | 1 Tbsp | 95 |
| Orange | 1 orange | 25 |
| Asparagus | 1 C | 27 |
| Steak & Onions | 3oz | 271 |
| Almond Breeze® Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 C | 40 |
| Easter Candy | 250 | |
| Run | -200 | |
| Total | 2531 |
Craquelin, you must be the queen of sweet breads! I received an awesome tasting bread called Craquelin, made by the bakers at Puratos® using Tegral Soft’r Sweet Bread and pearl sugar.
Craquelin is a sweet and moist brioche from Belgian. Chunks of pearl sugar bits are added to the dough. As the dough bakes, the sugar melts, creating little pockets of sweetness throughout the brioche. And because real butter and eggs are used in this recipe, it’s a velvety and rich bread. It was a great bread by itself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t eat a whole loaf of it in a day (calorie overload). I needed to mix it up with other bread like the Oroweat® Whole Grain and Birotes.
Grilled chicken, squash, potatoes with a slice of Birote.
Birotes, originally from Mexico, look like small pointed baguettes. This unique loaf is made with eggs, lime and beer, giving it a distinctive flavor. The recipe dates back to mid-19th Century when Belgium baker Camille Pirotte was tasked with promoting French bread in Mexico under Maxmillian. After the war, he stayed and opened his own bakery, developing the “pan de Birote.”
These Birotes have a thick and crunchy crust with a chewy and salty interior. Made using O-tentic Durum and Sapore Fidelio, this bread had a great fermented aroma. It paired well my roasted chicken dinner tonight. A wonderful savory bread without any sugar, these Birotes had a resilient and chewy crumb, making it similar to the texture of sourdough.
Birotes
I have been feeling under the weather with a head cold these couple of days. Therefore, I’ve toned down on the exercise significantly. My expenditure of calories has suffered because of this. Well, I’m not concerned because I lost weight last week, and if everything goes as planned, I’ll be the same weight this week as last week’s weigh in.
Here’s what I ate on Day 12 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| Oroweat® Whole Grain | 2 slices (38g) | 160 |
| Puratos® Craquelin | 200g | 800 |
| Puratos® Birotes | 200g | 600 |
| Kroger® Whipped Greek Cheese Spread | 1 Tbsp | 22.5 |
| Siggi’s® Skyr Vanilla | 1/2 C | 60 |
| Mango | 1 | 200 |
| Apricot Sugar-Free Jam | 2 Tbsp | 40 |
| Boar’s Head Smoked Ham | 2 oz | 60 |
| Tilamook Butter (Salted) | 2 Tbsp | 200 |
| Roasted chicken dinner | 400 | |
| Walk | -150 | |
| Total | 2392.5 |
100% Whole Wheat from Oroweat®.
I was on the go again today, baking at the Wheat Marketing Center and making it to meetings. My pile of sandwiches was packed into the bread bag and went with me wherever I went. It’s Day 11 now, people around me should be comfortable with me eating bread and talking at the same time.
Today’s bread of choice is Oroweat® 100% Whole Wheat. I love whole wheat bread because it is made from whole wheat flour. Yes, the whole wheat! Many have forgotten that the wheat grain is one of the world’s most nutritious grain. It is an excellent source of dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and highly bioactive phytochemicals, which are antioxidant compounds that fights cancer.
We all need more wheat
We are truly lucky to have wheat grow in abundance in America, yet it puzzles me why there are so many people who are anti-wheat these days. Besides providing excellent nutrition, whole wheat has many benefits like reducing the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
With so much research showing whole wheat flour as a super food, I want to bring awareness that this can be taken advantage of by consuming whole wheat products like this 100 % whole wheat bread.
Here’s what I ate on Day 11 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| Oroweat® 100% whole wheat | 12 Slices (38g) | 1080 |
| Justin’s® Nut Butter | 2 Tbsp | 190 |
| Nature’s Hollow Sugar Free Strawberry Jam | 4 Tbsp | 80 |
| Favorit Cherry Preserve | 1Tbsp | 50 |
| Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese | 1 Tbsp | 35 |
| Apple | 1 | 95 |
| Beef Noodles | 1 C | 200 |
| Crackers | 1 pkt | 390 |
| Total | 2120 |
Now that I’m adding a loaf of bread daily to my diet, the main comment has been something like, “OMG! You are gonna get soooo fat!” So, I have asked the experts in the health and nutrition fields to take a look at my diet and exercise plan and provide feedback. They all harp on the importance of exercise during the 90 days I am eating a loaf of bread.
Though this does not qualify as a high risk diet, I will be monitoring well beyond the 90 days should anything change with my health. The experts have recommended a regime of intense exercise in the evenings lasting a minimum of 30-40 minutes.
Sticking with what works
Since the ideal form of exercise is something you will actually do, I plan on running, swimming, cycling and walking. A recent study published on JAMA provides some encouragement. The researchers found that “weekend warriors and other leisure time physical activity patterns characterized by 1 or 2 sessions per week may be sufficient to reduce all-cause, CVD, and cancer mortality risks regardless of adherence to prevailing physical activity guidelines.” Because my calorie intake will be on the high side of recommended daily levels I will be a full-time exercise warrior!
My target calorie intake including 1 lb (11-13 slices) of bread every day with other foods from the vegetable, fruit and protein categories should equal 2,000 calories a day. I may have to make the occasional exception for my mom’s curry; she really is a bad influence!
Staying on top of the calories
With the 2000 calorie intake I have figured a basic exercise regimen to include:
- 45 minutes of running to burn 340 calories
- 20 minutes of swimming to burn 200 calories
- 70 minutes if cycling to burn 767 calories.
My initial observations after a few days of my East Bread 90 diet have been positive. I am really happy with the diet. It is keeping me on track with exercise and I have lots of energy and drive. The bonus of eating so much bread is that I am not hungry at all!
I hope you all will follow my journey and join the conversation about the health benefits of eating bread!
Franz® Organic Nine Grain
I figured how to make my jams and spreads portable. I must spread them on the slices every day before I leave the house. Today I dug into my bag of wholesome Franz® 9 grain bread. It’s loaded with different seeds and grains, yet it is not overly dense. Its slight sweetness makes it an easy bread to eat all day.
So, I used various jams and spreads to create my sandwich pile this morning. This is what it is going to look like from now on—says this bread bag lady.
My bread pile for the day. On-the go-bread, anywhere, everywhere!
I’ve found it is easier to fold the bread into halves because I can take it out and eat it without any mess during meetings. The people around this office are so used to me eating and talking all the time, so something would seem amiss if I don’t do this.
Tonight, we cooked pork bulgogi with vegetables and rice. I didn’t consume the rice, but I did place some sriracha sauce over it and made a sandwich out of it. Yummy!
Franz® Organic Nine Grains made a delicious Pork Bulgogi Sriracha sandwich.
Here’s what I ate on Day 10 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| Franz® Organic Nine Grain | 12 slices (43g) | 1440 |
| Tillamook® Salted Butter | 2 Tbsp | 200 |
| Kroger® Whipped Greek Cheese Spread | 1 Tbsp | 22.5 |
| Justin’s Nut Butter | 2 Tbsp | 190 |
| Nature’s Hollow Sugar Free Strawberry Jam | 4 Tbsp | 80 |
| Orange | 1 orange | 45 |
| Nutella | 1 Tbsp | 100 |
| Kelp soup | 1 C | 10 |
| Pork Bogulgi | 4oz | 250 |
| Calcium Supp | ||
| Total | 2337.5 |
Klosterman Organic Raisin Bread.
The pain in my finger seems like a distant memory, now that I drink at least 8 cups of water a day. Hydration is key.
While I continue to keep a close eye on my sodium intake by not consuming too much deli meats, I try to stay away from high sodium spreads like cream cheese and peanut butter as well. Over the last two days, I realized that if I stayed away from sodium, I replaced it with sugar instead. This is not easy. Sugar-free jam, you’re my next best friend.
The fruit breads do not have as much sodium as their non-fruity counterparts. So I had no problem eating buttered raisin toast all day. Good raisin bread is best eaten this way, and the Klosterman’s brand had so much raisins in it, it tasted so good! I could have eaten the whole loaf itself, but I had to pace myself.
Buttered Raisin Toast from Klosterman’s.
I also had to watch my sugar, so I had to eat half a loaf of the Organic whole wheat. This paired well with the savory items I had on my menu today like the tri tip steak. Thanks to my friends at Klosterman’s, this day was very enjoyable! I love your raisin bread!
Caramelized onions and steak sandwich on Klosterman’s whole wheat bread.
Here’s what I ate on Day 9 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| Klosterman’s Organic Raisin Bread | 6 slices (40g) | 660 |
| Klosterman’a 100% Organic whole wheat | 6 slices (40g) | 600 |
| Tillamook® Salted Butter | 2 Tbsp | 200 |
| Almond Breeze® chocolate almond milk | 1 C | 40 |
| Steak | 3oz | 158 |
| Ham | 1oz | 30 |
| Salami | 1oz | 50 |
| Brussel sprouts | 38 | |
| Squash soup | 1 C | 20 |
| Flan | 200 | |
| Papaya | 1C | 67 |
| Total | 2063 |
I love bakers. Have I said that lately? Today I had the honor to try bread made for me by three companies. The first one was a bagel from Bagels on Bartow, a family-owned business dedicated to the art of perfecting and preserving the tradition of New York old-fashioned, hand-rolled bagels. I was so excited to get bagels shipped to me from the Bronx. I made a cream cheese, lox and capers sandwich with this delicious bagel. It was heavenly!!!
Hand rolled bagels delivered fresh from the Bronx, New York City.
Look at that gorgeous shine on this kettle boiled bagel! Awesome with cream cheese, lox and capers.
The delicious baguette came from the O-tentic line of Puratos. They used a dried sourdough ferment that gave this baguette a crispy and aromatic bite to it. It was just wonderful toasted and eaten with butter.
Last but not least was the Sprouted Wheat and Coffee Pumpkin Berry bread, a truly outstanding loaf from Alvarado St Bakery. I expected a dark roasted coffee aroma and taste, but was surprised with the light texture and fruity aroma. Like any fruit bread, it paired well with jams and jellies. It is also heavenly eaten toasted with butter.
Sprouted Wheat and Coffee Pumpkin Berry bread with butter.
I will buy this bread any day to support coffee flour farmers. Did you know that the fruit that produces the coffee bean is discarded? Yes, every year, millions of tons of coffee fruit is discarded because we have no use for it. Well, the Coffee Flour Company patented a process at the farm level to harvest these fruits and make them into coffee flour. It allows farmers an extra income stream and benefits the local farm economy. Coffee flour is a sustainable food ingredient, and it clearly tastes great in this bread.
Here’s what I ate on Day 8 of EB90:
| Food | Portion | Calories |
| O-Tentic Baguette | 2 slices (64g) | 370 |
| Bagels on Bartow | 130g | 318 |
| Alvarado St Bakery® Sprouted wheat coffee pumpkin cranberry bread | 6 slices (32g) | 600 |
| World of Chia® Blackberry Fruit Spread | 1 Tbsp | 30 |
| Biscoff® Cookie Butter | 1 tbsp | 85 |
| Lox | 2oz | 120 |
| Siggi’s® Skyr Vanilla | 1 C | 120 |
| Orange | 1 orange | 45 |
| Sauteed Spinach | 1 C | 48 |
| Peach spread | 2 Tbsp | 100 |
| Capers | 1 tsp | 5 |
| Walk | 45 min | 48 |
| Total | 1884 |
When did bread become the enemy to healthy living? Bread has been around since the beginning of civilization. It is a fundamental food containing gut-healthy fiber, magnesium and protein.
Bread has served as a lunch time companion to meat and veggies or an accompaniment to soup at supper. And where would our breakfasts be without toast or french bread? Cruising around the internet, however, I read so many bread misconceptions and myths.
Here are the top 10 bread misconceptions:
- Bread makes you fat
- Bread causes bloating
- Brown bread is healthier than white
- Bread causes joint inflammation
- Bread is empty calories
- Bread causes diarrhea
- Eating bread is bad for your blood sugar
- Bread is less nutritious than it used to be
- Gluten Free bread is healthier
- Bread is high in salt
If you follow along with us at EB90 we will be setting the record straight on these common myths. But here I’ll address a few.
Bread makes you fat. False. A bad ratio of calories in and calories out, along with eating food low in nutrition and high in fats, makes you fat. However, by balancing your calorie intake there is plenty of room for bread in a healthy diet. In fact, whole grain breads offer needed nutrients, like fiber, and help you feel full longer.
Brown bread is healthier than white bread. Not quite. The color of bread depends on the type of wheat used: white wheat or red wheat. The nutrition depends on how much of the whole kernel of wheat is used. So you can eat whole grain white bread, that is chalk full of nutrition. Here’s one that I like. Just look for whole grain breads, and you’ll be getting the healthier loaf.
Bread is empty calories. Nope. Bread is bursting with ingredients we need in our daily diet. With whole grain bread, you receive high amounts of fiber and protein. Plus, whole grains are good for your heart.
Eating bread is bad for your blood sugar. Not with this bread! There are a number of breads that have a low GI index and still taste great.
Gluten-free bread is healthier. Actually, it’s usually the opposite. In order to replace grains that have gluten, gluten-free breads use ingredients like rice, potatoes and tapioca. These food are high in starch and sugar. Plus, there is usually little fiber. And unless you are suffering from celiac disease, there’s no reason to cut out gluten.
What bread myths have you been telling yourself?
While I’m tracking my diet over the whole 90 days, I’ll also keep you updated on my weight once a week. Our body weight usually goes up or down 1-2 lbs every week. My weigh-in before I started my bread-eating journey was unfortunately after spring break, when our family went on vacation. The fancy restaurants at our vacation spot, and my weakness for foreign sounding desserts appeared on my weigh-in. So instead of 145lbs, I started this journey with 149lbs.
I should be targeting around 2,000 calories/day to maintain my weight at about 145 lbs. It seems that my average for the week was about 1,500 calories. Therefore a drop in weight didn’t surprise me at all.
My weight at the start of 90 days.
My weight at the end of the 1st week.
Now, I hope you know that my goal for this journey is not to gain a single pound while eating large amounts of bread everyday. I have safely consumed over a pound of bread everyday this week. I am proud to say I have accomplished my goal for round one.
As for losing weight, I don’t think I’m going to lose that, at the amount of calories I am consuming a day, with the same amount of exercise per week. My body will eventually find its comfortable weight range after getting used to eating a pound of bread a daily.