calories Archives | Eat Bread 90

Have I have officially plateaued on my bread diet? Exercise would help!

April 25, 2018May 25, 2018 by Lin Carson

Week 4: Have I Officially Plateaued on My Bread Diet?

Every dieter’s nightmare is to look at the scale, and after all the hard work that you’ve put in, you don’t move the needle at all (or least reduced the numbers digitally). It only means one thing. I’ve finally met the caloric needs of my lighter self. The equation needs to be changed. Either I increase my caloric needs (through exercise), decrease my caloric intake further, or both.

I have to admit, I haven’t been exercising much during my diet

Every time I run a 5K, my body wants more calories and I end up eating more than I exercise. That is why most people like me don’t lose weight while performing high impact extended exercises. The output just doesn’t exceed the input.

The weekends are really bad too. When I bake and cook for my family of five, I tend to dig into their share as well. So, as a mom, I really have to control what goes into my mouth. It definitely can not include macaroni and cheese or the frequent Tater Tot (my kid’s favorite). Therefore, to all the moms out there who bake and cook: I feel you.

Grilled cheese on multigrain bread (not exactly a diet food).

So, this week, I dug further into exercise research

To my surprise, a study showed that the most effective weight loss can be achieved by performing no more than 30 mins of cardiovascular exercise. Seriously? All this time I thought I had to burn more to lose more and that is just not true!

Armed with this knowledge, I’m going to approach my bread diet with a healthy dose of exercise. Here’s what my an average day in four week looked like:

Food	Portion	Calories
Multi grain bread	4 slices	440
Grilled cheddar cheese on multigrain	2 slices	350
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Orange juice With Calcium and Vitamin D	8 oz	110
Oranges	1	65
Grilled chicken sandwich	2 slices	300
Sautéed spinach	1C	45
Total calories		1,510

The first weigh-in: 147.4

Week 4 weigh in: 144.4 lbs, same as last week.

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June 22, 2017August 7, 2017 by Lin Carson

Is it Important to Eat Bread in Your Diet? Day 78 and 79

I’ve heard that over and over again from people who are trying to lose weight. It is really misleading when someone says that the simple act of cutting bread out of your diet will magically make you lose weight. The immediate follow-up statement usually goes like this: “carbs are bad for you.”

Carbs are not bad for you. Based on a 2,000 caloric intake, a daily intake of 300g worth of carbohydrates is recommended. Everyone should at least eat 120 – 130g each day to meet the minimum required for your brain to function. In bread talk, that’s about 3 slices of bread a day.

It’s true, if you cut something out from your diet, you will lose weight because your daily habits surrounding that food changes and your consumption becomes more limited. This can be applied universally to all types of food, not just bread.

Why keep bread part of your diet?

Bread should be part of everyone’s diet because it is a conveniently nutritious product. If you followed my journey, you would have noticed that I consumed bread that is healthy and easily obtained off the supermarket shelve. You do not need to make these breads yourselves, nor do you have to specially order it.

Why are you eating a loaf? What are you trying to prove?

If this journey said, “I’m eating 3 slices of bread a day, and bread is not killing me” would you believe me? But I ate a pound of bread a day, 12-14 slices, and still, it hasn’t done anything bad to me or my weight. Now do you believe me that bread is not bad for you?

How do you eat so much bread in one day?

I’ve pretty much spaced out my bread eating all throughout the day. Anyone in our office will tell you that I’m stuffing my face with bread all the time. My children will tell you that all I eat is bread at the dinner table. If the clock is ticking, and I’m not in bed, I’m eating bread.

Don’t you get sick of eating so much bread?

Never been and never will. My critics, or the Bread Police (they seem to be hanging around in the office) keep asking me that question in hopes of seeing a white flag. I think the answer is pretty simple. I’ll never get sick of something I love eating. I’ve been loving this journey, and will continue to love eating bread, even after 90 days.

My days worth of delicious rolls with a beet salad.

Here’s what I ate on Days 78 and 79 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 78
Bagel	2 (100g)	420
Fritatta Croisant	80g	300
Purple Wheat Raisin	5 slices (39g)	400
Ravioli and Sausage	1 C	300
Canale		200
Steamed Brocolli	1C	30
Orange	1 orange	45
Total		1695

Day 79
Bun Rolls	1lb	1200
Beet Salad	2C	250
Croissant		240
Pork Watercress Noodles	1C	200
Marie Biscuits	5	100
Cherries	1C	74
Run		-200
Total		1864

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June 20, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

Week Eleven Weigh-in

Day 70 weigh-in: 147.6 lbs

Day 77 weigh-in: 148.6 lbs

Well, ninety days are winding down. But the types of bread I’m learning about and great conversations are not! This week, I got to eat some wonderful gluten free bread, and discuss how celiac disease doesn’t mean the end of bread. There was also some amazing probiotic bread that has an innovative solution to give you a whole bunch of benefits. For a food like bread that’s been around for so many years, it’s amazing to see how how relevant and healthy it still is!

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June 13, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

Week Ten Weigh-in

Day 63 weigh-in: 148 lbs.

Day 70 weigh-in: 147.6 lbs

This was an interesting and unique week in my Eat Bread 90 challenge. Due to two outpatient procedures, I was really off my game and on my back early on. However, I’m finally feeling back to my old self, and ready to finish strong as we get closer and closer to the finish line! And no, I’m not sick of bread yet. Bring it on!

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June 5, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

Week Nine Weigh-in

Day 56 weigh-in: 147.4 pounds

Day 63 weigh-in: 148 pounds

It seems strange to think I’m over a third of the way done with my 90 days. I’ve got about a month left of this bread eating journey, and I still have amazing breads from talented and innovative bakers rolling in. Wow! This week I got to try some really unique and tasty breads, some of which I may not have tried if not for my Eat Bread 90 challenge. Well, back to eating more bread!

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May 28, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

Week Eight Weigh-in

Day 49 weigh-in

Day 56 weigh-in

Traveling this week to the International Symposium on Bread made the last few days busy and full. But even with flying across the country, not having time to fit in all of my regular exercise, and good food and bread everywhere, I STILL did not put on a significant amount of weight. The deeper I go into this diet, the more I get used to what works and what doesn’t, and I feel I’m really hitting my stride.

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May 18, 2017August 7, 2017 by Lin Carson

Eating Lots of Bread Can’t be Healthy: Day 45 and 46

Here I am at the halfway point. It feels like I’ve been doing it forever because I’m so used to this diet now. A friend of mine, Derek, caught up with me and we talked about me eating lots of bread. “Surely, you’re not showing this diet you’re on is a healthy diet, eating this much bread can’t be healthy, and you can’t promote eating so much bread.”

Really? I can’t? It was time to tell Derek that he’s not getting the correct information from the correct source.

This is exactly why I went on this diet challenge, without this journey, I can’t prove my point: EATING BREAD DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT OR UNHEALTHY. To further prove my point, I’m eating as much bread as a woman my age can humanly do. I believe Derek was trying to do an expose on my journey, and I wasn’t going to crumble under his questions. He is a strong believer in a low carb diet, which was the reason for his recent weight loss. We had a strong discussion on calories in and calories out, and I asked him to check out the calorie math that I have logged so far on my journey. I consume about 14,000 calories per week in total. After exercising an average of 35 mins every day, I was able to target about 2,000 almost every day.

There is no magic to this. I’m able to keep to my target weight, even after eating lots of bread every day because the math is right.

This is no secret. Nutritionists have practiced this method for ages. I’m not doing anything new, but try to fight the wrong keto and low carb information out there about bread.

Softgrain Sprouted Rye_eating lots of bread

Softgrain Sprouted Rye bread from Puratos.

Is eating lots of bread healthy?

“You can’t recommend this diet to anyone, it’s dangerous,” he said. Well firstly, I don’t recommend eating this much bread, because it takes a lot of effort to eat that much bread in a day and to maintain your weight. Secondly, I doubt if anyone is going to follow my steps to eat bread at every hour, it’s too troublesome, and definitely not a catchy diet to sell. I asked Derek why he thought it was unhealthy, and he said it was too high in carbs and so much gluten is not good for my health.

And there you have it, my friends. This information is roaming freely around the internet, yet there is no one to challenge it but on this blog.

While I’m trying to fight all this information about bread and healthy eating habits, I’m supported by the folks at Puratos, who sent me delicious crusty softgrain sprouted rye Artisan bread. It took me 2 days to finish a loaf each. I love eating crusty artisan style bread. Thank goodness, this journey has it rewards, or I would have given up some time ago.

At a reception with so many food choices. It’s easy to go wrong without my bread diet.

A healthy sprouted grain artisan loaf by Puratos.

Luckily, I brought my sprouted grain artisan loaf. Here, I ate it with about 1/2 Cup of Ceviche.

Here’s what I ate on Days 44 and 46 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 45
Sprouted Grain Bread	1 loaf	1100
Smoked Ham	4 Slices	60
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Ceviche	1/2 C	100
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Orange	1 orange	45
Justin’s Nut Butter	2 Tbsp	190
Bike		-100
Coconut water	1 L	180
Calcium Supp
Total		2015
Day 46
Artisan sourdough	1 loaf	1100
Salami	6 Slices	180
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Butter	4 Tbsp	400
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Orange	1 orange	45
Papaya	1C	67
Steamed Brocolli	1C	30
Apple	1	95
Run		-300
Calcium Supp
Total		2057

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April 12, 2017May 9, 2017 by Lin Carson

Diet and Exercise During EB90

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!

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April 10, 2017August 9, 2017 by Katie Jones

10 Bread Misconceptions Debunked

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.

bread misconceptions, bread myths, bread, healthy

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?

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bakery-bread-eb90-weight gain from bread

April 3, 2017August 2, 2017 by Lin Carson

Bread Makes You Fat

This was the immediate reaction from family and friends when I told them about my plan to embark on a 90-Day bread-eating journey. But I know weight gain from bread is a myth. This is no late-night whim. The truth is, I’ve been considering doing this for a long time. It started with a thought: “What if I can eat my favorite food—bread—every day?” Then it grew into a challenge:

“What if I can eat a loaf of bread every day?”

A quick check on the nutrition labels of my bread at home proved that this challenge made sense. I could definitely eat a loaf everyday, get all the nutrition I need to stay healthy and not put on weight. Just to make sure, I brought in Registered and Licensed Dietitian Connie Evers, MSc., to keep a watchful eye on my calorie-intake and BMI.

How much bread can you eat and not gain weight?

Basically, succeeding in this challenge comes down to input vs output. I’m in my mid 40s, size 6-8 (which fluctuates between summer and winter) and 145 lbs. I don’t smoke or drink and I don’t take any recreational or prescription drugs. I am a mother of three boys, an entrepreneur, scientist, foodie, baker, Chihuly fan and a lover of the outdoors who runs, cycles and swims at least three times a week. Other than that, I lead a normal life. My eating habits and cravings are pretty normal. Some people may even call me…boring.

eat-bread-90-boring

So why not challenge people’s negative perception of eating bread, while eating my fill of delicious loaves? I’m not worried about weight gain from bread, because as a baker I’ve been working with bread and researching it for a long, long time.

I contacted all my baker friends and told them about the challenge. Their reaction? Immediately sending over loaves and loaves of bread with all the nutritional labels intact! I have been so overwhelmed with their support! Not only are they cheering me on but they are also keen on providing me with my lots of bread. I feel so loved.

thanks-support-eb90-weight gain from bread

I should explain how I know all these bakers. My business, BAKERpedia, serves the commercial baking industry. We provide a knowledge base that is freely available to help bakers with all their scientific questions. We also offer technical support and consulting services to bakeries who are at the tipping point of business expansion. In the short two and a half years BAKERpedia’s been in business, I’ve met a lot of wonderful people in the food industry who are hungry for knowledge. Most of them are searching for reliable information and ways to be innovative with their products.

I’m proud to say we have always done our best to help all bakers and equipment suppliers to enhance their businesses and have generally helped the entire baking ecosystem thrive. If this is their way of giving back to BAKERpedia, I am deeply touched and definitely encouraged—not only to continue making BAKERpedia a success, but to go all out on this ambitious bread-eating journey.

Taking on the challenge

Today is the very first day of my challenge, and the list of bakers who want to send me bread keeps growing. That means, I get to eat more of my favorite food for free over the next 90 days! If you run a bakery and would like to support me, send your lovely loaves to:

707 SW Washington St., #1100, Portland, OR 97205. Attn: Ms Ana Rinck, Operations Manager, BAKERpedia.

Thank you for feeding me and helping give bread a good name!