In my weekly update yesterday I suggested that cutting out bread was a factor in my having a record week. This comment from reader Jan B got me thinking more in depth about bread in my diet:
I cut out bread a couple of months ago when I started realizing that I was using it more as a handle for food than anything else. Now I use a fork. How many calories does a fork have??
She is absolutely right, I have never thought of bread as a handle before but that really is the genius of the sandwich, isn’t it?
Here are all the ways I can think of where I use bread in my diet:
Sandwich
Here bread is used, as Jan says, as a handle for some meat, cheese and lettuce or something similar. While a sandwich certainly can (and probably should!) be made with really good tasting bread the reality is, at least for me, that the bread is secondary to whatever is on the inside. It isn’t quite as good a handle as bread but this week I started using the lettuce on the outside instead of on the inside. Early in the week I made baked chicken breasts for dinner and I made a few extra to be eaten later in sandwiches. I took a cold chicken breast, put a slice of cheese on it along with a little blue cheese dressing and some salt and pepper and wrapped it up in a couple of romaine hearts. It was a little messy but tasted great and I didn’t miss the bread at all.
Appetizer
This is the bread basket served almost right away at nicer restaurants. Usually with some sort of special butter. I couldn’t stay away from this last week when we went to a restaurant that served fresh popovers with maple butter. Yummy. I did reserve myself and have just one however. The thing is this bread is so easy to eat because you are hungry - that’s why you went out to eat in the first place. You didn’t come to eat bread but you always do. And if you are like me (or like I was) you fill up on bread but then don’t want to admit it because you have ordered all sorts of really good food so you forget about the fact you have already eaten your fill and you eat way more regular food than you need to. As I am writing this I am realizing how bad this brand of bread is and I am going to work hard to recognize when the bread is just there to fill time, and to stay away from it.
Accompaniment
This is either another basket of appetizer bread eaten through the meal or a roll served directly with the meal. Now that I think about it I had some of this last week too when my son ordered a roll with his pasta and he only ate half of it. So I ate the other half. I just remembered that. Why would I do that? Damn bread! When I’m in Chicago I usually have a salad for lunch and they always add a small roll with it. I’ll be declining it this week so I can focus on the salad.
Entree
This is the toast or bagel for breakfast, or the giant soft pretzel as a snack. These are typically convenience foods but they are also pretty easy to replace, you just have to be aware of where your habits are hurting you - like my daily bagel habit I gave up last week.
I love bread but when I think about it honestly I realize it’s often an unnecessary add-on. I’m making a concerted effort to limit the amount of bread I eat again this week and we’ll see how it goes for me.
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