I love bread. It’s in my Middle Eastern blood.
I love whole wheat bread, foccacia bread, garlic knots and croissants. It’s safe to say there is not a day that goes by that I don’t eat bread.
And well, I live in New York City, where there’s s something in the water that makes our pizza rock and our bagels rock, too. And lord knows how easy it is in this city to grab a slice and a bagel.
The old Reedu, the one who ran 40 – 50 miles per week could afford to eat all that bread. But the new Reedu can’t seem to get rid of every last pound of her pregnancy weight. The new Reedu only has time to run about eight miles per week at best, and the new Reedu is sick of feeling sluggish all the time. So she’s throwing in the towel on bread. For a week.
And now writing in the third person will end.
I told my husband Jason about my ban on bread after our four mile run over the Brooklyn Bridge this morning. Hopefully he’ll make my withdrawal period – because there will be one – easier by joining me.
It’s a big move on my part, not just because I love bread but because I don’t buy into fad diets. That’s exactly why I am not giving up carbs for a week. Besides the fact that it’s a proven scientific fact that your body needs carbs, I believe in eating what you want if you exercise regularly. And if exercise isn’t your thing or if your busy schedule doesn’t allow for it, then eat what you want but just keep it in moderation.
I’ll still be consuming grains and wheat through other yummy things such as rice and cookies (I allow myself two a day). But there will be no baguettes, no bagels, no pizza and no whole wheat toast for an ENTIRE week.
What’s the point then?
To lose a couple of pounds and to just feel better. To see how my body responds to not being bogged down by all that processed and refined sugar.
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Have you ever given up something you love very much? If so, what was it and for how long?
I gave up dairy for a month. I wanted to see if it was the root cause of every one of my woes, like the hippies say.
At the end of the month I just really really wanted a latte, and none of my woes were solved. Except the one about wanting a latte. That was an easy one.
Hi Betsy! I have a love/hate relationship with dairy myself. I love it for the cheese but hate it for what makes up cheese, milk. I am one of those hippies you speak of. After all, we are the only mammals in the world that consumes the milk of another mammal. It’s not natural.
I had to give up dairy for a couple of months after my son was born. He had a bit of reflux so his doctor had me give up dairy and soy. Soy was tough because well, there is soy in just about everything. And diary was tough too, because I love cheese and yogurt and cheese. Did I already say that? On the plus side I dropped three pounds in the first couple of weeks without the moo products. But man was it tough! As my son’s reflux matured, I began eating dairy again. As a vegetarian it was my failed attempt at making the leap to becoming vegan. Oh well, there’s always next time! ~Ree
Good for you! You can do it!
That pizza looks soooooo good. *sigh* I do miss pizza. When I can have dairy again, I’m going to eat an entire spinach alfredo pizza by MYSELF. And I’m going to follow it with an entire pint of raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. And then the next day, I’m probably going to stop eating dairy again.
Just kidding. I do feel better without it, but only marginally so. I don’t think it’s enough of an effect to give it up permanently.
Good luck with this! Let us know how it works out for you!
I love bread but think I may join you in giving it up for at least a week. No baguettes, no pizza, no bagels,
Oh my.
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I sooo miss the pizza, bread and bagels from New York! It must be the water, because ee though London is a pretty cosmopolitan city and food has improved enormously since I have lived here (16 years next month!), our pizza and bagels do not compare.
You are a brave lady to give up on the things you love the most. I hope it’s worth it in the end. Good luck.
Lisa (ICLW #112)
P.S. I’m speaking about fertility support today at the Fertility Focus Telesummit, which is free. I would love you to listen in to my talk and the other 11 speakers this week, either live or to the recordings afterward. You can register through my blog: http://www.yourgreatlife.typepad.com. Please help spread the word to anyone who is infertile and trying to conceive, or make decisions about treatment.
Hi Lisa! I have a piece of whole wheat toast in the oven as we speak. I am WEAK! Thanks for the Fertility Focus Telesummit info. I will be passing the info on to a friend of mine who has been trying to conceive and in the meantime, look forward to checking out your blog. ~Ree
I tried being vegan for a year. It was a good challenge to try new veggies/recipes but I found I consumed a LOT of bread and I didn’t lose any weight or anything.
Currently I try my best to be paleo which is based on anthropological evidence of what people’s bodies were meant to eat. So I try to avoid bread, but I get my carbs through veggies (they have more carbs and fiber than any kind of grain) I hope you lose the weight you’re trying to and feel better and energized!
However, if I lived in NY I would probably have to give in and have pizza and bagels from time to time… I went there once and LOVED it, best food I have ever eaten in my entire life.
Hi Kira! Thanks for coming by. That’s impressive you went vegan for a year but then went back, to meat no less! Ahh, I envy you. And I envy your willpower to not be such a bread fiend, like I am! I’d be happy to send you some bagels if you’d like. Pizza wouldn’t ship as well, but bagels are no sweat. Just say the word! ~Ree
I once gave up all refined sugar and white flour for a fairly long period of time (months). It is easier for me to give up something completely than to try and set limits. I can’t eat just two cookies. Sadly.
Hi Reedu,
I read your post: “Giving up bread for a week” and I was very sympathetic to your plight because bread and anything that has flour and yeast in it is the ultimate comfort food, but I was having my physical yesterday and learned from an horrified doctor that my cholesterol had shot to 280!
So, feeling sorry for myself I decided that I had to change my diet drastically: No more chocolate in any form (nature, liquid, cake etc…), no more butter, specially on bread, with chocolate on the side of course!
NO MORE cheese! No more cheese?
How can I survive? Specially in France. I was going to tough it out and get on a draconian diet without any other help, but I have cracked up and I am going to call my doctor to prescribe me a pill so that, when I am in Aveze, I can eat all the cheese I want. Isn’t it why we go there in the first place: To splurge in all the 125% fat wonderful creamy concoctions which melt in your mouth and are absolutely impossible to resist (specially with a nice piece of crusty baguette with one each of butter thickness on it!)
Well, I still will have to be carefull so I might just have the cheese plain – without the butter and the bread underneath. Doesn’t it sound like a great diet?
Claire
Hey Claire! I hate to think you have to give up all those wonderful delicacies… bread, cheese, chocolate. As it is you don’t eat anything! How could your cholesterol be up?!! Back to the cheese thing. Yes, that is definitely one reason why one goes to France! xo, Reedu