New Beginnings

I first saw The Bread For Life Diet as a post under the heading of Crazy Fad Diets. Fad or not, being totally addicted to bread I was intrigued as to what it was all about. I looked online at the local library, and they had a copy, so I called DH and asked him to pick up the book I had on hold, and so began my very last weight loss journey. That night I read the book and the next day we went grocery shopping, so we could start right away. It never even crossed my mind that it wouldn't work for me, as a child, I could eat most of the things my mother put on my plate if I could put it between two slices of bread. So I am pretty adventurous in what I will put in a sandwich, and vegetables are no problem whatsoever. I knew this diet was made for me, and I was supremely happy about it.

Speed ahead seven weeks and I had lost 15 pounds, I won't tell you what DH lost in the same amount of time, but you can be sure it was more than me. I chose not to know what he lost, I needed to be satisfied with my own loss, and I was!! You have to know that even when I took Redux (phen/fen) my average weight loss was 1 pound a week, so an average of two pounds a week is like a miracle to me. Not only had I lost weight, but I had lost inches; two pant sizes worth of inches. Plus I was never hungry, and cravings were pretty much a thing of the past.

After this weight loss, we took an Transatlantic cruise, that's 14 nights of four-course meals, as well as three days in Barcelona, where we discovered how delicious gelato is. Upon weighing myself after returning home, I had gained three pounds, and two of those had gone by the following day. So I certainly wouldn't call this a fad diet, I know I can use this eating plan to maintain a healthy weight the rest of my life.

People have asked about the food we are eating, so this is for them, and anyone else out there in cyber land wanting to know how to use the Bread For Life Diet.

Bread: The Star Of The Show

In the first phase of the diet, bread has a starring role, and the majority of our meals consist of sandwiches loaded up with vegetables. They are so easy to fix and taste delicious, and most importantly, they fill you up, so you are totally satisfied. We started this diet the first time not really knowing how we would eat 10-12 slices of bread in a day, and lose weight at the same time, but had a definite willingness to try it. Towards the end of the two-week induction, we had figured out all the little details that made our meals something that we looked forward to. I will share those ideas with you, but you will also find your own style of preparing the food to suit your taste buds.

We found the Sarah Lee Delightful 100% whole-wheat bread to be very tasty, but any low-calorie bread that is whole wheat is acceptable. 

Next we spread on Laughing Cow Light cream cheese; one triangle over two slices of bread. It's a good substitute for mayo, and at 35 calories and 1.5 grams of fat, how can you go wrong? I hate dry bread! As my Dad would say when asked if he wanted butter on his bread "Of course, I'm not in Prison." I carry on that fine tradition, only I use cream cheese now instead of butter.

What vegetables you put on your bread is your own personal preference. We like to build up our sandwich so it really feels like a meal, so we put on every vegetable we can think up. What kind of veggies you might ask?

Raw: Spinach leaves, grated carrot, sliced cucumber, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, mushroom, bell pepper

Pickled: sliced beets, dill pickles

Cooked: caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed zucchini, baked garlic cloves

Remember I said I would share tips for making the food taste better? Here's the secret; caramelized onions. The diet calls for us to have three tablespoons of olive oil a day, use some of that oil and saute chopped/sliced onions very slowly (up to 45 min) so that they release their natural sugars. They add a sweet roasted flavor that is so delicious you won't miss having meat on your sandwich at all. Cook up a lot, you can keep it in the fridge and spread on cold (don't knock it till you've tried it) Check out caramelized onion on youtube for further help.

The other secret ingredient is garlic. Cut the tops off raw garlic and drizzle with a little oil and bake covered until it is soft. Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves and mash to a paste with a fork. Spread a little (or a lot) over the cream cheese for an even more flavorful sandwich.

Roasted red/green peppers also taste awesome on sandwiches. Cut the peppers in thirds lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush with olive oil and place under the broiler until they are charred. Once they are cooked place them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes. When they have cooled, the skin will peel away from the pepper easily. Slice them up and put on your sandwich.

We use this sandwich as the base of our diet, and eat every three hours. It is very satisfying and we never feel hungry. If you are used to eating a diet high in fat and sugar, your taste buds will need some time to fully appreciate the flavor of eating raw and roasted vegetables. By about the fifth day I found myself really tasting my food, and fruit became a delicious treat. So give yourself some time to adapt to this new way of eating, all the pounds you will drop in those first few days will give you the incentive to keep eating this way.

The Humble Vegetable

Have you noticed that when people are in raptures over food that nobody really says, "Wow, I just had the most delicious broccoli you've ever tasted!" Nope. You are much more likely to hear about how light the bread was, or how perfectly cooked the beef was, or how the fantastically presented dessert tasted like heaven on a plate. The humble green bean just sits quietly on the plate next to the steak and utters no complaint when it is swiped to the side in favor of it's giant protein buddy. Well, no more! It's time for the vegetable to stand in the spotlight and shine, while the protein is cut down to size, and given a backstage role. LOL, if my mother could hear me right now, waxing poetic about vegetables she would wonder what space alien had replaced her daughter. The truth is that I'm just excited about this new (for me) way of eating, because I know it is something I can use the rest of my life, and never have a problem with my weight again. Hallelujah, Amen! Yes, I am that passionate about it!

Before you start thinking that I'm some kind of crazy veggie loving fanatic, I should make it clear that in the past, I have never been a big fan of vegetables, unless you count french fries, or baked potatoes smothered with butter, cheese and sour cream. Part of that stems from growing up with vegetables cooked until they were mush, and the other part from not wanting to fill up on veggies when there was something more delicious (read fattening) available to eat.

Remember when we all thought eating a salad was healthy for us? Bacon bits, chopped egg, croutons, all slavered with Ranch dressing. Then we found out the true fat content of all that stuff, and we all had to switch to the low-cal, non-fat, fake dressings. Yuck! It left me feeling as though I would never eat salad again. Then I discovered Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette; low on fat, and big on taste, and it reawakened the salad lover in me. I seriously love this stuff. Be careful to measure by the tablespoon, we have a coffee spoon that measures out two tablespoons and keeps us on track. Grab your favorite bowl (mine has Mickey on it) and fill it with all your favorite salad fixings. My preference is to use a coleslaw mix (also known as cabbage) and add grated carrot, small pieces of cauliflower and broccoli, sometimes some sliced oriental pea pods. Cabbage makes up most of my salad as I love it, but you can choose lettuce and more traditional ingredients if that's your preference. Trader Joe's also has a Raspberry Vinaigrette that is really good too, if spicy isn't your thing. In the picture, you will see a package of Fresh Gourmet Wonton Strips, and if I'm making a meal of my salad, I use 1/4 cup of those instead of two slices of bread. It's kind of a cheat, but it's not a terrible one .. lol! Sometimes we add a small amount of chicken breast to a salad, instead of the wonton strips.

Keeping it Simple

Some sample menus of a typical day of eating in phase one.

DAY ONE

Meal 1: 2 Slices of toast with thinly spread peanut butter

Meal 2: Vegetable sandwich

Meal 3: Bowl of salad

Meal 4: Vegetable sandwich

Meal 5: 2 Slices of toast with thinly spread peanut butter

DAY TWO

Meal 1: 2 Slices of toast with thinly spread peanut butter

Meal 2: Vegetable frittata on 2 slices of bread

Meal 3: Bowl of salad

Meal 4: Vegetable sandwich

Meal 5: Vegetable sandwich

DAY THREE

Meal 1: 2 Slices of toast with thinly spread peanut butter

Meal 2: Vegetable sandwich

Meal 3: Sauteed onion, garlic, zucchini, & mushrooms on 2 slices of toasted bread, spread with hummus

Meal 4: Bowl of salad with chicken (no croutons)

Meal 5: Vegetable sandwich


As you can see our menu revolves around three items; vegetable sandwiches, vegetable salad and peanut butter toast, with an occasional egg or piece of chicken thrown in. Olga says in the book to keep things simple, that the more diverse our menu is the more we will tend to over eat.

We are busy people and eating 5 meals a day is a lot to fit in, so the simpler our menu plan is the better. When a job takes us from the house all day and sometimes into the night, we just take along a cooler and fill it with all the sliced vegetable containers in our fridge, pop in a package of laughing cow cheese, grab a knife and a loaf of bread, and go. We then just make the sandwiches up every three hours. It takes no more time to do than driving around town trying to figure out what fast food is healthiest .. lol.

I noticed that in the first two weeks when our food options are a little more limited, that my thinking switched, and towards the end I was truly eating to live, rather than living to eat. I felt a freedom from hunger that had me so excited, I wanted to sing it out to the world. I never thought I could be a person who would give up sugar, and white bread, but I was wrong. I've now lost 20 pounds, and I can honestly say that NOTHING tastes as good, as thin feels.


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