The Bread For Life Diet - Update
Today is day 13 of 14. Successful 2 weeks? Absolutely! On what basis? Well I have to admit I sorta, kinda cheated. My initial weight was 80+ odd kg. A few weeks prior, I did the lemonade diet for a few days, on and off, stuck to the Wii fit religiously for a few days (about 2 weeks), until I got my weight down to 75 kg.
Then I received my Bread for Life Diet book, and ditched everything else. Now, from previous experience, once I get off the lemonade diet my weight would balloon to horrific proportions in no time flat. The Bread for Life Diet not only stopped me from putting back on the 5 kg that I had lost, but also made me lose an extra 2 kg in 2 weeks. So that puts me at a nice 72 kg. I think an average weight loss of 1 kg every week is not only healthy, but that weight is more likely to stay off than a quick-fix weight loss plan such as the lemonade diet.
Cons? Bread isn't cheap these days. And finding 35-45 calorie bread is pretty much impossible. I had to cut down from 12 slices to 6, substituting the low calorie bread for regular (average 95 calorie) whole grain. Same amount of calories in my day, just different portions. This slight change in portions was just as filling.
I did my grocery shopping for Stage 2 yesterday. Stage 2 is a little bit more fun but not much different and you can maintain it for as long as you like. Difference is, you can now substitute your bread allotments for other carb foods that are equal to the bread allotment in terms of composition and quantity.
You can substitute 2 slices of light bread, or one slice of regular bread, for :
- Legumes (1 cup cooked). This includes lentils, white or black beans, broad beans, chick peas, and so on.
- Rice (2/3 - 1 cup cooked) - Anything except white rice. This includes basmati rice, wild rice, and whole-grain rice.
- Pasta (1 cup cooked) - Pasta made from durum wheat (most pasta is) and whole wheat is preferred to white pasta. Careful with the sauces though, none of that fat cheesy heavy stuff! Sauces recommended include tomato, soy, and olive oil, all with or without herbs.
- Grains (2/3 - 1 cup cooked) - These include pearl barley, millet, buckwheat, oats, or any other type of whole grain.
- Sweet potato (1 medium-sized) - These can be boiled, oven-baked or microwave-nuked, or sauteed in a small amount of olive or canola oil.
- Potato (1 medium sized) - These can be eaten OCCASIONALLY, boiled, oven-baked or cooked. Mashed potatoes and fries are not recommended.
- Corn - (1 ear, 2/3 cup kernels, or 2 cups popped).
- Breakfast cereals - (4-5 tablespoons) - Cereals can be substituted for bread on occasion but are not recommended because most cereals contain an insane amount of sugar etc. Even the ones that do not contain sugar still have a very high glycemic index, and thus should be avoided if possible.
- Muesli and granola (1-2 tablespoons) - You may occasionally have muesli or granola, but the less, the better.
- Crackers, pretzels, rice cakes, and other snacks (2-3 pieces) - Look for whole-wheat and oat crackers. Since there is a large variety of these products on the market, be careful when reading labels. As a rule of thumb, every 35-45 calories is equivalent to 1 slice of light bread, or 1/2 regular bread.
- Veggies are to be eaten in unlimited amounts, except the ones mentioned above.
- Meat, poultry and fish - Eat lean meat, poultry or fish 3 times a week, as a separate meal without carbs, but veggies can be eaten freely.
- Fruit - 1 serving a day.
- Eggs- 1 egg 2-3 times a week
- Dairy - Same as Stage 1, keep it as low fat as possible
- Oil and sauces - As in Stage 1, you MUST have 2-3 tablespoons of either olive or canola oil per day
- Treat yourself - We did say that meat, poultry and fish should not be eaten with carbs in the same meal, but you can relax this rule on occasion. If you're craving that burger on a bun, go ahead, but don't make it a habit.
So there you have it. If anyone does decide to go on this diet, please be sure to update me on your progress, it should be interesting to see how others are handling it.
1 comment:
thanx..i was waiting for ur update..i just finished an extreme 500 cal 2 weeks diet with only 4 kilos lost so it was not worth it at all with all the hunger i went thru..there was no starch no sugar in it so maybe if i do the bread diet it could work for me.i will try it after the nw yr and let u knw the result. :)
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