In my family medicine practice, I hear this more than, “My throat hurts.”

Bread has become an every day staple in American homes, but it really isn’t what it used to be. It used to be made by hand. It was locally grown, whole grains that people milled into flour. It may have had a very small amount of sugar or honey to help with leavening, but was usually flour, yeast if available, and water.

It was then eaten with a meal, used to sop up gravy. It was also commonly used as a filler – protein is more expensive so starches such as bread and potatoes (and historically in other countries rice and pasta) were used to fill more people for longer periods of time.

Now, bread is usually purchased at the grocery store, and is generally over-processed grains (with the good stuff taken out and then vitamins added in to “enrich” the flour, labeled “healthy” “whole” grains), with high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, as well as the unpronounceables:

Take a peak in the bread aisle, I did. I looked at every single hot dog bun in the grocery store, and I couldn’t find one without high fructose corn syrup in it.

It is a wonder that people feel like they cannot give up bread. Studies have shown that eating one, single, piece of white bread, can light up a brain scan the same way as heroin.

If you are one of those people, here are a few recipes that can help you with those cravings.

Nothing like the present, start today!

How about an English Muffin alternative?

Or an easy blender sandwich bread?

Multiple different types of bread:

Diet Doctor dinner rolls

Pumpkin bread

Best Breads on the Internet via

Ditch the Carbs

Keep this in mind: Deprivation is a mindset, and the less you eat something the less you will crave it.

Changing your lifestyle – they don’t make a pill for that. Changing the way that you eat takes both physical and mental preparation, and just like quitting or changing any other habit you must be ready for it. But it will be worth it. Do you want to reduce your risks for diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea, heart disease, dementia and more?

www.drdavidsiegel.com

There are 5 stages to quitting anything – Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance.

1) PRECONTEMPLATION STAGE – not yet ready to acknowledge there is a problem, much less a solution. Precontemplators usually show up in my office because of pressures from others… they are not ready.

2) CONTEMPLATION STAGE -ready to see something change. Contemplators acknowledge there is a problem and begin to think about a solution, but have trouble understanding the problem and it’s causes, and wonder about the possible solution. Many contemplators have nonspecific plans to take action in the near future. It is not uncommon for contemplators to tell themselves that “some day they are going to change”….they are not ready now, but can move into the preparation stage easily.

When contemplators transition to the preparation stage of change, their thinking is clearly marked by two changes. First, they begin to think more about the future than the past. The end of contemplation stage is a time of ANTICIPATION, ACTIVITY, ANXIETY, and EXCITEMENT.

3) PREPARATION STAGE Most people in the preparation stage have a plan to take action and are making the final adjustments before they begin to change their behavior. The may still have mixed feelings, and still need a little convincing…this is where most people are when they first come in to talk about lifestyle changes.

4) ACTION STAGE Stage where people modify their behavior and their surroundings, making the move for which they have been preparing. This stage requires the greatest commitment of time and energy. CHANGE IS MORE VISIBLE TO OTHERS.

5) MAINTENANCE STAGE Change never ends with action. Without a strong commitment to maintenance, there will surely be relapse, usually to precontemplation or contemplation stage.

MOST SUCCESSFUL SELF-CHANGERS GO THROUGH THE STAGES THREE OR FOUR TIMES BEFORE THEY MAKE IT THROUGH THE CYCLE OF CHANGE WITHOUT AT LEAST ONE SLIP. MOST WILL RETURN TO THE CONTEMPLATION STAGE OF CHANGE. SLIPS GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN (Stages of Change)

Changing to a low carb diet is just like any other lifestyle change. Carbs and sugar are addictive, easy, and what we are all used to. Just like when someone quits smoking or drinking alcohol, there will be significant cravings, as well as people around us who talk us into “being bad”. Surrounding yourself with other people who eat LCHF, cleaning out the pantry and buying easy snacks and foods to cook for meals, and always planning ahead of time so that you are not left without a good option is the way to succeed at this. easy snacks and foods to cook for meals, and always planning ahead so that you are not left without good options. And if you fall off the wagon, stand up and dust yourself off, and start once again down the path to optimum health without beating yourself up!

Tag Archives: Low Carb Diet

“I Couldn’t Possibly Give Up Bread…”

Making the Change