Overcoming Your Fear of Bread

Food fear, it’s a real thing. If you’ve been on and off diets over the years, losing and gaining the same weight repeatedly, you probably have some food fear. And this fear is driven by diet culture messages. Most restrictive weight loss diets ban bread, or severely restrict bread. This sets you up to believing that if you eat bread, you’re going to gain weight.

I recently met a lovely woman at a party. I didn’t know her, she’s my friend’s friend but we got along quickly, almost as if we knew each other for years. Where do you think the conversation went?

“Oh, I hear you’re a nutritionist. I’ve recently lost 20 pounds. I’m trying so hard not to gain it back, and to lose even more weight.”

This conversation is not new to me. Oftentimes, when I am introduced to someone and they ask what I do for a living, they move right into telling me how they eat, what they eat, what they don’t eat and the different diets they’ve tried.

I don’t want to be rude, but I am really done with having every social conversation revolve around diets do’s and don’ts.

Anyway, back to this woman. She was asking my advice on some lunch ideas because she’s getting tired of salad and tuna (can you relate?). I suggested a sandwich of some kind, using whole wheat pita bread, tortilla or a really nice stone ground bread. Her reaction?

“Oh, no I don’t eat bread. I’m afraid of bread. I don’t want to regain the weight.”

I really felt sorry for her. And if this is your reaction too, I am so sorry. No one should be afraid of any food. Here’s what I shared with her , and what I’m sharing with you…

No one food has the power to make you fat or skinny!

That’s right, diet culture has caused you to believe that if you eat bread, you will gain weight and that is absolutely false! Whole grain breads are rich in nutrients such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folate, iron, magnesium and dietary fiber to name a few. You will not gain weight by eating any one singular food. When you incorporate bread into an overall healthy well-balanced eating regimen, you will provide your body with the nutrients you need for good health.

What does this look like in real life?

Perhaps that means having whole grain toast with scrambled eggs for breakfast, a stuffed whole wheat pita with chicken and avocado for lunch and a whole grain Quesadilla filled with beans and veggies for dinner.

Diets are not sustainable for life. Avoiding bread for life is not a realistic expectation for most people. I know, you don’t even want to avoid bread. You do enjoy it, but the fear holds you back.

Making Peace with Bread

The first step to making peace with bread is to eat bread. So, decide when and how you want to reintroduce bread into your eating life. Then sit down and mindfully enjoy, savoring the taste and texture of your meal.

Then do it again the next day, and the day after that. You will see that nothing changed, you didn’t miraculously gain 5 pounds over night.

The more you expose yourself to bread, eating it mindfully and will full attention, the less fear you will have over it.

Bon Appetit! Let me know what types of bread are your favorite.

And if you need help making peace with other foods, just head on over to www.TalkWithBonnie.com and schedule a complementary call.