Lin Carson, Author at Eat Bread 90

April 18, 2018May 25, 2018 by Lin Carson

Week 3: Why I’m Eating Bread and Losing 10 Pounds

Why are you doing this? You look great. You don’t need to lose anymore weight.

As a startup founder, especially one that sits on the computer all day working on WordPress and editing articles, I just don’t move around much. At the beginning of my journey four years ago when I was a lone founder who worked everything herself, it was really hard to get away, let alone include an exercise routine. I spent over well over 15 hours a day sitting. If I didn’t sit, I was stress cooking or eating with my family.

Stress + sitting + startup = 10 lbs.

Like over 26% of founders, I’ve gained at 5-10 lbs on this journey.

How much weight do startup entrepreneurs gain?

How much weight enterpreneurs gain

There is little I can do about the stress level. Hey, when the bills are stacked up against you, and you have to make cashflow and still grow the company, there is little a startup founder can do with this bootstrapped system other than stress about it. Stress. It comes with the startup game, or anytime you become your own boss.

I finally found some relief in my third year of business when I was able to hire employees to take work off my plate. That meant I had more time to exercise. But I was at my highest weight ever at 145 lbs. So I took out my trisuit and went swimming, cycling and running again. Back then, I felt that I could handle a loaf of bread a day no problem. At that weight and the rate I was burning, it was easy to consume a loaf a day.

That was why the 90 loafs in 90 days experiment was possible. I was even hoping that I would lose weight, but the training period and my high caloric consumption for the Triathlons just wasn’t conducive to losing weight. I did, however, maintain my weight throughout that period with bread and for the rest of the year.

But you look good, why lose weight?

I was really pushing the upper limits of my BMI. Which means that I have excess fat I’m carrying around. I don’t need it. Not on my back, not on my knees. Especially not when I’m running the 5K of my triathlon (maybe that’s why I’m so slow for that leg – no wait, I’m just bad at running). Anyway, I’m confident that if I get rid of that 10lbs, I can be faster in the overall race this year at the HAAG lake Triathlon.

Dave’s Killer Bread Epic Everything Bagels.

This week, I added Dave’s Killer Bread Epic Everything Bagel into my diet. Can you imagine a person eating a bagel a day and still losing weight? This is how I’m doing it:

Food	Portion	Calories
Multi grain bread	4 slices	440
DKB Epic Everything Bagel	1	260
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Orange Juice With Calcium and Vitamin D	8 oz	110
Strawberry Jam	2 Tbsp	70
Green grapes	1 Cup	65
Apple slices	1 Cup	60
Friend Egg	1	90
Steamed Broccoli	1C	55
Chocolate Eggs*	6pc	160
Total Calories		1510

*chocolate eggs are not part of a healthy diet. However, I have a weakness for Cadbury’s chocolate eggs, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am addicted to them.

The first weigh-in: 147.4

Week 3 weigh-in: 144.4

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Bread perfect for snacking from The Orlando Baking Co.

April 11, 2018May 18, 2018 by Lin Carson

Week 2: The Perfect Snacking Bread!

The word’s officially out that I am eating bread again. So this week, I received a nice little basket from Orlando Baking.

What is so special about this bread?

John Orlando, VP of Operations at Orlando Baking, mentioned that there aren’t many baked goods out there touting high antioxidants and can improve gut health. With a high amount of illnesses originating in the gut, they believe that probiotics can promote digestive health. Therefore, when Orlando Baking Co. launched the True Grains® line, they really wanted to provide a loaf packed with nutrients and probiotics.

The True Grains® Purple Wheat Raisin Bread was a moist and lightly sweetened loaf. It helped with my diet because I didn’t need much butter or spreads to go along with it. If anything, I was just eating it slice by slice. In fact, I had to stop myself from eating the whole loaf this way (darn, this losing weight on bread thing is getting on my nerves).

So that is the downfall of this whole dieting-with-bread exercise. I just can’t stop myself eating the bread. Therefore, the weight I am losing is minimal. But hey, at least I’m losing weight and keeping off the hunger pangs with bread.

Bread is the perfect low-calorie snack

My daily ritual looks like this: Eat bread all day. I know you may not believe its true that I would just reach out and eat a whole slice when I am hungry or if I need something to snack on. Most of the time I eat it straight from the bag. Sometimes I toast it to give it a crunchy texture. But if you’re in the same office as me, you will hear the bread bag constantly rustling all day. After all, bread is the perfect low calorie snack. With True Grains® Purple Wheat Raisin Bread, it’s only 80 calories per slice.

This is what a typical day with True Grains® Purple Wheat Raisin Bread look like:

Food	Portion	Calories
True Grains® Purple Wheat Raisin Bread	8 slices	640
Butter	1 Tbsp	100
Coconut Water	8.5 oz	45
Raspberry Peach Champagne Jam	2 Tbsp	60
Clementines	1	90
Apple	1	80
Ground Sausage	3 oz	285
Steamed Carrots	1C	60
Chocolate Eggs*	6pc	160
Total Calories:		1520

*chocolate eggs are not part of a healthy diet. However, I have a weakness for Cadbury’s chocolate eggs, and I had lots of leftovers. So, someone had to finish them!

The first weigh-in: 147.4

Week 2 weigh-in: 145.2

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Eating healthy bread to lose weight: week 1

April 9, 2018May 18, 2018 by Lin Carson

Week 1: Eating to Lose Weight is Hard. Bread Helps.

How did the first 7 days go eating to lose weight?

Tough, but worth it. I lost about one pound.

The toughest part? It is educating everyone around me on my bread diet. They bring me food and ask me to go out to lunch. And cooking meals for my family that is non-bread based is all very challenging.

What’s different this time around?

I used My Fitness Pal app to track all my caloric intake. 50% of my calories came from bread. My target caloric count for losing weight is about 1,500 calories per day. If I stick to this, 750 calories should come from bread, and that would mean about 6-7 slices per day! Come to think about it, 2 in the morning, 2 at lunch and 2 for snacks in the afternoon, and if I spread it out, voila! I should be able to cover all my hunger pangs. Sounds super easy yeah?

franz organic nine grain bread to lose weight

Wrong. It was hard to stick to that eating schedule. You know what they say about dieting: calorie deficiency isn’t the easiest thing.

Why is it so easy to put on, and yet so difficult to loose weight!

So my first week was plagued by me snacking on other things other than bread. Chips here, dumplings there, and that muffin’s calling my name!

klosterman organic 100 whole wheat bread

So all in all, I tried to keep as close to my caloric intake goal as I can on bread to lose weight. The result? I didn’t feel hungry all the time, but the weight is not falling off as much as I thought it would. I feel this is because of all the eating I do other than bread. So I’m going to do something different next week. I’m going to really streamline what I put in my mouth and be really disciplined about it.

This week I ate bread from two wonderful bakeries: Franz and Klosterman’s. Both of these products are organic, made with quality ingredients, and to top it all off, taste delicious! It’s loaves like this that will make eating bread to lose weight possible. Stop by my bread gallery to see all the breads I’ve eaten during my 90 days projects.

This is what a typical day looks like:

Food/Portion/Calories

Franz The Great Sprouted / 4 slices / 440

Klosterman’s Homestyle Wheat Bread / 4 slices / 320

Butter / 1 Tbsp / 100

Garlic and Herb cheese Spread / 2 Tbsp / 110

Clementines / 190

Coconut Water / 8.5 oz / 45

Strawberry yogurt / 113g / 90

Perogies / 3pc / 45

Roasted Chicken Thigh / 2.5 oz / 108

Buttered Broccoli / 1C / 50

Strawberries / 1C / 49

Chocolate Eggs* / 6 pcs / 160

Total Calories:1607

*chocolate eggs are not part of a healthy diet. However, it’s Easter egg season, and I need my easter eggs! No wonder losing weight is so HARD!

Before the start of my 90 days, this was my weight:

The first weigh-in: 147.4 lbs.

Week 1 weigh-in: 146.2 lbs.

1 pound down, 9 more to go!

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April 2, 2018May 5, 2018 by Lin Carson

Why I Revealed My Weight on Stage

Standing in front of hundreds of baking professionals this week, I was sharing about my EatBread90 journey. Many of them were there to see if I really ate a loaf a day.

Did you actually do it? What happened? Did you eat white bread as well? There’s no way you’re that weight! How can you not gain weight with this much bread? You must be really young to not gain all this weight.

The questions after the presentation were endless. This is what I wanted. I secretly planned the aftermath of this experiment. Which is, to get bread to be the topic of healthy eating again. And I did it. I sparked the idea in people’s minds that bread could possibly be healthy!

So why did I really reveal my weight in journey on stage?

Well, because I wanted to answer the varied questions about how bread can be healthy with just pictures. You see, if bread is the villain that everyone paints it to be, I would have gained a lot of weight. At 1 lb of bread a day, about 1,400 calories, I would have at least gained at least 30 lbs in 90 days right? These pictures pretty much said it all. The idea that eating bread makes you gain weight is a myth.

Now it’s time to take this experiment to the next level. Can you lose weight with bread in your diet? For the next 90 days tune in and read my blogs to see if I get lucky with this experiment.

As for the rest of you that consistently insist that bread still makes you gain weight, and that only a low carb and high protein diet works for you: understand that I will be using lipid catabolism, a well known fat burning technique, to use bread to loose weight. Wanna learn more? Go to eatbread90.com

My weight during Eat Bread 90

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March 28, 2018April 29, 2018 by Lin Carson

Is This The End? Eat Bread 90 Round II

NOPE! I’m just getting started.

After eating a loaf of bread a day for 90 days, you may think I would be done with bread-based diets…you seriously underestimate my love for bread.

I started my EatBread90 project to prove:

Bread is NOT bad for you
You can eat a high-carb diet and not gain weight.

I had heard too many times that bread makes you fat, it will make you gluten-intolerant, and grains are not meant for human consumption.

However, the results backed up my claims: I did not gain any weight, maintained a healthy nutritional profile, and was not bloated or uncomfortable. The journey also sparked conversations that helped give bread a good name. I got to cover healthy bread innovations, dive into the science of grains, and gain insight on how to market bread in an anti-bread climate.

As successful as the 90 days were, there’s still work to be done. So this time, I’m taking it a step further:

I will consume 6-8 slices, about half a pound, of bread a day to lose at least 10 lbs in 90 days.

Why the focus on weight loss this time?

Even if products like sprouted grain bread or whole grain bread are being recognized for their nutrition, people are still cutting carbs when focusing on weight loss. Paleo, Keto, and gluten-free are major trends right now, all focused around the idea carbs are the key to shedding those extra pounds.

However, the carbs found in whole grains are actually an important part of diet. And lipid catabolism is a highly effective weight loss technique that relies on carbs. My goal is to show that along with healthy eating, portion control and exercise, you can still enjoy bread!

Eat Bread 90, Round II

So for 90 days, I’ll be including around a loaf of bread ad day in my diet. I’ll also be exercising, eating healthy, and documenting it all. So come along with me as I discover tasty loaves, cover bread facts, and make more bread puns than you’ll know what to do with. I’ll be posting weekly updates on EatBread90.com, as well as highlighting the bread I eat—feel free to follow along!

If you run a bakery and would like to be a part of this journey, send your lovely loaves to:

707 SW Washington St., #1100, Portland, OR 97205. Attn: Ms Ana Rinck, Operations Manager, BAKERpedia.

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July 13, 2017March 21, 2018 by Lin Carson

Is This the End of My Bread Diet? What a Journey it’s Been!

“Aren’t you glad you’re not on your bread diet anymore?”

Honestly, it’s with a heavy heart that I agree with that statement. Mainly because I am sad I’ve come to the end of this bread diet. I’ve indulged in eating a loaf a day, and It’s been 90 days of non-stop eating for me to get all that bread down.

I’ve eaten bread from far-away places, and more bread than anyone I know. I’m so honored to the bakers from around America, across the sea to Germany and Switzerland and all the way south from Brazil. Thank you for sending in your bread, thank you for supporting me on this journey. Thank you for assisting me in my message that BREAD IS NOT BAD.

Throughout my bread diet, so many people have pulled me aside to warn me. And here are what many of them said to me:

Bread is bad for you, it will make you put on weight.
Do you know gluten causes inflammation in your body?
Man was not designed to digest grains, eating all that bread would cause you to become intolerant to gluten.
Bread is a processed food that you need to avoid.
White bread is so bad for you, avoid at all cost.

Guess what? None of that is true.

I have not gained a single pound eating a loaf a day and my energy levels, are through the roof.

The whole purpose of my journey was to disprove these biased, non-science based information on bread. I’ve eaten bread all my life, I play with it, I research it. I know the science behind it. That is why I started this journey—to eat so much bread so that I can prove that it is safe to consume bread.

Is a Bread Diet for Everyone?

If you suffer from diabetes, absolutely not. But don’t discount the low GI breads that I experienced on my journey. You should check those out my blog on Days 19 and 31. For people with Celiac disease, you can consume gluten-free breads and they can be found on my blogs on Days 30 and 73. For the majority of the American population, bread is a nutritious portable food that is safe for consumption.

You know, I’ve received a lot of criticism concerning how I carried out my journey. One of them was, “Hey Lin, you are only one data point, that doesn’t prove anything.” Just let me be clear. I was not carrying out an experiment. I was using data and science-based information that has been generated from decades of research, to show that those experiments and nutritional information on bread work. And I’ve proven it.

king street station - eat bread 90, places - bread diet- healthy - bread myths

I want people to use the info on EatBread90.com to fight the common misconception of bread.

Know that all the information we have collected here is based on science. Thus information will be great to share with your families and friends that have all of a sudden developed a disliking for bread. They somehow become this way because some website selling new age remedies has turned them away from grains and wheat.

If you’re a baker, I hope you use our EatBread90 blogs to help you in your bread journey. I’ve created enough information for you to help you in your business. As you know, I have a soft spot for bakers. Check out my blogs on Days 12, 58, 62, 75, and 90 for innovative ideas.

For the Love of Bread

Because of you, I am working on our next project: Body by Bread. I can’t talk too much about it right now, but it does involve a community that supports bread and whose lifestyles are bread centric. So stay tuned.

It’s been an awesome and life-changing journey. Thank you for reading this blog, thank you for your tremendous support. Thank you for loving bread. This couldn’t be possible without you. Thank you.

Lin EB90cpodcast 2, pitching a loaf, podcast-bread diet- bread myths-whole grains healthy diet

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July 3, 2017July 13, 2017 by Lin Carson

A Tradition in Swiss Bread: Day 89 and 90

Eat bread from Switzerland? I don’t know if I’ve ever tasted bread from there before! I am really amazed that the news of me eating bread has spread all the way to that part of the world. Least to say, I was very honored when bread from Pain Paillasse® came to me overnight. All I had to do was refresh it in the toaster oven for 10 minutes. Just like that and it was crispy on the outside, but moist and chewy on the inside.

A delicious sesame loaf and a chunky olive loaf. Each of them had a great chew with a very crispy crust. A light sour lingers on the taste buds after eating the bread.

Pain Paillase is a unqiue hand-shaped bread made with a natural leaven and long fermentation time. It’s comes from the largest traditional bakery in Switzerland, with all bread cooked by wood fire. The bakery and bread owes it start to life-time baker Aimé Pouly. He opened his first bakery when he was just 24 years-old. By the 1990s, there were 11 bakeries and pain Paillasse bread—Pouly’s patented bread recipe—made its appearance.

“…we called this bread “pain Paillasse” in memory of the simple straw mattress on which bakers used to sleep while their dough rose.” – Aimé Pouly

The bakery and bread continued to gain popularity and awards. Pouly’s daughter, Sindy, now carries on the tradition paved by her late father, still using the original recipe.

What makes Pain Paillasse so special?

The key characteristics of the loaf is intensive dough hydration, extended fermentation time (24 hours), the use of a stone or wood oven and 100% all-natural ingredients.

The result is a beautiful crunchy crust, open crumb and rustic loaf with an authentic taste.

It’s a labor-intensive bread that needs highly-skilled bakers. Yet the bakery has created an industrial process. Anyone who produces Paillasse bread is carefully selected, trained and followed by the Pain Paillasse team. And you sure can taste the care and effort that goes into their bread!

Here’s what I ate on Days 89 and 90 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 89
Bagels	200g	520
Panne Paillaise Sesame	5 slices (30g)	450
Panne Paillaise Olive	5 slices (30g)	450
Berry Cream Cheese	2 Tbsp	50
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Brats	66g	196
Cauliflower	1 C	60
Banana	1 pc	110
Cycle/swim		-400
Total		1876
Day 90
Bagels	200g	520
Panne Paillaise Sesame	5 slices (30g)	450
Panne Paillaise Olive	5 slices (30g)	450
Hot Dog and Bun		270
Greek Cheese Spread	1 Tbsp	22.5
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Croissant		240
Asparagus	1 C	27
Steak and Onions		200
Egg	1	78
Zucchini	1 C	68
Peanut Butter	1 Tbsp	95
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Cycle/Swim/Run		-800
Total		1860.5

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July 1, 2017July 6, 2017 by Lin Carson

Not All Breads are Baked: Day 87 and 88

Steamed buns just might be the world’s most perfect food! Also known as Mantou, the history of steamed buns dates back over 2,000 years ago. The origin varies depending on who is telling the story. I discovered that Zhuge Liang (181-234), is credited with inventing the stuffed meat version of steamed buns.

Zhuge Liang was a military strategist on an expedition in southern China. Difficulties during the expedition called for the sacrifice of a human head to appease the gods. Rather than kill an innocent human, Liang ordered his solders to kill some of their animals. The meat was then placed in a flour dough and shaped like a head before being steamed. These fake heads tricked the gods and good fortune followed. It is our good fortune that Zhuge Liang created the first meat filled steam buns!

Today you can find steamed buns in many varieties. They can be plain or stuffed with meats, vegetables, or sweet fillings.

The simple combination of flour, salt, yeast and sugar is mixed together and allowed to rise. The dough is then cut into equal portions, filled, shaped, and placed in a steamer to cook. The result? Bread so light it melts in your mouth.

A handmade steam bun stuffed with pork from a food truck in Portland, OR.

Steamed buns are portable, delicious, and worthy of serving to the gods. For all the bread fans who want to try this form of bread, they are readily accessible at any Asian food supermarket in the frozen section.

Whole wheat steamed buns (Mantou) are delicious and nutritious. They are usually eaten with stews, or eaten instead of rice or noodles.

For a look at how pork buns are made see this video. The technique the baker uses to shape the buns prior to steaming is a true art form!

Sweet Azuki (Red) Bean filled steam buns are usually consumed as a snack or for breakfast.

Here’s what I ate on Days 87 and 88 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 87
Whole wheat toast	5 slices (40g)	500
Focaccia Bread	2 slices (60g)	280
Sourdough Bread	2 slices (38g)	200
Steamed Pork Bun	60g	150
Steamed Azuki Bun	60g	160
Whole Wheat Mantou	40g	100
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Cherries	1C	74
Tomato Soup	1C	75
Stir Fried Vegetables	125g	36
Total		2015
Day 88
Multigrain toast	3 slices	330
Panne Paillaise Sesame	5 slices (30g)	450
Panne Paillaise Olive	5 slices (30g)	450
Hard boiled egg	1	78
Steamed Brocolli	1C	30
Sausage Pesto Raviolli	1C	200
Butter	2 Tbsp	200
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Sugar Free Strawberry Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Strawberry Cake		350
Run		-300
Total		2028

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June 29, 2017July 6, 2017 by Lin Carson

Flatbread: Bread is Bread! Day 85 and 86

Every culture has a version of flatbread. Originally, it was an unleavened dough that was rolled out flat and baked. Bakers around the world have taken the simple ingredients of flour, water and salt and tweaked it slightly. In Greece we have pitas, in Mexico we have tortillas, and in Norway we have flatbrød. Pizza, though debated due to the addition of yeast, is now considered a flatbread.

Flatbread vs a similar loaf bread has the nutritional and calorie profile gram for gram.

Here is a nutritional comparison of some major brands and types. I added pizza to the comparison just for fun.

Brand	Type	Serving size	Calories per serving	Sodium/Carbs/Fiber/sugar/protein
Arnold	100% whole wheat sandwich thins	43 grams	100	170 mg/22g/5g/2g/5g
Arnold	100% whole wheat bread	43 grams	100	150mg/18g/3g/3g/4g
Mission	Tortilla whole wheat	45 grams	130	280mg/22g/3g/2g/4g
Stonefire	Whole grain Naan	63 grams (half of Naan)	180	400mg/28g/4g/3g/5g
Freschetta Artisan Crust Four Cheese Pizza	Whole wheat crust cheese pizza	126g	320	670mg/38g/4g/9g/15g
Pizza calculated to match other serving sizes	126/2.9=	63g	110	231mg/13g/1.3g/3.1g/5g

Flatbreads can be eaten with any toppings you can think of. How about fresh sliced peaches and ricotta cheese for a boost in calcium. If savory is more your thing try some grilled lamb or beef on your flatbread.

Lamb Shawarma served on an Egyptian flatbread from a Portland food truck.

I made my way down to a new Piadina food truck in Portland. My bread was made fresh on the grill. It took about 15 mins to get my Prosciutto Piadina, but the fluffiness of the flatbread, paired with prosciutto and crisp from the grill is worth it. Who knew that this form of Italian street food can contribute to my bread diet?

The Prosciutto Piadina was stuffed with mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, pesto, arugala and its crust was just crispy and delicious.

So eating artisan bread, whole grain bread, sweet bread, or flatbread all count the same as far as calories.

Thinner bread doesn’t always mean better just as artisan does not always mean healthier. Just breaking more bread myths on days 85 and 86!

Here’s what I ate on Days 85 and 86 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 85
Multigrain Bread	9 slices (40g)	990
Crab Legs	9 oz	260
Hot Dog	1	170
Fruit Salad	1 C	204
Lamb Shawarma	100g	450
Run		-300
Total		1,774

Day 86
Multigrain Bread	3 slices (40g)	330
Bagel	200g	520
Turkey Croissant	85g	240
Beef Ribs	1pc	430
Prosciutto Piadina	50g	400
Apple	1	95
Cherries	1C	74
Walk		-200
Total		1,889

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June 28, 2017July 6, 2017 by Lin Carson

Week Twelve Weigh-in

Day 77 weigh-in: 148.6.

Day 84: 147.4

I can’t believe it. Just under a week left in my ninety days. Of course, it would take until the end for me to start eating pizza. But as we draw near the end, my weight is just where I thought it would be. Are you surprised? Make sure to check back in at the end of the 90 days to see what I end up with!

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