milk-eat bread 90

Got Milk? Day 23

Today’s bread is Franz Organic 100% Whole Wheat bread—delicious and nutritious! Talking about nutrition, I was listening to the second episode of our podcast ‘Pitching a Loaf’ with my nutritionist, Connie Evers, where she reminded me that my calcium and potassium intake is rather low. I guess if there is truly a weakness to my diet, it’s the inability to consume enough dairy products for the calcium.

Franz Bakery's 100% Whole Wheat bread.

Franz Bakery’s 100% Whole Wheat bread.

I was lactose intolerant growing up, and therefore never really developed a taste for dairy products. I don’t like yogurt, I cannot get low fat milk past my nose and I don’t eat pizza, so I probably consume cheese or dairy products like once a week. Well, unless its ice cream or baked into some heavenly goodness with a foreign sounding name (like Tiramisu).

Getting my calcium

So when Connie said, “You have to increase your calcium intake, Lin” I was quite panicky and I told her what my problems were. She proceed to lecture me on the effects of aging on bone loss and the need for calcium to prevent osteoporosis.

It’s true, I’m a head taller than my mom, and two heads taller than her mom. They have experienced significant bone loss over the years. I see my future, and it is not looking good. She told me to avoid cream cheese since it contains almost no calcium, and to add almond milk and ricotta cheese to my diet.

Honestly, I have not tried ricotta cheese by itself. I thought it would taste like cottage cheese, but I am pleasantly surprised. It actually doesn’t have much taste to it. I scored! I started using it as a spread like mayo. I soon realized that it is an “extender.” When mixed with pesto, jam, nut butters or Nutella (my favorite), it gives these combinations a fuller body and I need less of the high-sugar or high-salt spreads.  Why didn’t I discover this sooner! My whole world has changed. Or at least for the next 77 days!

Here’s what I ate on Day 23 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz Organic 100% Whole Wheat 11 slices (43g) 1100
Ricotta Cheese 1/4 C 100
Justin’s Nut Butter 2 Tbsp 190
Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 4 Tbsp 80
Ham 2 oz 60
Homemade Pesto 1 Tbsp 80
Avacado 1/2 cup 184
Orange 1 orange 45
Calcium Supp
Bike -100
Total 1739

 

plate-crumbs-eat bread 90

The Calorie Police: Day 21

Franz Bakery's 100% Whole Wheat bread.

Franz Bakery’s 100% Whole Wheat bread.

Ok, look. I’m not shy about what I eat, or reporting the sinful things that I eat on this blog. I was at a reception today, and was about to take a bite into a delicious fruit tart when a friend said “Are you supposed to eat that? This doesn’t substitute your bread consumption, right? You can’t cheat that way.”

People, people, people, relax! I’m not cheating. I’m still eating a pound of bread, and this luscious and sinful dessert is counted on top of that.

The usual response I get after explaining my diet is, “how do you get to eat so much? Doesn’t bread take up all your calories for the day?” The answer to this is NO. The calories from a pound of bread is about 1100. That leaves room for dessert cheats within the range of 300-400 calories. If I threw in a 35 min cardio in there, I could still safely consume another 1000 calories on top of a pound of bread. This gives me plenty of options to consider while consuming my bread throughout the day.

Bread every day

So, while I do appreciate your concern about my diet and policing me on it, also know that I eat a pound of bread every day to meet the minimal requirements of this bread eating challenge. Remember, every day, for 90 days.

Today, I finished up my whole grain white bread, and opened a new bag of Franz® Organic whole wheat bread. I wanted to compare eating a whole grain white bread to a whole wheat. After all, they should be similar.

The difference is very subtle. If you closed your eyes, or if you’re color blind, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference because these two breads taste very similar. So yes, you are getting the whole wheat goodness in both bread.

Here’s what I ate on Day 21 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz Organic Whole Grain White 4 slices (40g) 400
Franz Organic 100% Whole Wheat 6 slices (43) 700
Tilamook Butter (Salted) 3Tbsp 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Tillamook sliced cheddar 1 Slice 45
Orange 1 orange 45
Sauteed Spinach 1 C 48
Fruit Tart 1 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Fried Fish Dinner 1 C 300
Banana 1 105
Run -300
Swim -200
Total 1783

 

white bread slices-eat bread 90

White Bread is Bad: Day 20

Great Seed Bread.

Great Seed Bread.

I love the bakers at Franz Bakery. I walked into my office and there was a box full of fresh bread just sitting on my chair waiting for me. Today, I choose Whole Grain White and Great Seed. These are just amazing tasting breads.

Many people have lectured me about not eating white bread because it is bad. Now, before any of you condemn this white bread, remember: not all white breads are created equal. The recent surge on the market shows a new line of bread that is made from white wheat.

Whole Grain White Wheat by Franz.

Whole Grain White Wheat by Franz.

Did they bleach the wheat?

No, this flour is from whole grain white wheat.

Is this white wheat GMO?

No. it’s been around for a long time (Wait, before you go there, remember, there is no GMO wheat!). Red wheats are more common, and whole grain red wheats color the bread brown, which is traditionally your brown whole wheat bread.

Now that I’ve explained the difference between white and red wheat, you should feel comfortable eating a whole grain white bread, because it is as nutritionally good for you as the regular whole wheat bread. Go eat your bread white!

Here’s what I ate on Day 20 of EB90:

Franz® Whole Grain White 5 slices (40g) 500
Franz® Great Seed 6 slices (43) 660
Tilamook® Butter (Salted) 1 Tbsp 100
Ham 2 oz 60
Tillamook® sliced cheddar 1 Slice 45
Apple 1 95
Kale and sausage soup 1C 200
Quesadilla 1 Slice 400
Fried homemade dumplings 5  pieces 300
Smucker’s Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 2 Tbsp 20
Run -300
Bike -200
Total 1880

 

whole wheat-eat bread 90 slice

Keep it Simple: Day 17

Today, I just wanted something simple. A plain whole wheat bread from Franz®. It was organic as well. It was a slightly sweet bread with all the nutrition of whole wheat. The bread was lighter compared to the artisan breads I ate yesterday, so I had to eat 11 slices of it.

I am actually getting very skilled at getting down all this bread by 5 p.m. So that when I get home, I can still have dinner with my family. Tonight, we had Salmon and green beans. I also had a little Pistachio gelato left in the freezer. Consider that gone!

Here’s what I ate on Day 17 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz® 100% Whole Wheat 11 slices (43g) 1100
Deli Chicken Breast 3 slices 50
Strawberries 1/2C 24
Berry whipped cream cheese 2 Tbsp 50
Dickinson’s® Lemon Curd 4 Tbsp 240
Siggi’s® Skyr Vanilla 1/2 C 60
Pan Fried Salmon 6 oz 371
Green Beans 1 C 50
Green Apple 1 80
Gelato 1C 400
Run and Bike -450
Total 1975

 

bread-stacks-everywhere-eat bread 90

Eat Bread All Day, Anywhere: Day 10

Franz® Organic Nine Grain.

Franz® Organic Nine Grain

I figured how to make my jams and spreads portable. I must spread them on the slices every day before I leave the house. Today I dug into my bag of wholesome Franz® 9 grain bread. It’s loaded with different seeds and grains, yet it is not overly dense. Its slight sweetness makes it an easy bread to eat all day.

So, I used various jams and spreads to create my sandwich pile this morning. This is what it is going to look like from now on—says this bread bag lady.

bread-jam-eat bread 90

My bread pile for the day. On-the go-bread, anywhere, everywhere!

I’ve found it is easier to fold the bread into halves because I can take it out and eat it without any mess during meetings.  The people around this office are so used to me eating and talking all the time, so something would seem amiss if I don’t do this.

Tonight, we cooked pork bulgogi with vegetables and rice. I didn’t consume the rice, but I did place some sriracha sauce over it and made a sandwich out of it. Yummy!

Franz® Organic Nine Grains made a delicious Pork Bulgogi Sriracha sandwich.

Franz® Organic Nine Grains made a delicious Pork Bulgogi Sriracha sandwich.

Here’s what I ate on Day 10 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz® Organic Nine Grain 12 slices (43g) 1440
Tillamook® Salted Butter 2 Tbsp 200
Kroger® Whipped Greek Cheese Spread 1 Tbsp 22.5
Justin’s Nut Butter 2 Tbsp 190
Nature’s Hollow Sugar Free Strawberry Jam 4 Tbsp 80
Orange 1 orange 45
Nutella 1 Tbsp 100
Kelp soup 1 C 10
Pork Bogulgi 4oz 250
Calcium Supp
Total 2337.5

 

bread-jam-blackberries-fruit

Shitting Rainbows: Day 3

My bread for today was Franz's Organic Honey Chia.

My bread for today was Franz’s Organic Honey Chia.

After my dry bread binge, I went shopping yesterday. I went down the jams and jellies aisle, just expecting plain ol’ jellies and preserves but HOLLY LOLLIPOPS! Chia blackberry spread! Almond butter vanilla espresso spread! Hot pepper peach jam! I couldn’t make up my mind. You mean there’s more to this than Nutella® and cookie butter?  Why didn’t anyone tell me? I was so happy, I was having a:

socks-rainbows-bread

My favorite socks.

Before you get envious, I need your empathy. Just think, “Poor Lin, poor thing, she’s just been eating boring butter, cream cheese, Nutella and cookie butter. She needs something else”. You bet I DO! So I bought a whole bunch of spreads, and salad toppings, more than I could hold in an armful. I was so happy that I found all these, I made Ana take a picture of me.

lin-spreads-bread

My new collection of spreads and toppings.

My bread for the day

And to top this off, I dug into a loaf of Organic Honey and Chia from Franz Bakery. OMG! What heavenly texture! I have not experienced a textured bread like this before. The subtle crunch from these little chia seeds were delightful surprises with every bite. I love this bread! I could eat it the whole day…oh wait. I have to. Man, my work makes me shit rainbows.

Grilled pork with tomato pesto.

Grilled pork with tomato pesto.

 

Almond honey nut butter with glazed pecans.

Almond honey nut butter with glazed pecans.

 

Cream cheese topped with fried jalapeños.

Cream cheese topped with fried jalapeños.

Here’s what I ate on Day 3 of EB90:

Food Portion Calories
Franz Honey Chia 12 slices (480g) 1080
Tilamook Butter (Salted) 1Tbsp 100
Egg 1 78
Kroger Whipped Greek Cheese Spread 1 Tbsp 22.5
Tomato Pesto 1 Tbsp 130
Strawberries 1C 47
Almond breeze milk 1/2 C 30
Justin’s Honey Almond Nut Butter 2 Tbsp 190
Fresh Gourmet Crispy Jalapeno 1 tbsp 40
Glaced pecans 1 Tbsp 50
Grilled Pork 4oz 252.5
Calcium Supp 30
Run 5K -420
Total 1630