Not Breaking Bread

"Beware of those who don't like bread or children" - Vikrant Parsai

Jesica's motivational detox

I recently fell down the rabbit hole of eating more bread and sugar than my body feels happy about. Let me say from the start that I do not have any allergies nor do I want to mess about unnecessarily cutting out foods from a balanced diet. Nevertheless, when I eat either bread or sugar in excess I pay for it as I don't like the way it affects my running and generally makes me feel sluggish.

So what an inspiration it was to read Jesica's post over on runladylike.com  who wants to cut out bread and sugar for a week. I have decided to join her but as I do not have a problem with flatbreads I will not be cutting them out completely.

Here is how she plans to do her detox and her suggestions for those who want to join her:

Click here for the link to her post

• What I will include on the Detox
• Ideas for keeping cravings at bay
• What do I hope to achieve?

What I will include on the Detox

Well, as I said, I have no problem with any kind of flatbread but for the sake of this detox I will only eat a flatbread once in the seven days. I am happy to give my digestion a rest from breads with yeast in them and from over processed white flours (or Kleenex as Julia Childs referred to sliced bread) which I tend to avoid in any case.

Preparing a lunch at the start of the detox
that flatbread will be the last for the next seven days

I will limit my fresh fruit to two or three servings per day.

Not eating dried fruits is going to be a problem for me as I like to eat dried dates as part of my pre-running nutrition on days when I cannot eat my main meal until late in the evening after training etc. However, just for seven days I will try it.

I am not a great biscuit or cake eater so that will not be a problem. Nor do I drink very much alcohol so that won't be a problem either but I do have a soft drink now and then and in my next post you will see that sometimes it is difficult when you are in a social setting to avoid sugary drinks. In that case I think break the detox but keep the breakout to a minimum.

Now these might prove a problem as they are in plentiful supply in my garden
 and ready for picking - no jam please!

Now tomatoes are a difficult one because they are technically a fruit and they are sweet. Tomatoes with a little olive oil are very beneficial though because they help you absorb lycopene and they also contain vitamin K which is good for bones. 

I think I will have at least seven mini tomatoes daily with some olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. 

So today's lunch not quite bread or sugar free  with flatbread, tomatoes
 and a fruit smoothie to sip through the day

Ideas for keeping cravings at bay

Having grazing items such as rice cakes and a fruit smoothie containing the day's allowance of fruit should help keep cravings at bay.

A cup of Republic of Tea 'Downton Abbey' blend sent to me
by my American virtual friend Lisette
is flavoured with Bergamot and Vanilla and is a lovely mock
sweet treat mid-afternoon 

I am going to try drinking a glass of water or having a cup of tea with a little skimmed milk when I feel hungry as I read that sometimes the body confuses thirst for hunger.

What do I hope to achieve?

Well this may be too much information but the first thing I hope to achieve is to head off IBS which I think many women find is a side effect of eating bread especially when you are older. Bloating and sluggishness is also something that ought to improve by cutting out bread and sugar.

Keeping the sugar under control ought to help eliminate sugar highs and lows which I find happen to me mid-morning and mid-afternoon. 

I have a half marathon Round the Island race coming up in a couple of weeks and whilst I am in the tapering off time it is a good time to play about with diet. I think that it will increase my energy levels and I definitely need that on race day!

I am looking forward to hearing about how others get on with the detox and to maybe picking up some tips too.

Interesting - my left over fruit smoothie made with unsweetened Almond Milk,
a handful of fresh strawberries and blueberries and a very small banana
has set into a mousse in the fridge
oh well - that's desert for tonight sorted within my detox allowance, of course.