My Thoughts On Bread :)

Hi there awesome folks!
I hope you've been having a superb day so far, whatever time of the day it is; morning to the folks waking up, afternoon to those browsing blogs in their lunch break and sleep-tight to those who are winding down before getting that beautiful shut-eye!

Alrighty, now that that intro is done- onto the post!!

And what a post it is!

It may just possibly be one of my favourite sources of whole-grain/ carbohydrate/ fibre goodness. It may just be one of the most comforting foods that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It may take any soup in the whole world to a whole new level. Finish off a burger to the crown-glory they are known for. The humble toasty to the crispy, crunchy, golden perfection we have come to know and love. Or even simply the perfect base to a simple spread of any flavour your heart desires.

Yes, it is bread my friends. Today I want to talk your ears off about bread. Specifically all the bad wrap bread gets and all the reasons why I eat bread All. The. Time.

This guy right here was my dinner^^ Yep, that's right; d.i.n.n.e.r. Like, past 6 o'clock and eating bread- *gasp*!

Grilled veg (steamed and then grilled on a hot plate (just as it is, wasn't in an oil-mood) and then placed on a pumpkin seed and purple wheat roll spread with almond butter, topped with spinach and the veg (pumpkin, swede, parsnip, potato, sweet potato) and flattened in a sandwich press until golden and crisp on the outside! NOM!

So, as a 17 year old girl living out her senior year at school, surrounded by a bunch of other 17 year-old girls day-in-day-out, it's safe to say I've heard the lot about eating (or perhaps the lack thereof), diets, losing weight, rules, restrictions and a general dissatisfied feeling with one's body. Half the time I'm not even part of the conversation, I just over hear these beautiful girls talking about the hatred of there body that often!

I've done posts on topics like this a number of times; like eating enough for your body, not restricting yourself, how skinny does not equate to happy etc. etc. But the other day I overheard a conversation going a little something like this:

'That's it, I've had it with my body. From now on I'm being tough on myself and I'm going to eat healthy and never eat bread again!'

This shocked me entirely.

Never eat bread again? Like, ever?? What!?!

I tried to imagine a life where I could never eat bread again and I could feel the tears welling up hot behind my eyes... ok maybe that's a little over-dramatic, but I was definitely shocked and appalled by the statement heard above!

Hello beautiful home-made spelt and rye bread^^

Is there anything better smelling than the scent of freshly baked bread? I think not.

My innate response, my very first instinct, the one thing I just wanted to do in that second was spina round and scream at this girl that bread was not the enemy! Who was she to single out one of the single greatest food creations of all time? Why in the heck would she ever think giving up bread was the only option to losing weight (that was not needed to be lost, by the way).

However, upon reflection this does appear to come across a little confronting and, well, scary. It was probably the period before lunch and my hanger (hungry anger) was taking over :P.

My all-time favourite breakfast of a banana and nut butter (I used the choc Mayors nut butter for this one) toasted sandwich on my home-made spelt bread with a side of mango-zucchini fro-yo:

Simply 1 large handful frozen mango + 1 handful frozen zucchini + 2 big scoops greek yoghurt- whizzed until smooth and popped in the freezer to slightly harden for around 15mins.

Life would be a very sad place indeed without this breakfast in my life:

Happiness in a photograph:

Bread cannot be the guilty one in this equation of feeling 'unhealthy'. Unless of course you have coeliac's disease, in which case, the gluten in wheat/ spelt etc. bread may in fact be making you feel rather unhealthy.. however there are still gluten free breads out there!

No, bread is not the hinderance. In fact, bread could very much be the healthy helper one needs in order to live a happy, energetic, fulfilled life.

It should be noted that I am talking about the whole-grain/ whole-meal/ freshly-made/ limited processing as much as possible varieties. That packaged stuff that supermarkets can sell for $1 and that lasts over a week... that's the type of artificial drawbacks we should come to fear. If you can look at the back of the package and find numerous other strange, scientific/chemistry-induced names other than wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water and oil, then put the 'bread' down.

But if you consume those natural, high-fibre, higher protein, wholesome, delicious breads as a frequent/ routine part of your diet you will only be noticing benefits, not burdens on your body.

Source

All I had to do was simply type into Google: The benefits of bread and 40,100,000 results popped up with some reason or another as to why bread is in short: awesome.

Healthy bowels, reduced risk of heart disease, lower risk of weight gain, B-group vitamins, mental health.... look I could go on and on with listing the benefits and talking about them in further detail but to be fair, that has been done (see this site for some awesome info) and this isn't the main focus of this post.

This post is simply this:
There is no one bad food out there that is making you feel unhealthy, or look 'fat' (though you probably don't to other people), or throw you off the healthy train. Being healthy is a combination of factors, both physical, mental and emotional. When you get a good balance between these things, then your body will start to react in the way you desire.

A good mental state with adequate sleep, rest, recover, love, family, friends. A good emotional state with positive thinking, encouragement, relationships. A good physical state with exercise that feels good, moving for your body not against it, eating foods that fuel these workouts and your everyday activities that take a toll on the body too! Bread isn't going to be the cause of disaster. Health is so much bigger than that.

Bread is great fuel, our bodies preferred source, so eat up my friends and enjoy that gift of tastiness, comfort and fluffy, crusty goodness- your body will thank you for it!

Your turn:
What are your thoughts on bread?
Ever sworn off it?
Favourite way to eat bread? Sometimes, simply warming up a seedy sourdough roll to dip in creamy, spiced pumpkin soup is the ultimate meal for me!!

I hope you took something from this post and quite frankly, the message applies to any food/ meal you think will derail your entire healthy life goals! Healthy is bigger than one aspect of the physical state. And letting go of these unhealthy thoughts and associations with certain foods will ultimately result in a happier, healthier life.

Have a fabulous day, do something you love and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D