Last week I had to swing by Walmart to pick up staples and almond milk because I ran out mid week; I was in a crisis mode. Protein shakes with water taste like shit and whey protein in milk would give me too many calories. In the self check out aisle the guy ahead of me saw my business shirt and asked about what I do. I gave him the quick run down of my business and how I am focusing on lifestyle changes for all my clients blah blah blah. He said “congratulations,” laughed and said “I probably shouldn’t buy this bread because it is making me fat eh?” Perfect timing for me to give a tip that may change the way this man thinks.

I laughed and proceeded to say that bread is not bad for you (unless you are gluten intolerant; topic for another blog), the type of bread and more importantly the AMOUNT of bread can be “bad” for you. He was interested in what I meant. I told him I eat bread probably 4-5 days a week, I just make sure it is whole wheat or organic or Ezekial bread and has at least 3-5g of fiber per serving. From here I watch the servings and make sure the carbs fit my macros. He looked at his bread and it had 4g of fiber and was whole wheat. He was like “Ok I am good here.” The man asked how much bread I eat. I told him I am on a peanut butter sandwich kick for my AM snack right now. Two pieces of bread. He asked how much bread he could eat per day and I told him that all depends on what else he eats the rest of the day. If he had pancakes for breakfast and a huge pasta meal planned for dinner it is probably best to not have a sub for lunch. I told him if he thinks about his day as a whole instead of as one meal at a time it is much easier to plan when you can eat those complex carbs you want to eat, without being bloated and feeling guilty come 7pm. Or even better I told him, PLAN YOUR DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE. He smiled and said “if only it was that easy.” I told him it was; it takes 10 minutes.

The man grabbed my business card, said he was going to start looking at food labels, thinking about his meals and was on his way. The moral of this 2 minute conversation is that bread (carbs in general) is not making you put on weight. The AMOUNT of bread and carbs you are eating (and lack of protein) is the reason your weight is slowly creeping up. Grab a protein bar, make a protein shake, eat some beef jerky or a low fat string cheese stick in place of your chips or crackers you normally have at 3pm every single day, but please do not think carbs are the enemy. Your 2 Poptarts, 2 peanut butter sandwiches, half bag of Doritos, foot long sub and 3 servings of mashed potatoes all in one day are the enemy. My weight loss clients eat carbs and when they eat them correctly they all lose weight while staying happy the entire time.