Restrictive diet venting

zyxst
zyxst Posts: 9,148 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I picked up a loaf of white bread from the Icelandic bakery up the street. I'm jealous of my husband because he doesn't give a shizzle about calories and sodium and just eats a couple sammiches made of this delicious fluffiness. Here I am being conscientious of my HBP by eating lower sodium. I know millions have it worse than HBP, but dammit I'm sitting here alone with crusty, fluffy, freshly-baked white bread.
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Replies

  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
    I get it! I am on a restricted diet for health issues. While I am benefitting health wise and starting to enjoy cooking, there are times when I would just like to eat cheese or the sandwich wrap without any problems.
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,575 Member
    Well, but... do you like white bread so much that you really-really want to eat it every day? Like, I could eat a Sausage Egg & Cheese McGriddle every morning and love every bite every day. But despite not having had one since like May, I haven't really been frustrated. I've focused on eating other things that I also like, and marking that as a treat for when I hit a milestone. (I have it prelogged for tomorrow! I'm so excited!)
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
    I don't have any dietary restrictions but I feel for you.

    I have not bought a loaf of tasty bread for many months. It is not that I couldn't have a decent size piece for the calories because I could. It would mean for a very sucky day of low calorie other stuff in order to stay close to my macros and be satisfied with the volume of food. And then I would have to do it all over again for a few days because I would not want to throw away the tasty bread before it goes bad.

    Next time I have a big IDGAF day I might have to get some bread from the bakery...
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    Technically you can have white bread and still be low sodium. Try looking at the food labels at various brands of bread for their sodium content. I'm sure there's a few with relatively low sodium [pretty sure Arnold's makes a bread that only has 100mg sodium per slice].
  • Sara1791
    Sara1791 Posts: 760 Member
    I hear ya. I'd like to eat unlimited quantities of really good bread and baked ziti. I can have really good bread. And I can have baked ziti, but not in the quantities I want.

    Reminds me of another thread in which a poster wanted to talk about how having to restrict sucks and everyone (including me) tried to solve the problem - which can only be mitigated and not solved.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    A couple of slices on the weekend won't kill you... just don't have bacon between said slices... :laugh:
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    xvolution wrote: »
    Technically you can have white bread and still be low sodium. Try looking at the food labels at various brands of bread for their sodium content. I'm sure there's a few with relatively low sodium [pretty sure Arnold's makes a bread that only has 100mg sodium per slice].

    You don't have a food you enjoy eating but can't because of a health issue? How fortunate for you.

    I have tons of food I enjoy that I can't have anymore [I'm on a renal diet, so low sodium/low potassium/low phosphorous diet], I just plan things out so if I want something, I can have a little bit of it to satiate that craving. I do miss baked potatoes though.

    My comment was only towards white bread, not other potential food restrictions.
  • TangledThread
    TangledThread Posts: 312 Member
    I hear you. I can't have bread at all. Most of the time it's fine but there are days I miss hot fresh from the oven bread so much. There are other things I can eat but it's not the same.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    Sara1791 wrote: »
    I hear ya. I'd like to eat unlimited quantities of really good bread and baked ziti. I can have really good bread. And I can have baked ziti, but not in the quantities I want.

    Reminds me of another thread in which a poster wanted to talk about how having to restrict sucks and everyone (including me) tried to solve the problem - which can only be mitigated and not solved.

    This is true for me. I find eliminating foods I love but I can't eat period is far easier than moderating foods I love and can eat. I try not to have trigger foods in the house while not restricting them entirely, which means I won't have ice cream in my freezer at home but will have an affogato for dessert when eating out for instance. For me it would be far far harder to manage my diet as a diabetic than it is as a celiac.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    my husband is a pro athlete and eats like a 9 year old. i cook at home but on top of that he eats allll day long. Donuts, chips, soda, beer and fast food all day long. he is in such good shape. i want to eat like he does. it sucks its unfair i understand.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    I picked up a loaf of white bread from the Icelandic bakery up the street. I'm jealous of my husband because he doesn't give a shizzle about calories and sodium and just eats a couple sammiches made of this delicious fluffiness. Here I am being conscientious of my HBP by eating lower sodium. I know millions have it worse than HBP, but dammit I'm sitting here alone with crusty, fluffy, freshly-baked white bread.

    Completely vent-worthy!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    For me it's my lack of gallbladder. I'm lucky because I don't have as many issues post-surgery as some people do. But there are certain things that I just can't eat in the quantities I want and be okay. I had 3 pieces of bacon today and I'll be fine. But half a pack one day a couple of weeks ago and I paid for it. I haven't had a good Alfredo sauce in ages because I just can't be trusted to moderate myself and not make me sick.
  • aliem
    aliem Posts: 326 Member
    I know it is sooooo hard! I try to focus on the foods that I can eat (and enjoy). It seems to make it a bit better, though sometimes the craving demons still hit.
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    Totally get it. It's great to have those favorite treats, but can be so frustrating to deal with all the sacrifices you have to make to fit them in that it almost isn't worth it. I can't remember the last time I was able to have potatoes AND bread with supper. Only have room for one or the other.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Celiac disease. I can rarely even eat out without being sick for weeks. GF bread? Yuck.

    And now I am LCHF so I skip all sugary foods and grains. That's over 80% of the grocery store items. But I feel so much better that the inconvenience and loss of certain foods is definitely worth it.

    Oh yeah! :'(
  • Catawampous
    Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    For me it's my lack of gallbladder. I'm lucky because I don't have as many issues post-surgery as some people do. But there are certain things that I just can't eat in the quantities I want and be okay. I had 3 pieces of bacon today and I'll be fine. But half a pack one day a couple of weeks ago and I paid for it. I haven't had a good Alfredo sauce in ages because I just can't be trusted to moderate myself and not make me sick.

    Man do I hear you on this. After my gallbladder removal ... "Eat anything you want." they said. "It's no different than before." they said. Complete load of crock in my case. I had to learn how to eat by trial and error.

    OP - rant on! I hear ya.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I feel for you hon. I think it's nice of you to buy that bread for your husband, knowing that it's a struggle for you to have it in the house. My husband is skinny and can eat sweets and all sorts of things that I have to watch out for. It takes a strong person to resist, and yes, it's as frustrating as hell.
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    I miss cheese! Between the sodium and the calories I just can't make it work into my eating very often.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    concrete_daisies wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    It's not that I don't ever eat white bread, it's that I can't eat white bread every day and keep low sodium.

    I feel this thread will keep going in the "you can still eat what you want" direction which is not what I intended (just a vent, not asking for advice). I can't be the only person who is slightly frustrated at not being able to eat certain types of foods due to a dietary restriction (barring allergies and OMGDEATH food).

    Why are we barring allergies from this vent? Allergies ARE a health issue. And they drive me absolutely crazy.

    I am allergic to dairy, treenuts, and soy. What is one of my favourite foods ever? Chocolate almonds. Can I eat them without getting an asthma attack? Nope. Cheesecake? Won't be able to talk the next day. Anything nommy and vegatarian with tofu? Nausea, dizziness, and more asthma. I used to be vegetarian, and I love vegetarian food. But can I eat 90% of it without feeling ill?

    You try going to a cafe for lunch and watching your friends scarf down a chocolate mudcake that you couldn't eat even on a cheat day, even though it looks like the most amazing thing in the world, while you sip your long black coffee (because the cafe offers normal, trim, almond, and soy milk, but nothing you can eat).

    I think the OP's point was that she can have the bread, but not all the bread she would like to eat when she wants to eat it. Those of us with allergies and intolerances can't have the bread (so to speak) at all, so it's a different struggle. Going over sodium here and there doesn't usually have immediate repercussions, more long-term, and to my mind that makes it a little harder to manage the cravings since there may not be immediate consequences.
  • concrete_daisies
    concrete_daisies Posts: 44 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    I think the OP's point was that she can have the bread, but not all the bread she would like to eat when she wants to eat it. Those of us with allergies and intolerances can't have the bread (so to speak) at all, so it's a different struggle. Going over sodium here and there doesn't usually have immediate repercussions, more long-term, and to my mind that makes it a little harder to manage the cravings since there may not be immediate consequences.

    Regardless of whether allergies makes it easier or harder to regulate your dietary restrictions (which I don't actually think it does, not when some of the allergens are so ubiquitous), that doesn't invalidate my rant? Or may it any less relevant to the topic in fact: OP was frustrated about only being able to eat small amounts of low-sodium bread when what she really wants is fluffy bakery bread. I can eat some dark chocolate, but what I really want is all of the milky chocolate truffles. Which I do eat, on occasion, and regret it. Cashews scare the *** out of me, but chocolate... just makes me miserable. I love chocolate so much, it is still a question of willpower.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    I'm not attacking your POV, and believe me I understand your struggles and sympathize. I'm just pointing out that the OP set the context and it should be respected.

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