Bread alternatives?

KenHolligan · January 6

Hello All,
Any advice on alternatives to bread?
Since logging food, I have come to realise just how bad bread is in my diet.
I have long working days, so taking a sandwich for lunch is normal. I. Ow realise I need alternatives to this in order to make a big impact on my journey.
Thanks!

tecat810 · January 6

Do you mean things that can completely sub for your sandwich bread? Or alts for lunch?

I'll answer both. I have celiac, so I eat gluten free! Which means I use lots of no carb subs.

Lunches: salads with protein
Tuna salad
Turkey roll ups with string cheese (if you do dairy)
Leftovers from din if you can reheat
Meat sticks

With lunch I always bring some.kinda fruit and some kinda veggies. Fills me up and gives me my nutrition.

Gluten free alts that work well are gf wraps for your Sammies.
Cauli rice instead of regular rice.
Zoodles instead of pasta
Potatoes as a side for your carb.

I hope this hits your question!

yirara · January 6

Why do you think bread is bad for you? As long as you don't have celiacs there's no reason to not eat bread. Of course there's bread and bread, and some just tastes yucky, and it seems that in the US bread products tend to be very sweet and fatty at times. But if you enjoy eating bread and it fits your calories then nothing wrong here.

Sett2023 · January 6

If you simply want carbs but different kinds, and also if you want to reduce a little, but not eliminate:

For breakfast: oatmeal instead of toast.

For lunches: spelt or barley or couscous or rice (a lot of kinds, so you can vary: basmati, red, whole etc), both at home instead of bread (with stews, for instance - other possibility that we adore: polenta, whole or not) and at work, in mixed salads (vegetables and proteins like tuna, salmon, poultry, eggs, cheese, also fruit). These are useful also if you simply want to reduce part of carbs, without cutting them too much (I can't do without carbs/grains, if I lessen them too much I feel hungry and finish eating terrible things, while with some grains in every meal I feel full until the next meal; but I've noticed that while I can eat also 5 sandwiches in a row, I nver exceed with rice etc, they're more satiating - for me). Also legumes pasta (my son celiac too), in salads or not; and lately they are producing even legumes polenta! Also starchy foods as potatoes work great for filling, and in salads they are perfect (at home, I also use jacket potatoes a lot, simply don't use butter but proteins: tuna reduced in cream with olives and capers, for instance; or cheese).

At work also wraps and likes (piadine etc).

If you want to cancel carbs from lunch, the other thing I find very filling is legumes in mixed salads, and in this case I have no need of grains.

PAPYRUS3 · January 6

If you enjoy sandwiches but not the bread (for whatever reason) maybe try:

Lettuce wraps or nori sheets to wrap your fillings up.
Stuff your sandwich filling into a hollowed-out bell pepper.
Portabella mushrooms are great too (take out the gills and stuff filling.)
There's also 'Cloud Bread' (you have to make this one - super easy to do.
Use a thin sliced sweet potato as a base and load up your topping.

Maybe think beyond 'sandwiches' for lunch - depending on your work's lunchroom, etc., heat up a hearty stew, soup, or chili - leftovers from dinner?

So many things! Good luck🙂

Sett2023 · January 6

Sorry, I remembered only now: I use a lot also salty "pies" (don't know if that's the right term: puff pastry, filled with everything you prefer - I usually go for a lot of vegetables + some cheese, but there are millions of recipes). In summer it's okay also cold. Again, there's carbs; but fewer than in a sandwich.

henridw2095 · January 6

I like Ezekiel brand English muffins and bread. I buy them frozen and typically have them in the freezer. When I don’t have time to meal prep, I can have work lunch ready in 5-10 min in the morning.

For non-US based people, they’re flourless sprouted grain breads that also have lentils etc.

springlering62 · January 6

Low calorie low carb tortillas make great wraps

Lewis Bakeries or Nature’s Own (?) low
Calorie breads : 70 calories for two normal sized, tasty slices. Available as white or wheat.

Joseph’s oat/flax lavash bread. 120 calories for a large sheet. We make easy thin crust pizzas with them.

Wasa Bread’s low calorie offering. 45 calories for two large pieces.

Retroguy2000 · January 6

I use sandwich rounds, also called sandwich thins. You get them in the usual whole wheat, honey wheat, etc. 100 calories for two rounds to put your sandwich in, vs 140+ for two slice of bread to do the same. I prefer them for the flavor too, since the sandwich is less "bready".

rileysowner · January 6

What exactly is it about bread that you have an issue with. Simply saying it is "bad for you" doesn't tell us much. It is calories, carbs, some other thing I can't think of?

AnnPT77 · January 6

I still eat some bread, but never was a big bread person. I did eat it as a convenient sandwich-fillings holder, but realized it wasn't super filling or tasty to me, so reduced frequency a lot, plus got selective. Occasionally "selective" means something super-tasty but not super nutrient-dense, like the focaccia from my local artisan baker at the farmers market. Most of the time it means choosing more nutrient-dense bread that I find tasty.

I do eat Ezekiel pitas and tortillas (wraps).

Much of the time, I just eat the stuff I would've put in the middle of the sandwich, but in a bowl instead of on bread, and usually with the veggie volume increased.

Sometimes it's cold, so I'd call it salad. (Note that there are bunches of kinds of salad besides greens: Bean salads, green-pea salad, tuna or chicken or egg salads, beets with feta, fruit salads mixed with reduced-fat ricotta or cottage cheese and flavorings, grain-based salads, pasta salads (maybe use high protein pasta), etc.)

Sometimes it's hot, so I'd call it soup, stew or casserole. I don't use recipes (except for inspiration to try a new exotic flavor profile or combination). I just cook - experiment. It's fun, and the worst that can happen is one sub-par meal.

If you have a microwave at work, it would be an option to prep and freeze burritos, mini-quiches or egg muffins, pasta dishes, some soups, etc. There are lots of recipes online for that kind of thing, including in the MFP recipe blog:

https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/recipes/

If you don't already have one, it can also be helpful to get a small insulated lunch bag and a small reusable ice block (such as "Blue Ice" in the US), and/or an insulated soup/entrée sized bowl. That's especially true if your work doesn't have a microwave or refrigerator - it can expand the options of what you can take with you to eat.

VegjoyP · January 6

henridw2095 wrote: »

I like Ezekiel brand English muffins and bread. I buy them frozen and typically have them in the freezer. When I don’t have time to meal prep, I can have work lunch ready in 5-10 min in the morning.

For non-US based people, they’re flourless sprouted grain breads that also have lentils etc.

I love Ezekiel sprouted bread

4Phoenix · January 6

Ezekiel is the GOAT bread!

Corina1143 · January 6

Salads
Make egg white wraps (they're too expensive to buy)
Cloud bread (falls apart easily in a sandwich, but add a little psyllium to keep it together)
Cottage cheese bread (more calories than the last 2, but more protein and filling)
Meat and veg plate--maybe with hummus or guac
If you have a microwave or a good thermos, it's soup and stew weather

stegeem · January 7

I would go for crackers, cruskits, wraps and pita bread. WW reccommends sour dough. There are some breads that have more fibre.

springlering62 · January 8

Why would WW recommend sourdough? Am I missing something? Doesn’t it contain the same ingredients except for the sourdough starter, and wouldn’t that actually add calories, since it’s
flour based?

Off to pull out my King Arthur cookbook to compare recipes. 🧐

And also, to Google “cruskits”.

springlering62 · January 8

springlering62 wrote: »

Why would WW recommend sourdough? Am I missing something? Doesn’t it contain the same ingredients except for the sourdough starter, and wouldn’t that actually add calories, since it’s
flour based?

Off to pull out my King Arthur cookbook to compare recipes. 🧐

And also, to Google “cruskits”.

Cruskits= Aussie, similar to Wasa bread

Sourdough: utterly puzzled why WW recommends. King Arthur recipe very similar to my non-sourdough I bake often, except high rye or pumpernickel content and starting period versus my yeast. Otherwise similar.

AnnPT77 · January 8

springlering62 wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

Why would WW recommend sourdough? Am I missing something? Doesn’t it contain the same ingredients except for the sourdough starter, and wouldn’t that actually add calories, since it’s
flour based?

Off to pull out my King Arthur cookbook to compare recipes. 🧐

And also, to Google “cruskits”.

Cruskits= Aussie, similar to Wasa bread

Sourdough: utterly puzzled why WW recommends. King Arthur recipe very similar to my non-sourdough I bake often, except high rye or pumpernickel content and starting period versus my yeast. Otherwise similar.

I've read that sourdough's fermentation process sort of pre-digests some of the starches, resulting in a slightly lower glycemic index. I don't even know for sure that that's true, let alone whether that's why WW recommends it.

namastenursing · January 8

Xtreme Wellness tortillas are excellent. I've suggested these to many people and everyone loves them. I make sandwich wraps: turkey, cheese, hummus; egg or tuna salad; omelette wraps; create your own sandwich.

Corina1143 · January 9

springlering62 wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

Why would WW recommend sourdough? Am I missing something? Doesn’t it contain the same ingredients except for the sourdough starter, and wouldn’t that actually add calories, since it’s
flour based?

Off to pull out my King Arthur cookbook to compare recipes. 🧐

And also, to Google “cruskits”.

Cruskits= Aussie, similar to Wasa bread

Sourdough: utterly puzzled why WW recommends. King Arthur recipe very similar to my non-sourdough I bake often, except high rye or pumpernickel content and starting period versus my yeast. Otherwise similar.

Have you never done WW? Why would they tell you that candy bars and fruit are interchangeable since they are both sugar? Why would they make so many "free" foods that you could easily eat over your tdee while on their "diet"?

littlegreenparrot1 · January 9

Flat breads, pitta hasn't been mentioned yet. Cut the ovals in half and each half is a handy pocket for your sandwich filling.
Easy option is oatcakes to have with hummus, or often I eat them with soup.
A portion of potato salad with some cold meat, or I'll sometimes make a big frittata with potato in it and have slices of that over a few days with salad.

Bread alternatives?

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