Bread or other carbs making me feel bad?

sistasledge101

Last week I started slowly upping my calories. Im at 1800 this week, next week I'll go to my 15% cut of 1990. I have started eating more bread to get all my carbs in. I bought fruit yesterday so I am now going to cut back on the bread.
I have gained 2-3 pounds of what I believe is pure water. I feel so disgusting right now. I also have a lack of energy. I tried to do my leg workout dvd today from supreme 90 day, and I couldn't do any of it. I ended up turning it off and doing the elliptical. Even that felt like I was climbing a mountain.
Is it the bread making me feel this way?Also, is there a way to get rid of the water? Last week I had defined ankles, now I have cankles.

harlanJEN

Good Morning !

Upping calories ... just upping calories can cause our bodies to hold on to some water - is a temporary event.

However .. let me give you MY personal thoughts on bread carbs. Before I do that, can I address something you said ?

"I have started eating more bread to get all my carbs in". WHY? What do you mean "get all my carbs" in? There is no need to worry about "getting carbs in". I guess I"m confused by that. I get plenty of carbs by eating fruits and vegetables. I don't even think about "getting carbs in". Don't stress about macros. Just let that go. Focus on healthy eating. GEtting rid of processed, junk foods is a natural start. Incoporate more and more real food. Real food is nutritious, filling and satisfying. I'm never hungry (unless I wait too long between meals being busy, etc). I focus on geting in lean protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats ... let the macros fall where they may. When you start eating balanced, real food - the macros tend to take care of themselves. My macros tend to be even across the board.

Now .. back to grain carbs. For ME - they affect me. When I started getting serious with my eating last year - I realized that I was eating mainly bread carbs - they were pushing everything else out of my diet. I was eating virtually no protein, very very few fruits and vegetables. I felt bloated,tired, feet and ankles swollen a lot of the time, craving more grain carbs and sugar. I stopped that. Instead, of "worrying" about not eating grain carbs, I focused on eating protein. For me, my staples are eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, tuna, cheese, greek yogurt. I throw in chicken, turkey, shellfish, lean beef, bacon. I now get plenty of protein. As I focused on my protein, I quit eating as many grain carbs. I was full. I didn't have room. AND .. my cravings stopped. I noticed I didn't feel as bloated, my feet were no longer swelling, I had more energy !

Now .. I am almost completely wheat grain free. I've never felt better. I don't even want the wheat grain carbs - don't even think about it.

So .. yes .. I personally think that your upping your consumption of wheat grain carbs probably is contributing to your bloat, and most certainly your lack of energy. That is MY opinion, based upon MY experience. It is also based on what I read, what I study. Affects different people, different ways. For me - I'm better off without it.

YES. Cut back, eat more fruits and vegetables, protein, healthy fats (real nut butters, seeds, nuts). You will be fuller, not as hungry and your body will love the nutrients.

Jen

P.S. Your question about ridding your body of water. Drink Water. Flush your system. Green tea is also good. Watch your sodium intake. Restaurant food, food in boxes, packages (convenience foods) tend to have LOTS of sodium. So, if you are eating any or lots of that - you are likely getting more sodium than you realize

mommamuscles

Good Morning !

Upping calories ... just upping calories can cause our bodies to hold on to some water - is a temporary event.

However .. let me give you MY personal thoughts on bread carbs. Before I do that, can I address something you said ?

"I have started eating more bread to get all my carbs in". WHY? What do you mean "get all my carbs" in? There is no need to worry about "getting carbs in". I guess I"m confused by that. I get plenty of carbs by eating fruits and vegetables. I don't even think about "getting carbs in". Don't stress about macros. Just let that go. Focus on healthy eating. GEtting rid of processed, junk foods is a natural start. Incoporate more and more real food. Real food is nutritious, filling and satisfying. I'm never hungry (unless I wait too long between meals being busy, etc). I focus on geting in lean protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats ... let the macros fall where they may. When you start eating balanced, real food - the macros tend to take care of themselves. My macros tend to be even across the board.

Now .. back to grain carbs. For ME - they affect me. When I started getting serious with my eating last year - I realized that I was eating mainly bread carbs - they were pushing everything else out of my diet. I was eating virtually no protein, very very few fruits and vegetables. I felt bloated,tired, feet and ankles swollen a lot of the time, craving more grain carbs and sugar. I stopped that. Instead, of "worrying" about not eating grain carbs, I focused on eating protein. For me, my staples are eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, tuna, cheese, greek yogurt. I throw in chicken, turkey, shellfish, lean beef, bacon. I now get plenty of protein. As I focused on my protein, I quit eating as many grain carbs. I was full. I didn't have room. AND .. my cravings stopped. I noticed I didn't feel as bloated, my feet were no longer swelling, I had more energy !

Now .. I am almost completely wheat grain free. I've never felt better. I don't even want the wheat grain carbs - don't even think about it.

So .. yes .. I personally think that your upping your consumption of wheat grain carbs probably is contributing to your bloat, and most certainly your lack of energy. That is MY opinion, based upon MY experience. It is also based on what I read, what I study. Affects different people, different ways. For me - I'm better off without it.

YES. Cut back, eat more fruits and vegetables, protein, healthy fats (real nut butters, seeds, nuts). You will be fuller, not as hungry and your body will love the nutrients.

Jen

P.S. Your question about ridding your body of water. Drink Water. Flush your system. Green tea is also good. Watch your sodium intake. Restaurant food, food in boxes, packages (convenience foods) tend to have LOTS of sodium. So, if you are eating any or lots of that - you are likely getting more sodium than you realize

What can you add to those words of wisdom?

sistasledge101

thanks for the reply. Right now I am having trouble reaching my macros and my calories. I felt like bread would be the fastest way to reach both. And I am paying for it now. I am trying to eat as much fresh food as I can. It just seems like the healthier the food, the more of it I have to eat. which seems impossible some days. I am feeling super full all the time, but I heard that would go away soon.

harlanJEN

You are absolutely right about the fullness with real foods. Honestly - eating good quality foods - That is a LOT of food ! Isn't that awesome though ???

I'm a fledgling health coach (will have my certification in September) - but what I've been telling my "practice" clients ( I have 6 ) is don't OVERWHELM yourself with trying to think about , worry about getting it all right, all RIGHT now. One step at a time.

Put macros out of your mind for now. WOOSH! Gone. Put calories out of your mind for now. WOOSH! Perhaps for the next week - just focus on your foods. The types of foods you are going to eat. Make a list ... write down what foods you are going to focus on eating next week. Protein sources, vegetables, fruits, those beloved healthy fats of mine. Some whole grains. Some. More as an after-thought than a first thought. You know what I mean? Center your meal plans around proteins, veg and fruit. Fill in the blanks with other foods. Eventually, it will just come naturally and you wont have to even think about it at all. Once you get your food worked out and you and your body used to eating these quality, filling foods .... THEN hone in more on macros. BUT ! I'm betting - I'm absolutely betting that if you focus on what I just said - your macros are going to take care of themselves. Really.

K ? And .. in the often unlikely event that it's toward the end of the day and you have some calories to get in to meet your goal - have some calorie dense food. Such as some nut butter (peanut, almond); some nuts; do you like avocado? Avocado. My personal fave - as an occasional treat - Ben & Jerry's frozen GREEK yogurt. 1/2 a cup is 200 calories, has protein and it is YUM. I usually throw in some blackberries or blueberries .. some kind of berry with it.

It's OK. Breathe .... You've GOT THIS!

sistasledge101

thank you so much for the support! I have been eating lots of veggies, lean protein like tuna and chicken, turkey, whole grain only, not quite enough fruit though. Ive been eating almonds every day too. yesterday I ate chicken breast and broccolli for lunch and I could barely get it all down. just the amount of food is over whelming sometimes. last night I had calories left, so i ate peanut butter on a piece of bread. in the future I would just eat a bit more peanut butter i think.

thank you!

avalynsmom

My cals are set higher than yours, and even though I do eat bread, I don't eat a lot of it. I usually have a piece of toast with my breakfast, and sometimes a peanut butter sandwich later in the day, but just a half sandwich, so only one piece of bread. There are days where I'll add in whole wheat pasta if I'm super low on cals near the end of the day (like yesterday, I needed like 800 cals for dinner, so I made some pasta salad) Anyway, you're free to check out my diary if you need ideas for calorie dense foods/meals without eating a ton of bread. I never feel bloated, I'm always full, never overfull though, and I eat real food 90% of the time. Also, what helps me the most, is I eat every 2hrs. I eat 6-7 meals/day, if I tried to cram my cals in less meals than that, I'd never meet my cals and I'd feel stuffed full after every meal. Also, I almost never hit my carb macro, but I don't care if I do. I focus on my protein, and am almost always over!

EDIT: Today's diary is NOT an indication of what I normally eat! Just fyi, I'm WAY over on carbs today, but I am having the same dinner as my family, and it's the 4th:)

sistasledge101

My cals are set higher than yours, and even though I do eat bread, I don't eat a lot of it. I usually have a piece of toast with my breakfast, and sometimes a peanut butter sandwich later in the day, but just a half sandwich, so only one piece of bread. There are days where I'll add in whole wheat pasta if I'm super low on cals near the end of the day (like yesterday, I needed like 800 cals for dinner, so I made some pasta salad) Anyway, you're free to check out my diary if you need ideas for calorie dense foods/meals without eating a ton of bread. I never feel bloated, I'm always full, never overfull though, and I eat real food 90% of the time. Also, what helps me the most, is I eat every 2hrs. I eat 6-7 meals/day, if I tried to cram my cals in less meals than that, I'd never meet my cals and I'd feel stuffed full after every meal. Also, I almost never hit my carb macro, but I don't care if I do. I focus on my protein, and am almost always over!

EDIT: Today's diary is NOT an indication of what I normally eat! Just fyi, I'm WAY over on carbs today, but I am having the same dinner as my family, and it's the 4th:)

thank you! I will give your diary a look! Today may be a carb rich day for me also, baked potato, corn on the cob. Happy 4th!