Alternative to bread

Find a better health coach. He's got an agenda and he's forcing it on you--and through you, onto your kids. "Clean" eating is fine as a choice for an adult, who can make reasoned choices about food. For a child who is just discovering his or her relationship with food, it's a potential nudge toward an eating disorder. Do your children a favor. If *you* want to cut out bread, cut it out. Leave your children's bread alone. Bread is fine in moderation. (By the way, Type II diabetic here, I eat between one and four slices of bread a day, and I've lost 27 pounds since April.)

OP, would you consider following the Myplate.gov guide as a compromise? It's a good model for families trying to develop healthy habits. .25 of each meal is a grain, half is fruits and veggies, and .25 is protein and dairy. It has all sorts of kid friendly games and worksheets. Our meals as children were often pretty heavily grain based, but there is a middle ground between an entire plate of noodles and sauce as the meal and no grains at all.

For instance, you could make a plate for each of you with: an open faced sandwich with whatever protein and veggies and dairy you want. Then you can add a kid friendly prepared side of veggies (with fat! Roasted veggies, veggies with butter or cheese.) You can finish it off with the rest fruit. If anyone is hungry when they are done, they can get more, but first they have to eat the original plate (unless it's something they really really hate.)

Or you can make a plate with some salad, some spaghetti (with whatever kind of sauce and veggies), and a dessert of a yogurt and fruit parfait.

Your kids are going to get into bread somewhere, and they will sneak to get it. If you don't want to do all wheat, try brown rice pasta. It's awesome and the kids won't know if you don't tell them. Whole grains do make for an easier well rounded diet if you don't have a reason to not eat them.

About Insulin:

The fact is that insulin is not this terrible, fat-producing hormone that must be kept as low as possible. It is an important hormone for appetite and blood sugar regulation. In fact, if you truly wanted to keep insulin as low as possible, then you wouldn’t eat a high protein diet…you would eat a low protein, low carbohydrate, high fat diet. However, I don’t see anybody recommending that.

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

False dilemma: you could have moderate protein instead of low and keep your insulin response down. It's called ketogenic, and plenty of people are recommending it.

OP, a lot of people are confusing not needing to do something with should not doing something. I say, go for it. Cut bread but learn about what you're actually doing. Read up on ketogenic diets because you need to do it properly.

So...you are pushing off a keto diet designed for epileptics on children? If OP wants to mess with her diet, that's one thing. But demonizing foods and teaching that to her kids should be a big NO.

First, this is basically what it seems the health coach is describing: a keto diet or near keto. I think a lot of you questioning the coach's credentials is quite laughable. It's the same emotionally charged language as you seem to think "demonizing" bread is. Attack the argument, not the messenger. It doesn't add anything to the conversation.

Second, I'm telling OP to learn what she is doing when she cuts bread. Simply cutting bread may not do what OP thinks it will do.

Again do you believe that the OP should demonize an entire food group for young impressionable children who are yet to formulate their own relationship with food and moderation?

About Insulin:

The fact is that insulin is not this terrible, fat-producing hormone that must be kept as low as possible. It is an important hormone for appetite and blood sugar regulation. In fact, if you truly wanted to keep insulin as low as possible, then you wouldn’t eat a high protein diet…you would eat a low protein, low carbohydrate, high fat diet. However, I don’t see anybody recommending that.

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

False dilemma: you could have moderate protein instead of low and keep your insulin response down. It's called ketogenic, and plenty of people are recommending it.

OP, a lot of people are confusing not needing to do something with should not doing something. I say, go for it. Cut bread but learn about what you're actually doing. Read up on ketogenic diets because you need to do it properly.

So...you are pushing off a keto diet designed for epileptics on children? If OP wants to mess with her diet, that's one thing. But demonizing foods and teaching that to her kids should be a big NO.

First, this is basically what it seems the health coach is describing: a keto diet or near keto. I think a lot of you questioning the coach's credentials is quite laughable. It's the same emotionally charged language as you seem to think "demonizing" bread is. Attack the argument, not the messenger. It doesn't add anything to the conversation.

Second, I'm telling OP to learn what she is doing when she cuts bread. Simply cutting bread may not do what OP thinks it will do.

Again do you believe that the OP should demonize an entire food group for young impressionable children who are yet to formulate their own relationship with food and moderation?

Why do you consider bread a food group? Because the USDA told you it's one? Why should your diet be the angelic one? You aren't discussing the nutrition. You're just trying to label something as bad by using inflammatory language. Does staying away from bread develop eating disorders? Show me that study.

About Insulin:

The fact is that insulin is not this terrible, fat-producing hormone that must be kept as low as possible. It is an important hormone for appetite and blood sugar regulation. In fact, if you truly wanted to keep insulin as low as possible, then you wouldn’t eat a high protein diet…you would eat a low protein, low carbohydrate, high fat diet. However, I don’t see anybody recommending that.

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

False dilemma: you could have moderate protein instead of low and keep your insulin response down. It's called ketogenic, and plenty of people are recommending it.

OP, a lot of people are confusing not needing to do something with should not doing something. I say, go for it. Cut bread but learn about what you're actually doing. Read up on ketogenic diets because you need to do it properly.

So...you are pushing off a keto diet designed for epileptics on children? If OP wants to mess with her diet, that's one thing. But demonizing foods and teaching that to her kids should be a big NO.

First, this is basically what it seems the health coach is describing: a keto diet or near keto. I think a lot of you questioning the coach's credentials is quite laughable. It's the same emotionally charged language as you seem to think "demonizing" bread is. Attack the argument, not the messenger. It doesn't add anything to the conversation.

Second, I'm telling OP to learn what she is doing when she cuts bread. Simply cutting bread may not do what OP thinks it will do.

Again do you believe that the OP should demonize an entire food group for young impressionable children who are yet to formulate their own relationship with food and moderation?

Why do you consider bread a food group? Because the USDA told you it's one? Why should your diet be the angelic one? You aren't discussing the nutrition. You're just trying to label something as bad by using inflammatory language. Does staying away from bread develop eating disorders? Show me that study.

I have no idea who the USDA are, a quick profile click would tell you I'm not American.

Again you've done a great job of deflecting the question.
If you believe my language was inflammatory I will tone it down to a simple question for you:


Do you beliebe the OP should be completely restricting and labeling certain foods as "bad foods" in her child's life before they develop their own relationship with food and moderation?