How do I stop eating so much BREAD?

I need somone's advice. ANY advice will do.

I am currently studying abroad in Argentina. And while the food is really great here, I have picked up some pretty horrible eating habits. Mainly, that I eat an absolutely absurd amount of bread. My host mom always has a fresh supply of really good french/Italian bread on hand and we eat it--in excess-- with literally every meal. Not only that, but we eat lunch around 1:00 and don't eat dinner until about 9:30 or 10 (don't ask me why--that's just the culture here) which means that I am expected to go 8 hours without eating a meal! Of course as I have learned from Calorie Count, it is important to eat something small to keep my metabolism going. I try to just eat fruit or have a couple crackers, but my problem is, I get an INTENSE craving for bread around 6 or 7 o'clock that literally takes over my mind. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I just can't help it! Nothing else can settle me down except carbohydrates. And often during meals I keep eating bread after the meal is over, even if I'm full, because it's sitting there in front of me, and we're sitting around the table chatting after. When I look at my Calorie Count for the day, way too many of my calories are coming from this bread that has hardly any nutritional value as it white.

So basically, I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions...first of all, on how to mentally get over my bread cravings, and second of all, what the best thing to do is with such a strange eating schedule (the whole dinner at 10:00 thing).

I'm an absolute carb fiend, so I can sympathize with your plight here...I doubt that I'd be able to resist so much delicious and available bread!! I've found, though, that when I'm exercising regularly, I crave carbs a lot less often.

As for the late dinners...that sounds awful! Is there any way that you can pair some protein with that bread for a 6:00 snack?

You need to consume a lot of protein in your first two meals so that you can hold over until dinner... Also eating this protein will help your cravings for bread because protein has a way of making you not hungry and wanting to eat 3 loaves of bread! ha ah. I am sure in Argentina there is some nice free-ranged beef... which is very healthy... so see if your host mom can get some of that... if it's not too much to ask!. 

You need to consume a lot of protein in your first two meals so that you can hold over until dinner... Also eating this protein will help your cravings for bread because protein has a way of making you not hungry and wanting to eat 3 loaves of bread! ha ah. I am sure in Argentina there is some nice free-ranged beef... which is very healthy... so see if your host mom can get some of that... if it's not too much to ask!. 

Cold turkey. 

It would be incredibly hard given that it is always there, but it's the only thing I have found that stops the cravings.  Completely stop eating the bread - after a couple of days (pure hell!) you just won't crave it anymore.  I don't know if it is because your body kind of treats it the same way it does sugar - and if you are the same way I am, the more sugar I eat, the more I want and crave itl

Good luck!  I been there many times and know how hard it is to resist.

protein is a little bit hard to come by in my situation...there are sweets and cracker snacks (wafers, cookies, crackers) sold literally everywhere. yes, there is a LOT of beef here. but I don't have a lot of say in what I eat. Lunch usually consists of some sort of meat or chicken. but it's not usually enough to last me until night. unfortunately argentinians are not big on breakfast either. nuts are sold at the grocery stores, however, which would be a good alternative. Someone suggested peanut buttered toast (I can't seem to find the post now) but peanut butter is no where to be found here! I think I'm going through peanut butter withdrawal... it was a life saver at home when I needed something to fill me up! plus i looooove it.

cold turkey. yikes. i have actually found though that when I don't start the day eating bread I don't usually crave it the rest of the day. 

Thanks for all of the suggestions every one! This is so great that we can all help each other out like this.

How long are you there? You could perhaps order some peanutbutter online or have a friend send some to you. Purchasing nuts seems to be a great option. Having a snack of 10-15 almonds would really help you in the afternoons.

I tried to post an answer, but it didn't show up. Forgive me if you get it twice.

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I absolutely love bread, and have the same issues, so your question hit a chord with me. But when you asked for something you could do *mentally* to resist this particular temptation, it made me think of a strategy I read years ago about how naturally slender people automatically know what to do in considering what to eat or not eat. THANK YOU for reminding me of this! I went to the bookshelf looking for the book that I haven’t cracked for almost 10 years. I found the passage!

People like me (and perhaps you) don’t have the strategy laid out here. When I’m hungry and I see food, I eat it. That’s my very simple strategy. But it’s not how naturally slender people do it. (There have been studies).

This is how they do it. For them, it’s instantaneous and is second nature, so they don’t realize they’re even using this strategy. But, it can be learned. And if we consciously use it repeatedly, it will become second nature to us too. I typed it out for you (and me) from the book “Heart of the Mind” by Connierae Andreas. ( I’m excited to really try it this time.) If you try it too, please drop me an email to let me know if it works for you. It would be great to have someone try it with me.  It takes a conscious effort, but the result could be a good strategy for mindful eating.

The Naturally Slender Eating Strategy

1. First, something makes me think of food. This might be seeing that it’s time for lunch, hearing someone mention lunch, feeling hunger, or seeing food.
2. I check *how my stomach feels now*.
3. I ask myself, “What would feel good in my stomach?”
4. I visualize a possible portion of a food: a sandwich, a bowl of soup, a dinner salad, etc.
5. I imagine eating this food. I think of the taste of this food, and then feel the food slipping into my stomach, and get a feeling of how this amount of this food *will feel in my stomach over time if I eat it now*.
6. If I like this feeling better than how I will feel if I eat no food at all, I keep this food item as one possibility. If not, I discard it.
7. Next I visualize another food I might eat.
8. I imagine tasting this second item, and how it feels as it goes into my stomach, and *stays in my system for some hours to come*.
9. I notice how I like this feeling. Do I like it more than my best choice so far? I keep in mind the food item that makes me feel best, to compare to my next choice.
10. Now I repeat steps 7, 8, and 9 as often as I want to, always keeping in mind the kind of food that I imagine would make me *feel the best over time* if I eat it. I compare each new possibility to that.
11. When I’m satisfied that I have considered enough options, I eat the food that I imagined would make me feel best over time, so that I’ll get to feel that good.

All the best to you,

Susan

try eating rice cakes instead thats what i do :D or else you could buy a whole loaf of bread and cut it as thin as possible lol

Original Post by tinaek:

Cold turkey. 

 Yep, I second cold turkey. I love bread. I can eat a whole loaf of fresh italian bread in one sitting ... just plain, no butter. YUMMY! Unfortunately I don't have much control over myself when I eat it so I just don't. I also don't eat pastas or anything with refined flour in it for that reason, so no crackers or cereals either.

What about making some type of protien shake or smoothie in the afternoon - you must have some awesome fruits down there.  Throw it in a blender with some low fat cottage cheese, a little sweetner and water or milk and you've got a great snack to tie you over until dinner.