I LOVE BREAD. It is said to be “the staff 
of life,” whatever that means. I think it’s from the Bible and while I have never read the Bible, still I hear things. Mostly from my husband who is a Bible freak–he loves it and is always quoting it, although often incorrectly. Anyway, I love bread.
The thing is, bread is a poor food choice if you want to lose weight, which I have wanted to do since age 12. Not that I’m fat, but I’ve never been thin, and so since that’s a goal I usually steer away from carbohydrates like pasta, rice and potatoes. But bread–I simply cannot start the day without it. If I can’t have my morning toast I don’t want to live. I gave up eating bagels and muffins years ago, but a decent piece of whole grain toast is something I can tell myself is healthy. It’s covered with something nutritious like almond butter which is loaded with fat, but I’m pretty sure the bread itself is the demon.
Recently I switched to something called Udi’s Gluten Free Millet-Chia bread. It was an impulse purchase at the local health food market I cannot explain. I have never been one of those mung-bean people. Yes, I owned Birkenstocks long ago, but never wore those flowing, tie-dyed skirts or hippie beads. And God knows I have certainly never gone bra-less in public. Still, the bread jumped out at me and so I brought it home.
That was about a month ago. Since then I have had a slice of it every morning. I have also lost five pounds without changing anything else in my regular diet. Go figure. Besides its magical properties, it is delicious and toasts well.
— Andrea Rouda
Read more Andrea Rouda at Call Me Madcap.
