11 Healthy Bread Recipes for Baking Season

The aroma of fresh-baked bread makes your home feel just a little cozier when the weather outside turns chilly. Eating bread straight from the oven warms you up from the inside out, too. But maybe you have heard that you have to avoid all bread recipes when you’re trying to eat healthy and lose extra pounds. We’re here to tell you that you can enjoy all of the sensory pleasures of homemade bread and stay on track to your weight loss goals.

With these 11 healthy bread recipes, you can treat yourself and the rest of your household to the tantalizing smells and the satisfying tastes of bread this season. Best of all, these recipes are so easy, you don’t need any baking experience.

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 1. Seeded Whole Wheat Bread Dough >

Calories per Serving: 188

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 2 Extras

Baking your own bread lets you use deliciously healthy ingredients like sunflower and pumpkin seeds to add extra flavor and crunch to your sandwiches. Try this healthy bread to make a classic PB&J, toast it and top it with avocado or turn it into a perfect seasonal treat with a spread of fresh apple butter.

2. Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Bread >

Calories per Serving: 137

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 1 Extra

If you like healthy bread recipes that are soft and sweet, this simple loaf is sure to become a favorite for your breakfast or coffee breaks. It is low in calories—with just 137 per serving—and has no added sugar because the sweetness comes from oranges and applesauce.

3. Whole Wheat Herb Focaccia >

Calories per Serving: 129

On Nutrisystem, Count As: ½ SmartCarb, 2 Extras

Focaccia (pronounced “foe-KAH-chuh”) is a savory Italian-style flatbread with a texture like pizza dough. Enjoy it alongside soup and salad or just dip it in low-sodium, sugar-free marinara sauce. Bump up the taste of your focaccia with plenty of fresh herbs like rosemary and oregano, which are Free foods that add no calories but lots of flavor.

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4. Irish Soda Bread >

Calories per Serving: 109

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb

A staple for many bread-loving families, our Irish Soda Bread features the flavors of orange, vanilla and raisins. Plus, it gives you all the satisfaction of a firm and chewy loaf. We made it with whole wheat flour, so it’s high in fiber and just one slice leaves you feeling full for hours.

5. 5-Ingredient Buffalo Cauliflower Breadsticks >

Calories per Serving: 116

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 PowerFuel and 1 Vegetable

For parties, game days or a snack anytime, these breadsticks treat you and your gang to the zesty flavor of buffalo sauce and gooey melted cheese atop a hearty base that’s perfectly crusty. You can have the breadsticks warm and ready to eat in under 30 minutes—even faster if you pick up cauliflower “rice” in the produce or frozen food sections of your grocery store.

6. Honey Yogurt Cornbread Muffins >

Calories per Serving: 110

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb

Muffins are the happy spot where bread meets cake—they’re soft and fluffy yet flavorful and filling. Sweet honey and tangy yogurt combine with savory cornbread to make these muffins tasty and oh-so-satisfying, but just right for your healthy eating plan.

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7. Air Fryer Garlic Bread >

Calories per Serving: 109

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 1 Extra

A side of garlic bread can turn any Italian dish into a feast worthy of your favorite Italian restaurant. Try this easy garlic bread recipe with our Four Cheese Manicotti or Meatballs in Marinara Sauce. We made our version of garlic bread in the air fryer so it comes out crispy and warm, yet easy on the calories.

8. Gluten-Free Banana Bread >

Calories per Serving: 150

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 1 Extra

Whether you’ve never made banana bread before or if you’ve been baking for years, you’ll be amazed at how quick and easy it is to whip up this tasty loaf. In just five simple steps, you’ll have a fragrant and moist bread ready to slice and enjoy for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

9. Gluten-Free Maple Cornbread >

Calories per Serving: 98

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb

Whether you’re trying to avoid gluten or just love the taste and texture of warm cornbread straight from the oven, this version is the perfect side to soups, stews or our Chockful of Veggie Chili. The maple syrup gives the bread a hint of sweetness but keeps it less than 100 calories per serving.

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10. Easy-to-Make Zucchini Bread >

Calories per Serving: 114

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 1 Extra

This simple loaf is so soft, moist and rich in flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg, it’s almost like coffee cake. But it’s high in fiber because it’s made with whole wheat flour and shredded zucchini, so it keeps you feeling full for hours after eating it.

11. Cauliflower Crust Breadsticks >

Calories per Serving: 204

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 PowerFuel, 2 Vegetables and 1 Extra

Lots of mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings load up these warm and crusty breadsticks with flavor. Even better: you can eat four of them and get only about 200 calories, plus 16 grams of protein and two of your daily servings of non-starchy vegetables. What could be better?

The post 11 Healthy Bread Recipes for Baking Season appeared first on The Leaf.

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Creating a Habit Loop for Healthful Eating -- How I lost 50 Pounds This Year

• Conclusion first -- I want to start with the conclusion first. What worked for me is to get to a point where I only ate when my body gave me hunger cues and stop eating when I am full. That is way easier said than done. It took me all year to get to this position.
• About me -- I am mid 30s. My starting weight is 250, I am 5'10, and I am now 200. I don’t have any metabolic issues (no thyroid issues, no diabetes, no insulin resistance that I know of) and followed CICO. I had about a 500 calorie deficit per day.
• Tools used -- I used Macro Factor to log in my calories, to track my weight (to give me a weekly average), and it recalibrated what my daily calorie budget was based on my weight loss.

​

• Steps I took.
  • It starts out with creating a habit loop. This part is the tl;dr of 2 really great books (1) The Power of Habit by Duhigg and (2) Unwinding Anxiety by Brewer.
    • People think will power is the key because the unsaid assumption is that people are thinking machines that sometimes feel. The problem with this view point is that brain science shows that people are feeling machines that sometimes think. The same part of your brain that does fight/flight/freeze can turn off the part of your brain that is responsible for will power.
    • Most of your behavior can be classified as a habit. A habit has 3 parts: cue, a behavior/routine, and a result (reward).
      
    • Anxiety is a habit loop: the cue can be from the environment, boredom, etc. It usually goes like this: Trigger - Stress; Behavior - Worry; Result - Avoidance/Distraction. But, sometimes worrying can be its own trigger. The anxiety is your brain's way of making you do something about having incomplete information.
    • Having this habit loop on means your body is super stressed all the time. It means you will have a decline in cognitive functioning. It can actually make you sick.
  • Applied to eating:
    • I took a note of everything I ate. When I ate it. How I felt before. How i felt after. I did this for 2 weeks. The trick is to not change your behavior just because it's being recorded!
    • What I discovered is how often I ate when the cue wasn't hunger. In fact, it was hardly at all. A lot of social cues (someone brought in donuts). A lot of stress cues. A lot of boredom cues.
    • What I did with this information: The How I felt after part of the exercise was the most eye opening. So many times I actually felt crappy. Eat a snickers bar, get a stomach ache. Eat a donut, feel nautious.
    • This shifted into mindfulness. I started to chew slower. When I ate only when I was hungry, I also made sure I savored the food. I would take mental notes about textures, flavors, etc. What I realized is that hyper palatable foods (e.g. McDonalds) actually tended to be too salty, didn't taste as good as I would expect or remember later when a craving hit.
  • Power of disenchantment.
    • Anytime I'd be triggered by golden arches or other bad habits, I'd remember how it actually made me feel. I remembered how it actually tastes. Over time, my brain naturally stopped being triggered by that cue because I realized it just wasn't doing it for me.
    • As far as boredom/stressed eating. Before I snacked, I always would ask myself: Am I hungry or bored? Hungry or stressed? I found replacement behaviors for some of the things. If bored, do something fun or do a quick chore. Or call a friend. That really brightened my day.
  • Power or processing negative emotions.
    • So, I can't say enough about this YT channel on processing emotions. The TLDR: Think about when you were a kid, your earliest lesson on emotional processing might be "don't cry or I'll give you something to cry about" from a tired parent that were doing their best. We are taught a lot of avoidance behaviors but not a lot of how to process your emotion. This YT channel explains it all way better than me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoCiHlFjo04&t=3s
    • The TL:DR is that you are not your emotions. You are not your thoughts. One way to unwind bad habit loops is to be curious. In addition to the YT channel, Brewer's book referenced above gives a strategy called RAIN. You Recognize the stressor and relax into it. You Accept/Allow it to be there. Investigate body sensations/how you feel. Note what happens moment to moment.
    • This helped me reduce the amount of stresses that are actually cued so I don't even need replacement behaviors.
      
    • The biggest thing that a lot of us can struggle with is "all or nothing" thinking. Getting discouraged is part of a diet. But dealing with it is the difference. You can say "fuck it" or have a "cheat meal" that turns into a cheat day. Into your bad habits that got you fat in the first place. Don't let one "bad meal" turn into a week. You can't get fat on a single donut, but you can if your overall eating habits are bad.
  • Calorie deficit. Okay, so this was about losing weight after all. Now we're getting to the practical food part.
    • I had to calculate my maintenance calories. I use Macro Factor, an app. But you can use this to get started: https://tdeecalculator.net/. I knew I had to get to 500 calorie deficit for my overall goal.
    • You have to get a food scale. You have to use measuring spoons. When you start out, you truthfully can over estimate how many calories is in your food. Your regular spoon full of peanut butter isn't an actual table spoon.
    • You have to be precise in measuring what you eat. It takes a while to unwind the non-hunger cue part of your eating habits. It takes a while for your body to get used to what 1500 (1800, 1200, whatever your goal is) calories really means.
    • The thing is that you need to update it once a month or so. Your calorie budget will change as you get smaller!
  • Scale weight. Another issue is people will confuse scale weight with fat loss/gain. Your scale weight is everything. Your poop. pee. Your muscles. Your skeleton. If you also start working out when you diet, your body composition can change. You can gain muscle while losing fat. Your body can retain water in various ways. Don't let a daily spike lose your momentum. Make micro adjustments if your week over week scale weight doesn't change. Also incorporate a tailor tape and measure your waist and chest, maybe your hips, etc. Log those somewhere.
  • Cooked most of my meals. So when I had 1500 calories, and I was becoming more mindful, I knew I had precious real estate.
    • I liked this habit of eating: Breakfast (usually smaller), snack, lunch, snack, and a bigger dinner. I usually liked light breakfasts and lunches. My first snack is usually a premier protein drinks I got from costco. My second is usually fruit.
    • So, that usually meant dinner is 500-600 calories per serving. I eat a lot of sheet pan recipes. They typically are a lean protein + leafy green. But you can get really tasty ass food.
    • The timing of snacks/meals has to do with hunger. So if I'm not hungry in the morning, I don't eat. If I'm not hungry in the afternoon, I don't eat. Packing the food at work isn't an obligation for me.
  • Going out to eat. So, sometimes I can look at the menu and ensure it's 500-600 calories. But some menus aren't as good. Usually look for stuff that's blanched, steamed, grilled. Avoid things that are fried, battered, etc. I usually get a lean protein + leafy green even at a resteraunt. If you have to do fast food, get taco bell "fresco style," chick fila, try to substitute fruit for fries.
  • 8 hours of restful sleep. This goes hand in hand with anxiety reduction. But if your body is stressed, your flight/flight/freeze reflexes are up, it also impacts your digestion. Also, stress hormones can cause your body to maintain fat reserves (insulin+cortisol are among those). You can't be chronically stressed and lose weight consistently. You will be chronically stressed if you aren't getting 8 hours of restful sleep. If you get 8 hours but it isn't restful, refer to the anxiety reduction techniques above. But also look at a sleep specialist. Sleep apnea for example is super under diagnosed.
  • If you snack, make it count. I make low calorie snacks. Low butter/salt popcorn is the bomb. I also love pickles. A lot of fruits, vegetables, etc., make fun mindless snacks for the times you just want to have a snack at a movie or whatever. You won't get fat on snap peas. But they have a delightful crunch and it's fun to snack.
  • Get rid of the "clean plate club" mentality. You eat slowly. You savor each bite. Take note of the textures, flavors, etc. But you stop when you feel 3/4 full. If you toss food, that's fine.
• Menu planning. I think this an underrated aspect. Planning out the majority of what you eat will reduce a lot of your cues that lead you to subpar eating habits.
  • It doesn't take as long as you think. Every saturday, my wife and I spend 2 hours in total in looking up recipes, shopping, etc.
  • It's just the 2 of us, but we basically plan on 3 meals. They will make left overs and sometimes lunches.
  • Sun/Mo, Tue/Wed, Thur/Fri, then treat ourselfs out for Saturday.
  • Breakfasts are usually the same for me. I like oat meal (you can dress it up in a variety of ways. I like pumpkin puree + pumpkin pie spice + honey, or walnuts + brown sugar, etc). Or omelets (you can make with a variety of veggies or spices).
  • Lunches are left overs or a salad. I like premade salads from costco.
  • Dinners will usually be from recipes. We have a variety of cookbooks but also look online. Sometimes will google "600 calorie, under 30 minutes" type stuff.
    • Sheet pan recipes are the best. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/sheet-pan-recipes
    • It's how I got into parsnips. They're cheap but awesome roasted. Roasted veggies are great because you can fill up, lots of volume, without risking your waist line too much.
    • Soups are underrated as fuck. I usually get a soup for a full meal, especially when eating out.
• If you're new to cooking, get this book: https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/.
  • It will teach you how to make a balanced bite. You have to have all the elements of salt, fat, acids, and heat.
  • It will also teach you how to equip a basic pantry and kitchen. It makes cooking for yourself easier if you have basic skills. Recipes usually leave out how to season from their instructions, leading to bland ass food.
  • This book teaching you how/when to salt your food properly makes it worth the read alone.
• You will start really looking forward to your meals when you plan them out, actually. It's empowering to know that every meal will lead towards your overall weight loss goal.
• Try to have most of your meals on point, but enjoy yourself every now and then, but lot yourself enjoy things when you are dedicated to only eating when you're hungry. Otherwise you may risk binging (at least I did).

Where I'm going from here: Well, it is the holidays. My goal is to maintain my current weight. In January, I'll start another round of calorie deficit. My goal is to get to 180. The why I am losing weight is because I want to be able to be healthy and energetic for my future children. My wife is 11 weeks pregnant and I want to be the best possible father I can be and starting with better health is my compelling reason.

I think it's essential that you have self-respect and confidence in knowing that your health is worth it. You can get through the negative portions of dieting if the reason for your suffering is compelling enough. But everyone's values are different so literally looking/feeling better can be compelling IMO. You need to have things to help you from getting discouraged if your scale weight spikes up one day for a number of reasons that it may.

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Which apps are good to use for calorie intake and helps with the weight loss journey?

I'm trying to find an app that helps me track how many calories I'm consuming and how to much do I need to intake everyday. I just know my weight but don't know bmi. Im 26 154pounds height 5"6 and my goal is to be 148pounds but idk how to get there. I guess people keep saying calories deficit. Does that mean eating less that what I was actually eating? Does it mean like cutting down on sugar foods and high sodium

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Coming out of social isolation depression and COVID weight gain rebound (100lb in my case) how do move face people again, especially at the gym.

I’m 34, struggled with obesity my whole life do to genetic and other medical factors.

Had spent 3 years prior to COVID losing that weight, and in one year gained it all back.

This has become a major block for me, I want to start working out again, and I loved my classes, and routine, but I can’t get over feeling unable to face to people that watched and were so proud of my weight loss, see me like this.

I feel so stuck, help!

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Realistic weight loss goals?

I am female, age 32, 5'3, 179 lbs (181 after Thanksgiving). Last year I was at my highest weight of 196 (possibly more but at some point I was afraid of the scale). At that time I started eating better, went on thyroid meds for my hashimotos, and stopped eating gluten which helped me drop the weight. I've been in a plateau for a few months now and at my last doctors visit my cholesterol was a little high. I'm really trying to create a solid plan to get down to a healthier weight. So far I've decided to do the treadmill for 30 min 4 days a week. I also know I need more protein so I was thinking about doing a protein shake to supplement. I'm actually not sure how many calories I eat in a day. Breakfast is 2 egg whites and 2 strips of bacon, but lunch is whatever I can get from the cafeteria and my bf switches dinner up all the time. Anyone have any ideas? I feel like I always try to do too much and give up quickly, hashimotos means low web net and brain fog even with medication so I get overwhelmed. In the kind of person who just needs to be told "do this" so I don't have to think about it as much.

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Does loose skin from excessive weight loss impact the ability to build abdominal pressure?

Hey guys, so this is a topic I've really found any answers to and only can rely on my personal anecdotal evidence. I've lost about 80 pounds 10 years ago and I've had loose skin since then.

My lifts always were impacted greatly by wearing a belt, but I thought of this as kinda normal.
Recently I started wearing some shapewear / compression belt in the gym, just because I wanted to try how running felt without skin moving and even this piece of clohting had an impact on my lifts. Ofc placebo might be in play here, but this got me thinking and lead me to me question and wondering if anyone had the same experience. I'm not sure if it would make sense, but I didn't find any studies or information on that topic.

Sooo, does loose skin from excessive weight loss impact the ability to build abdominal pressure?

Cheersss

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I feel like I'll never lose weight

I'm going to allow myself to be vulnerable on reddit of all places; hopefully I don't get torn apart!

I'm 38 years old, 6' tall and 280lbs. Recently completed labs for my physical and of course my cholesterol is high and blood sugar is at the upper end of the recommended range. I feel the steady decline of my health, I know I need to change, but I feel like I'm a lost cause.

I've tried weight loss before but always end up quitting. I have serious laziness and motivational problems. Worst of all, I'm a really picky eater and afraid to try new things. I don't know if it's my ADHD or what, but once I find something I like I pretty much stick to that thing. I don't eat vegetables, and I'm pretty sure that won't ever change. Fast food is a huge problem for me. Portion management is a huge problem.

Here's some things I've tried: - Counting calories with an app. I love technology and I find it very motivating. It's fun at first, but over time it stops becoming fun/interesting and I eventually give up on entering meals I eat. - Reducing or stopping the amount of fast food I eat. I have only a few things I eat at home (grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, tomato soup with crackers, frozen pizzas). There's always that tendency to eat out. The longer I've been away from Chickfila or fast-food burgers, the more I think about and crave them. - Appetite suppressants. I've had the most success with this. Eliminating hunger feelings has been the best experience so far. My doctor recommended Saxenda but unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover it. And I didn't want to spend over $1000 a month for it. I ended up using Phentermine. The side effects sucked, but I stuck with it. I ended up losing about 25 lbs (got down to 250lbs from 275) and it was a great feeling. However, the medication started to become less effective over time and I eventually went back to my old habits. I stopped taking the medication at that point.

Here are my struggles: - I have a sedentary job. I sit at a desk all day. My hobbies happen to also be sedentary and involve sitting. About the only time I really stand up is to do chores around the house, mow the lawn, etc. - I'm lazy. It's hard for me to start a task, but once I'm doing it, I can stick with it. This especially applies to exercise. - I don't exercise. It's not fun at all. It's exhausting. It feels punishing for no benefit. And I'm not motivated to stick with it. I could probably do some weights/workout equipment at home but you would never get me to drive to a gym and pay a membership. I think my laziness is a big part of this. - I'm a picky eater. Love fried foods. Hate veggies. Some fruits are OK (I like apples but not bananas). This is a gag-reflex / texture / taste issue and I'm 100% sure I will never eat vegetables.

Here's some things I do or think I would enjoy: - Cycling I love. But I won't do it in cold weather. It requires getting dressed up and stuff which just makes it harder to be motivated and get it going. Once I'm on the road, though, I can go forever. - I have a wife and she's very very supportive and encouraging. I feel like I want to do everything with her, so I'm hoping doing some activities together will help motivate me and hold me accountable.

I've done a lot of googling/searching about this and most of the advice comes down to: - Don't like food, too bad, you have to eat those things - Stop being lazy - You're just being a child

I mean, I'm sure a lot of this is true. I fully acknowledge that I have problems. But the idea is to get some encouragement and ideas to help me improve my lifestyle which hopefully results in a healthier me. Part of my hesitation in opening up here, especially on Reddit, is that I'll get roasted. But I'll take the risk...

If anyone has advice, I'd really appreciate it.

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