02/13/2025
Now that we've hit February and your New Year's resolutions probably look a little different than they did in January, I want to revisit them for just a second.
What if your New Year's resolution wasn't big, but small? What if instead of making drastic changes to feel better and taking steps towards improving your health, you made simple changes that were more manageable?
This year, my husband and I took a different approach to setting goals and I think it was a good one. We sat down and looked at what manageable change meant for us. What small, realistic shifts could we make that would get us closer to our goals?
Now if you've made it this far, you're probably wondering what this has to do with bread. The unsung hero of your health and how you feel is what you put in your body. In my previous corporate job we used to say "garbage in, garbage out" and, although this isn't a data set, the concept still applies.
Sara Lee is the #1 bread brand in the US. They include 22 ingredients in 1 loaf of bread. A shocking ๐.๐๐ฑ the number of ingredients needed to make a loaf of bread. Sugar, inflammatory oils, added preservatives, enriched flours (a.k.a folic acid) - so many unnecessary ingredients that your body cannot break down or use the nutrients readily.
I started making bread because I couldn't find an organic option without seed oils at the grocery store. There quite literally was not a single thing I could buy, easily accessible that didn't wreak havoc on my body.
If you want to focus on your health, I would encourage you to make small sustainable changes one step at a time. Maybe that's more protein in your diet, maybe that's subbing out your favorite snacks for a healthy alternative, or maybe that's starting with a better bread.
There are a ton of resources on just about every platform you could imagine with information regarding ingredients, how they effect your body, and where they actually come from. It can be so empowering to read about, but also deeply confusing at the amount of information. I've linked two below that have been helpful to me in hopes that they may be helpful to someone else as well. Lily Nichols is one of my favorite resources!! If you don't do anything else read her post.
At the end of the day, I think it really can be as simple as more whole foods, less ingredients. I hope my small corner of the world can help make that choice easier for more people.
https://lilynicholsrdn.com/sourdough/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGIzJbNWKfM (great content, but JRE so warning for language!!)
