- 2 weeks ago
Episode 3: Challenge – No Bread. Host Marc Ford and Jeremiah LaBrue go 7 days with zero bread, cutting out everything from fluffy sandwich loaves to late-night toast rituals, and confronting the reality of a carb-heavy world without their go-to staple. They share the raw truth of going bread-free—the cravings, the convenience gap, the mental tug-of-war at every meal—and the unexpected wins that follow. Lighter digestion, reduced bloating, steadier energy, fewer crashes, and a sharper awareness of what real hunger feels like begin to take hold. This fun, honest episode delivers practical tips, smart swaps, mindset hacks, epic fails, and plenty of laughs to inspire your own no-bread experiment. No perfection needed. Just say yes to the reset. Hit play and upgrade your health, one bread-free day at a time. Level Up!
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00:00And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...
00:03Timster! Timster! Timster!
00:12Oh man, I'm starving.
00:14Yeah, are you ready for a pizza?
00:16I really am, so I shouldn't mention any name brands, but a particular brand is having a deal today for
00:23$6.99, a large two-topping,
00:26and usually I think it's like $7.99 for a large one-topping, so I save a whole buck and
00:32I get an extra topping,
00:33but geez, those commercials are looking good, and I could really, really use a pizza.
00:39This no-bread has been a challenge.
00:43Yeah, my wife made pizza the other night, and I didn't eat any, so for me it was a good
00:50week.
00:51I liked this challenge. I got offered bread multiple times.
00:54It felt like because I wasn't eating bread, more people were offering me bread, which was bizarre.
01:01I can tell you on the scale I weighed this morning, just by getting bread out of my diet for
01:07a week, I lost four pounds.
01:08Yeah, I lost, I lost, well, I don't do the scale, I do the pinch method.
01:15But I did notice that I was slimming down with no bread, and I felt less, I don't know, lack
01:22of a better word, like bloated.
01:23I felt more energetic.
01:25It's been one of the few weeks where I didn't even take a nap.
01:29I just had a little bit more energy.
01:31Maybe the bread absorbs a lot of the caffeine that I drink because I drink a ton of caffeine, mainly
01:38green tea.
01:39And maybe because I didn't have all that bread absorbing it, it was really doubling down on my system.
01:43But I had a lot more energy this week.
01:46I don't know about you, but for me, the tip of the day is if you want more energy, cut
01:51bread out of your diet.
01:52Yeah, I actually plan on continuing on, just like the no sugar.
01:58I went on week two of no sugar.
02:01Now, you know, I do supplement, like, and I don't consider this, like, one gram of, like, sugar, I don't
02:08consider sugar.
02:10So, like, I had a protein bar that had one gram of sugar.
02:14That's really the only, like, bread or sugar source that I had.
02:18But other than that, I've cut sugar out completely.
02:20And I feel so much better.
02:23And so I'm going to continue on, and I'll continue to talk about it every now and then.
02:27But the no bread will be hard, but I'm going to try to do it for another week and just
02:33see if I can continue on.
02:35Yeah, because you don't want the opposite to happen, right?
02:37You don't want to become, like, hypoglycemic where you don't have enough sugar in your system where, you know,
02:42you have to carry a candy bar everywhere you go and you've got your Coke can.
02:46Or where if your blood sugar levels drop too low, you have to drink a Coke or something like that
02:52just to bring them back up.
02:53So you don't want the opposite to happen.
02:55So I think a little bit of sugar, like you said.
02:58Well, like we said on our last podcast, which was, you know, just no added sugar, but there's just a
03:04lot of sugar.
03:04And one gram, like you said, is not a big deal.
03:06I mean, it's really hard to avoid any kind of, like, sugar.
03:10So because even berries and things like that have sugar in it, right?
03:14Yeah, so.
03:15But yeah, I agree with you.
03:17I think I'm going to, I'm not going to completely eliminate bread because at the end of the day, I
03:22do like bread.
03:23And I do, you know, like I said, every once in a while, I'll treat myself to a little midnight
03:28snack.
03:28If I'm up late, I'll make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
03:31To be honest, when I'm by myself, if I'm not out with friends or family or whomever, I don't eat
03:39bread.
03:39It's only when I'm out with friends where, you know, I have a hamburger or a pizza or something like
03:44that.
03:45But I just never have bread in the house and I never bake bread or I don't have a bread
03:50maker.
03:50I don't really buy bread.
03:52I don't even think about it other than I'll keep, like, some sliced bread and, of course, whole wheat, right?
03:58So I'll keep, like, some healthy bread just for, you know, a snack out in.
04:03But bread doesn't last.
04:04So it's, you know, one thing I noticed, I don't know if you noticed this in the store, which is,
04:07it's new for me.
04:08I'm sure it's not new.
04:09But I noticed that the stores are carrying a lot more half loaves now.
04:14Have you noticed that?
04:15I haven't.
04:16I'll just look at that.
04:17I didn't notice.
04:18Yeah, like, that's actually what I bought last time because I eat bread so infrequently that, you know, I was
04:24at, I won't mention the store, but I was at a particular store and they had a whole section dedicated
04:30to just half loaves.
04:31And it was all the major brands, including the private label brand, but all the major brands have half loaves
04:37now.
04:37I guess they must be doing that for a reason.
04:39I'm assuming more and more people are eating less and less bread.
04:42Yeah, I think, I think the younger generation isn't eating as much bread.
04:48Yeah.
04:48My, well, it's funny because my wife and I, we don't have a toaster and my mom, she was out
04:54here, ordered a toaster because she's like, oh, I like bread.
04:57And we just, so in general, we just don't eat a lot of bread.
05:00No, no.
05:02But pizza, pizza is my, I mean, you and I have talked about this before.
05:06Like if, if I had one food I could eat before I died, it would be pizza.
05:11Like if I had a, you know, if I had a choice between a steak or, or any other like
05:16lobster and they offer me a new or a slice of New York pizza, I'd, I'd go for that.
05:21Yeah.
05:21For me, pizza is, and every variation of it.
05:24Yeah.
05:25Even the craftiest pizza I can eat.
05:27I could eat deep dish.
05:28I could do thin crust.
05:29I could do cauliflower crust.
05:31I could do, you know, what they call flatbreads, which is basically pizza at a fancy restaurant.
05:36They call flat, flatbread.
05:40Flatbread, it's like, no, it's pizza.
05:41Flatbread pizza reminds me of, I don't know.
05:44I know you grew up overseas, so I don't know if you had pizza like this, but we had in
05:48the U.S., we had this like low, low grade, any, anybody from like the Gen X.
05:53We had like low grade pizza that the schools made, and it was the crappiest cheese.
05:59It was so thick.
06:00You know, I didn't know any better, but it was, it was amazing.
06:04And it's kind of funny as I actually still, I would eat pizza.
06:07The, in junior high, we could get a slice of pizza every day, a pizza or a burger.
06:12So I would either eat a hamburger or pizza every day.
06:15I did that all the way through high school.
06:16Was that in the school cafeteria?
06:18That was in the school cafeteria.
06:20Every day?
06:21Wow.
06:21Every day.
06:21So I'm pretty sure that my arteries are pretty clogged from all that, but.
06:25I'm surprised the schools allow that.
06:27Well, I don't know if they do anymore.
06:29I don't, I mean, my parents, I mean, we grew up, my parents were definitely not health, authorities of health.
06:36You know, we, we, we had a lot of hot dogs and hamburger and just cheap meat.
06:41We grew up pretty poor, so whatever we could find.
06:43Yeah, but I was just saying like, because schools are responsible for these kids, I always thought.
06:47But there would be some kind of education board or whomever that had oversight over, you know, what meals were
06:53served.
06:54I mean, was there any healthy options?
06:56Was there something, was it just all like tater tots and french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza?
07:01That's kind of what I saw.
07:02I mean, there might have been, but I, if there was, I didn't notice it.
07:05What about your drink?
07:06Was it all just soft drinks or was there milk or?
07:09Usually there was milk.
07:11I, I, I get, I get chocolate milk.
07:13I went for the smarter choice.
07:14You know, I had chocolate milk instead of regular milk.
07:17I had chocolate every day.
07:18I, I was kind of a little fat kid.
07:20I, I'll be honest.
07:21I, I like, I just, I really liked.
07:25So do most people, most kids in the U.S., they eat in a cafeteria that they don't brown bag
07:30it and bring it from home?
07:31The rich kids have brown bags.
07:33Oh, okay.
07:34Yeah.
07:35We, at my school, we had to volunteer.
07:38I don't think I got free lunch, but now I look back on it.
07:41Maybe I did because we had to work in the cafeteria.
07:44So I would, I'd go scrape trays off.
07:48After people ate, I'd stand there with a spatula and scrape their trays and then hand it back to them
07:53and then they'd go stack it.
07:54And then I'd have to help get things ready.
07:56But I, the other thing I liked about that, though, is I got free ice cream bars.
08:00The lunch ladies were, you know, sometimes I'd hang out with them during recess.
08:04We'd sit in there and play cards.
08:06This is more elementary school, but.
08:08Yeah, I'm like you, like pizza would be, if, if someone asked me what's one food I could eat for
08:14the rest of my life every day and never get bored of, never get sick of it, it would be
08:17pizza.
08:18By far.
08:19Yeah, this, this challenge is great, though.
08:21So I, I like this one.
08:22I'm going to continue on and, uh, maybe in, you know, I'll talk, we'll talk about it more.
08:26But, um, I don't, I don't, I mean, I recommend everybody try cutting out bread.
08:31I think it's, uh, I think there's a lot of positive from it.
08:35Plus, freaking bread's getting expensive.
08:37It really is for what it is.
08:39And then the scary thing is, you know, you and I are label readers.
08:42If you read the labels of some of these breads, like some of the big brands, I won't mention what
08:47they are, but if, and you, and you look at all these, all these ingredients, all these preservatives and, and
08:53things you can't even pronounce.
08:54I'm like, bread is one of the simplest things to make.
08:57There's really only three ingredients in bread.
08:59What, what is all this other stuff?
09:02I mean, of course I know what it is.
09:03It's to keep the bread as, you know, as, as, you know, fresh, well, not fresh, but keep it from
09:08spoiling or molding as long as possible.
09:10It's, you know, it's just, it's just a lifestyle thing.
09:13I think Americans tend to buy for the week or even for, for two weeks and Europeans, I would even
09:20say Asians probably as well, tend to buy daily.
09:23Or like every two days.
09:25Like I remember being in France and every day we would just walk down to get fresh baguette, fresh baked
09:31baguette.
09:31Like every day we didn't, we didn't buy a bunch of bread and then just eat that bread for a
09:35week.
09:35We just made, we just went down, we just walked down to the local store and just bought some fresh
09:40bread every day.
09:41So I think it's just a lifestyle thing.
09:43I mean, a lot of Europeans, when I was growing up, of course it's different now.
09:46And, you know, they weren't, they had refrigerators, but they were small and most didn't even have freezers.
09:51I mean, some had freezers, but most didn't have freezers.
09:54So, so the fridge was really just for milk and some other things.
09:57I, I look at my fridge now and I, I almost put everything in the fridge just to preserve it.
10:02I even put my bread in the fridge.
10:04I don't know if you do, but I, I keep my bread in the fridge.
10:06Yeah, I do.
10:08It's funny though.
10:09My wife doesn't like it in the fridge, but I, I prefer, I prefer it in the fridge.
10:13So yeah.
10:14I just do it because it doesn't spoil as fast.
10:17Yeah.
10:17It helps it last longer.
10:19One thing I've noticed too, is the, um, the keto bread or the, uh, cauliflower stuff.
10:24It'll last longer.
10:25So that's a little hack.
10:26And then, you know, I know we're talking about no bread, but one thing I learned is if you go
10:31to,
10:31uh, some of these sandwich restaurants, you can actually buy, uh, bread and at a discount,
10:37which, you know, a lot of people don't know that something to think.
10:41Were you the one that told me like you used to, I don't know if you still do,
10:43but you would order bunless hamburgers?
10:47Yeah.
10:47I, I, uh, I typically don't eat the bread.
10:50Do they all do that?
10:51Like, can you just go to any fast food place or any restaurant?
10:55Just say, I just want a bunless burger.
10:56Or do they just give it to you and say, you know, you remove the bun yourself.
11:00Oh, I, I just, I typically don't ask them to do it because I worked in restaurants.
11:04So I think it's best to not ask them to do anything.
11:08Cause you're dealing with people that number one, they hate their job in a lot of cases.
11:12And number two, they, you, you just really don't want people.
11:15You don't want to make special requests.
11:17I always overhear like people like, I want this.
11:20I want that.
11:20And I'm thinking, dude, you're going to get like spit in your food.
11:23You don't want to do that.
11:25Yeah.
11:25Speaking of that, I mean, this is how crazy things are.
11:28I, I, I'm hoping things are changing, but I remember my dad went to a particular fast food
11:34chain where they sell, you know, they're kind of known for serving really, really good
11:37breakfast and he, he ordered biscuit, like a sausage biscuit and it came with cheese.
11:44And he's like, Oh, can you just remove the cheese?
11:46And you know, they huffed and puffed.
11:49And of course they said, okay.
11:50And they charged him extra for the removal of the cheese.
11:53And my dad's like, why?
11:54And they said, because they come pre-made with the biscuit and the sausage and the egg
12:01and the cheese.
12:02And then they just stick it in the microwave and zap it.
12:04So it's already built as already made.
12:07They're not making it fresh and they zap it.
12:09And so the inconvenience of having to disassemble what's already made and then remove an item
12:15was a charge.
12:17Yeah.
12:18Of course, needless to say, it didn't go back, but that was just, that's just crazy.
12:21I mean, and I, I know, I noticed that a lot is when you go to the store and you
12:24see that
12:25this is, this has, this doesn't have this thing, or this doesn't have that thing.
12:29Like if you buy decaf coffee or you buy decaf tea, sometimes it's more expensive than the
12:34regular tea.
12:35Didn't I just, didn't I just remove an ingredient?
12:38Because what I learned, which is kind of crazy, which of course makes sense, is that one of
12:42the biggest commodity markets is caffeine.
12:45These, these brands, you know, these soft drink brands and coffee and tea brands that
12:51have that, you know, eliminate caffeine from their product.
12:54They then turn around and sell it to a, you know, a secondary market.
12:58They'll turn around and sell it to the, to the, you know, the energy drinks and, and
13:03some of the other energy supplements and things like that.
13:05So they double, so they're not offering you a caffeine product, but they're still making
13:09money on that caffeine because they're selling it to somebody else who needs it and wants
13:13it for their product.
13:13Yeah.
13:14Yeah.
13:14That's a, that makes sense.
13:16Which is pretty much where they got the idea of, of the bottled water, the big soft drink
13:20drinks with the bottled water.
13:21Of course the French came out with it first and a lot of people made fun of it.
13:25Like why would anyone buy bottled water?
13:27Now everybody buys bottled water, but they were just using so much filtered water in
13:32their factories to make soft drinks.
13:34And then finally just had an aha moment where they're like, okay, we have all this excess
13:38runoff water.
13:40What if we just triple filtered it and just bottled it and sold it?
13:46Yeah.
13:47That's, they're always looking for a way to make, make a penny off of everything.
13:51There's no waste.
13:53No, no.
13:54And I think, uh, well, yeah, no, this was a great challenge.
13:57I had a, I really, really, uh, enjoyed this one.
14:01So I'm looking forward to it.
14:03I did too.
14:03I, it's, I'm learning a lot.
14:04So it's, I'm not, I'm not trying to just do the challenge where it's just like, I'm
14:07eliminating bread.
14:08I'm, I'm trying to figure out, okay, what are the, what are the health benefits?
14:12You know, what are the side effects?
14:13What are the, what kind of things will I experience if I do get back on bread?
14:17How much should I eat?
14:18What ingredients should I look out for?
14:21So I really try to use it more of just, even though the challenge is fun, it's like gamification.
14:25It's also fun to do all the learning behind the scenes.
14:28I was thinking for our next challenge, and this is something that's kind of a little
14:31bit of a pet peeve of mine, which is, uh, is I tend to be one of those where I
14:38tend to
14:38hold the door open for people or like I'm in traffic and I'll let people cut in front
14:43of me and, and there's just nothing that ruins your day more than when someone doesn't thank
14:49you.
14:50So I'm thinking for this next challenge, let's spend the whole week opening the door for
14:55everybody, whether it's at the office or whether it's at a, at a grocery store or the post office
15:00or whatever, let's just dedicate the week to opening the door to as many people as possible.
15:05And then let's count how many people actually say thank you.
15:08And then we'll, we'll tally it up.
15:09And then at the end of the week, we'll compare and see who got the most likes.
15:15I love it.
15:16Let's, I'm excited to do that.
15:18And I think you got to have a smart aleck remark.
15:21Um, my smart aleck remark is going to be, if I hold the door, um, I have two things in
15:26mind.
15:27One I'm going to say, um, if people don't even acknowledge that I did it, like just a
15:32quick thank you.
15:33I'm not going to do it for thank you, but I, I am going to expect it.
15:36And, uh, I'm, I'm really just doing it for the challenge, but, um, I'll be, cause I'll
15:41be honest.
15:42I actually have quit opening doors for people because most of them are rude and don't even
15:46say thank you.
15:47So a lot of times I just don't even bother, but I, but I'll do it for the challenge.
15:51And the two things I'm going to say is if somebody doesn't say anything, I'm going to say, you're
15:56welcome.
15:56And then if somebody like, like looks at me and acknowledges me, but doesn't say anything,
16:01I'm going to say, I hope, uh, thanks for letting me open your door.
16:05I'm trying to get a job here.
16:07So that's, that's what I'm going to say.
16:10What's what's what you have any, uh, smart aleck remarks you're thinking about saying?
16:14Well, actually I I'm, I'm the opposite of you.
16:17I usually say you're welcome when they don't thank me.
16:20Oh, okay.
16:21Okay.
16:21Yeah.
16:21So when, when they just walked by, I'm like, you're welcome.
16:24The other one I usually say, depending on how big the individual is, is I'll say like,
16:31I live to serve you.
16:34I like that.
16:35But you have to be, you have to be like, you know, because there's so many crazy people
16:40out there that you have to really be careful.
16:42You really have to profile the individual to make sure that there aren't any repercussions
16:48to your, to your comments, but you know, I mean, that's why, that's why we're going to
16:54have so much fun with this kind of stuff because there's nothing we love more than sarcasm.
16:59We absolutely love it.
17:01We, I live for it and I know you live for it too.
17:04And there are actually going to be moments where I'm like, I hope they don't say thank
17:07you so I can give them my life.
17:12I love those things where you see like on, on the back of cars.
17:15Now those kinds of, uh, led displays where it gives people the middle finger.
17:20You know, if, if you like, someone's like riding you, like riding your bumper or stuff
17:23like that, they have these things now.
17:25Have you seen those?
17:26Yeah.
17:26They're funny.
17:27Yeah.
17:28They're, they're fun.
17:28I could, yeah, I'd be in so much trouble.
17:30I'd be using that thing all the time and my luck, I'd be using it and some cop will pull
17:35up right behind me and, and, you know, be, be obviously on my bumper and I'd give him
17:38the finger because it's like an unmarked car.
17:42That would be my luck.
17:44Yeah.
17:44Yeah.
17:45But I'm really looking forward to this thing.
17:47Like it's something I've always wanted to do.
17:48And I always wanted to just test and just see, and then, you know, and then revisit this
17:53thing maybe, you know, in a couple of years and just see whether people are getting worse
17:57or getting better.
17:58I, I, I agree with you.
17:59I think people are getting worse.
18:00I mean, it used to be where someone will just kind of look at you and nod.
18:03They may not even say, you know, thank you.
18:05They may just nod and just walk through.
18:07Now people just walk through.
18:09They don't even acknowledge you're there.
18:11Yeah.
18:11It's, it's weird.
18:12It's kind of, it's almost like they're trying to prove something.
18:15Yeah.
18:15Yeah.
18:16Like, like, yeah, like they're above you or.
18:18Yeah.
18:19Yeah.
18:19Or, or just, I don't know what it is.
18:21It's just, it's just sad.
18:22Just so many, so many cultural norms and values and behaviors are just, just declining or deteriorating
18:28or just going awake altogether.
18:31It's, it's a little bit sad to be honest.
18:33I have a, I have a hat that I think I'm going to start wearing more.
18:36It says kindness, pass it on.
18:38Oh, you do?
18:39Yeah.
18:39Okay.
18:40Do a, do a, do a, like a pay it forward kind of campaign.
18:42Yeah.
18:43I think maybe we, that's a challenge we do in the future, but.
18:46Yeah.
18:47I like it.
18:47Where did you get that hat?
18:48I got it from a company called melon.
18:50One of my favorite hat brands.
18:52Where have you worn it before?
18:53I, I've just worn it.
18:54I actually wore it to, uh, uh, we had a, a, my brother's memorial.
18:59Uh, it was a pool party and I wore it to the pool party and I got a lot of
19:04compliments
19:05from it.
19:05It's, it's a cool hat.
19:07I really like it.
19:07Yeah.
19:08I don't see you wearing hats that much.
19:09So it's, it's kind of cool that you have that hat.
19:11Yeah.
19:12I, uh, I tend to wear hats a lot when, you know, not, not all the time, but usually when
19:18I work out as typically when I wear them, but, uh.
19:20Oh really?
19:20I didn't know that.
19:21Okay.
19:22Yeah.
19:22Yeah.
19:22I typically wear one.
19:24All right.
19:24Um, well, Hey, I, I'm excited.
19:26I'm excited for this challenge and, uh, we'll, we'll talk about it next week.
19:30Okay, great.
19:31Okay.
19:31Have a good week.
19:33Good times ahead.
19:35I can feel it in my feet.
19:38Good times ahead.
19:41Let's make this life sweet.
19:44The past had its shadows, but we're chasing the sun.
19:49Good times ahead.
19:53The best yet to come.
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