Wheat Bread vs. 100% Whole Wheat Bread

We fired up the grill a few times over the Memorial Day weekend. A few burgers, dogs and even some brats were consumed. Of course, those fine "meats" need to have a place to sit, so we naturally included buns. After eating on Sunday afternoon, we were standing around and I noticed that there were both "Wheat Bread" and "White Bread" buns. Most people assume that wheat bread is more healthy and think that they are doing themselves some good by going with the wheat instead of the white.

I picked up the packages and compared ingredients. The first ingredient on both was "Enriched White Flour". 

Be aware that a bread that calls itself a wheat bread but does not say that it is whole wheat means that it is a combination of whole wheat flour and enriched white flour and for that reason it will contain a lesser degree of fiber than with breads that are deemed whole wheat breads. 

If a loaf of bread is made from 100% whole wheat then “whole wheat” or “whole grain” will be the very first ingredient that is listed on the bread label. Whole wheat bread makes use of all three parts of the wheat, which includes the bran, the germ and the endosperm, and whole wheat bread contains the most fiber of all breads. 

With all this being said, even "100% Whole Wheat" bread isn't the healthiest that you can get. While it's probably the best option you can find in a grocery store, it still most likely contains High Fructose Corn Syrup and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil...both of these are bad. You're going to have to go to a health food store (such as Whole Foods) to find a really good bread...but unless you go there on a regular basis, it doesn't make much since to stop in once a week just for bread.

So next time that you are pushing your cart down the bread isle, take a second to look at the ingredients of your normal bread...it may not be what you think!

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Swim

Ladder intervals (2 lengths, 4, 6, 8 & 10) with 30 seconds rest between each
4:01 warm-up
2 lengths - 34.27 (23:44 min/mile pace)
4 lengths - 1:17.42 (26:53 min/mile pace)
6 lengths - 2:09.66 (30:01 min/mile pace)
8 lengths - 3:01.00 (31:36 min/mile pace)
10 lengths - 3:44.24 (31:17 min/mile pace)
35 minute steady swim at a comfortable pace
Total Workout: 2982 yards in 58:43

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

1 mile repeats with 3 minutes rest in between
Warm-up lap - 1.2 miles in 9:27 (Avg HR = 143) 7:52 min/mile pace
1) 6:32 (163)
2) 6:35 (165)
3) 6:44 (168)
4) 6:53 (168)
Cool-down lap - 1.2 miles in 10:08 (157) 8:26 min/mile pace
Total Workout: 6.4 miles in 59:24
This is the same interval workout I did last week with one key difference. I rested for 3 minutes between repeats instead of just one minute. I was listening to a podcast while on the indoor bike last week and I heard a trainer mention that he has his athletes do intervals with a 2:1 run/rest ratio. Meaning however long the interval takes, rest for half of that time before the next interval. The added rest clearly made a difference for me, as I was able to keep them all under 7 minutes.

Swim

2 minute warm-up
8 minutes of drills
13 minutes of swimming at race pace
Total Workout: 1200 yards in 24:52