This is me eating toast. Something I do most days. And something I’m not giving up.
The good news is you don’t have to cut these out altogether to be healthy or to lose weight.
You just need to get smarter about how you eat them.
Because here’s where most people get it wrong. They think better health means doing more. More rules. More restriction. Full overhauls.
In reality, that’s rarely what works.
What I see over and over again, in my own life and with clients, is this:
small adjustments, done consistently, beat big drastic changes every time.
And one of the simplest places to start is with foods you’re already eating most days.
Rice. Pasta. Potatoes. Bread.
You don’t need to avoid them.
But how you eat them matters.
Make one simple change, and you can shift how your body responds and how you feel after eating.
All my rice-based nourish bowls use cooked then cooled rice. It's easy, quick and more nutritious. Grab a copy of my Nourish Bowls Guide here.
Cold carbs are different to hot carbs
When you cook starchy foods like rice, pasta, or potatoes, the starch is in a form that is quickly digested.
This means it’s broken down into glucose relatively fast and can send you on a glucose rollercoaster. I've written more about glucose here.
But when those same foods are cooled, something interesting happens.
As the name suggests, this type of starch resists digestion in the small intestine. Instead of being rapidly broken down into glucose, it passes through to the large intestine, where it becomes fuel for your gut bacteria.
Why this matters
- improved gut health (by feeding beneficial bacteria)
- better blood sugar control (because it’s digested more slowly, leading to a more gradual rise in glucose)
- increased satiety (because slower digestion helps you feel fuller for longer)
And yes, this applies to bread too
It’s not just rice, pasta, and potatoes. Bread behaves in a similar way.
That means:
- it’s digested more slowly
- it has a gentler impact on blood sugar
- and it provides more fuel for your gut bacteria
Slice your loaf, store it in the freezer, and toast it straight from frozen. No waste. No extra effort. A slightly better outcome from something you’re already eating.
What to do with this
You just need to make a small adjustment to something you’re already doing.
Cook → cool → eat later (or reheat)
Freeze → toast (for bread)
This is a humble baked jacket potato that has been cooled and stored in the fridge. Squish it in a waffle machine and you get a crunchy potato rosti for one. Top a herby Greek yoghurt sauce, avocado, smoked salmon and Daily Blend. Delicious meal for one ready in minutes and loaded with fibre, protein, healthy fats and gut-loving goodness.
What this looks like in real life
A few simple ways to do this:
- Cook extra rice and use leftovers the next day, or portion and freeze. Defrost in the microwave when you need it.
- Bake a tray of potatoes, store them in the fridge, then reheat in the oven for easy baked potatoes during the week. Or squish in a waffle machine for easy potato rosti.
- Let boiled potatoes cool in the fridge before adding them to salads or bowls.
- Batch cook pasta, let it cool, then store in the fridge or freezer. Reheat quickly by dropping into boiling water.
- Cook once, freeze portions of rice or pasta so you’ve always got something ready to go.
- Keep sliced bread in the freezer and toast straight from frozen.
Not only is this better for your body, it also saves you time. One less thing to cook from scratch on a busy weeknight.
The bigger idea
What’s the best healthy eating plan? The one you can actually stick to 😜
