Made with love, and oh so Yummy!

After Christmas I bought Jackie Warner's book "This is Why You're Fat (And how to get thin forever)." I had resolved with myself that this was the time to change my life and all the bad habits I had learned growing up. I knew that if I didn't do it now, it may never happen, and as they say, "There's no time like the present." I've tried to diet and exercise and lose weight before, but the problem was that I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't have the knowledge to succeed. Without the right information it always became a thing of "How long can I deprive myself before breaking down and giving up and becoming worse off than before." I have watched Jackie Warner on TV and I always thought she did a good job of explaining things and I believed what she was say. No gimmicks. So, when I went to go look at different health books hers was the first one I looked at. I started reading it there at the store and couldn't put it down. The title really says what the book is all about "This is Why You're Fat." She explains the chemistry going on inside our bodies and the three organs that make a person fat or skinny. She has a quote on her book that says, "Being fat isn't your fault; staying fat is." This resonated with me because you see these people that get away with eating anything and yet they can't put on a pound. Those are not my genes. I was able to stop blaming myself and hating myself for being fat and move on to doing something about it. Needless to say, I bought the book. Brought it home and got reading.

Some key points I leaned were these:
-Add to lose: It's not about depriving yourself but rather eating more of the right things. In fact you would think that eating more would be the easy part but for me it's probably the hardest part.
-Fat is not the enemy: Fat doesn't make you fat; SUGAR does!!! We're all sugar addicts. It's in so much of what we eat. So, read the labels and watch your portions.
-You can cut your cardio down to twenty minutes: With your workouts, it's not how long, but how strong. You can actually expend more calories in less time by doing shorter, harder cardio workouts. You'll not only burn calories but also boost your metabolic rate, so your body continues burning extra calories for up to several hours after your workout is over.

I started this life-style change at the beginning of January (it wasn't a new years resolution, I just happened to get started around that time). Needless to say, it's been quite the journey. I've lost about 25lbs so far. It's a struggle every day as I continue to work on changing habits and keep the right/positive mind set. I'd say the hardest parts so far have been staying motivated to work out, and getting my daily servings of vegetables.

I've never liked vegetables. Never! But, I'm working hard at integrating them into my daily diet as much as possible. When I make a protein shake with fruit, I'll add in some carrots and spinach and a couple times broccoli (when the others weren't available) and it tastes pretty good. I'm loving fresh pico which is really great with a grilled chicken breast and maybe some avocados. Another way I've snuck in the veggies... pizza! If you do it right, it's a good thing. Satisfies the cravings and helps get the veggies in. When you make it yourself you are in control of what goes in and that is really great. It's all about watching the nutrition and getting the right portions.

So, here is the Chicken and Spinach pizza I made the other day:

Ingredients: Crust (Boboli crust was used on this pizza, but you can use other), pizza sauce, tomatoes, spinach, chicken breast, red onion, peppers, black olives, and skim mozzarella. You can subtract and add ingredients that you prefer. I also like to use garlic but did not have it when I made this pizza. Think of what you like and add it.

It tastes so good and is so satisfying that I can't even imagine eating those old crappy pizzas I used to have.

[click on below picture to see larger]

Well, I didn't plan on this post being this long, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Originally I was just going to share the pizza with you and spare you of the life style change, but it seemed relevant. Wish me luck on my journey. Hope to report back to you with even more weight loss and life gain.