Nice Version of a Naughty Pizza

I was craving a naughty pizza last night. A crispy crust pizza with a rich basil pesto, hunks of melty bubbly fresh mozzarella cheese, garnished with tomatoes and fresh basil. And I could have eaten a whole pizza, all to myself!

In an effort to clean it up, I headed out to the grocery store and picked up my favorite thin crispy pizza crust (a flatout flatbread) and I found Buittoni reduced fat, au naturale, pesto sauce! There isn't nearly as much oil or cheese in the lighter version but it still worked well for my pizza.

The key to the pesto sauce is that a little goes a LONG LONG way. I think I used 2 tbs tops of this sauce.

I keep logs of fresh mozz. on hand as we buy in bulk from Costco. Fresh mozzarella is higher in protein and lower in fat than a lot of cheeses, making it an excellent staple in my house.

I preheated the oven to 350 and baked this guy for about 10 minutes and then topped with fresh basil. Despite forgetting the tomatoes, it was perfection. The perfect portion and taste to satisfy my craving.

Food Rut

Some of you have asked me what and if I have been cooking lately.....



And I am feeling bad about it.....

I am finding myself in somewhat of a clean eating rut these days. I haven't been experimenting with receipes like I did over the summer and I haven't been cooking nearly enough. Thankfully, there are many clean eating options near my office, however, my wallet is certainly getting a workout.

I took some turkey meat out of the freezer today to make a big batch of Jamie Eason's Turkey Muffins, but I get bored with these pretty quickly.

Today, I am setting a small goal to do a week's worth of cooking on Sunday, like I used to. Time to find some fun, clean recipes! I look forward to sharing them with all of you!

Lex.

P28 protein bread review

I received my huge netrition.com order on Friday.

3 jars of chocolate PB2
Dessert by BSN: chocolate coconut cookie
NO Explode
And P28 bread


I was most excited about trying the bread.

Each slice has 14 grams of protein. I made myself a grilled cheese using 2 slices and sharp cheddar made with 2% milk. It was meh. I will likely eat this again when I start trying to gain more lean muscle after the holidays, but since I am looking to maintain and not train too hard these next few months, I will enjoy my grilled cheese on Ezekiel bread.

Rolled Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter and Oat Balls

All I have to say is OH. MY. GOD.

This recipe is going to save me from my biggest enemy: My own sweet tooth.



Ingredients:

1-2 tbs Chocolate PB2
1/4 tsp cinnamon (maybe a little less)
water
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips or carob (melted)
Directions:



Combine PB2 through water to make a watery paste. It shouldn't be AS thick as regular peanut butter but a little less.



Add roughly 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats and stir. The oats will quickly absorb the moisture from the peanut butter. Mix until combined. By hand divide oat/pb combination into equal parts and roll into balls. Place in the freezer for up to 10 minutes to harden. In the meantime melt chocolate in a microwavable dish. Roll chilled balls lightly in melted chocolate to apply a light chocolate coating. Let harden and enjoy.



These are meant to be eaten right away.

Keepin it real....

While I am thrilled with my weight loss and am overall very happy with the way my body looks these days, there are a few, permanent side effects that come along with 70 pound weight loss, child birth, and breastfeeding two children.

Loose Skin.

Building muscle helps to support the loose skin, however, there really isn't a whole lot that can be done without surgery.

Cosmetic surgery is a very personal decision. I know many people keep this type of surgery private. Because I have been sharing my weight loss and fitness journey with everyone very openly and honestly from the beginning, I don't intend to start keeping things from you now!

I have decided that I am going to undergo a breast lift & augmentation procedure and a abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). My first procedure, the breast lift, is scheduled for next Friday. I won't be getting the tummy tuck until I have maintained this weight for a year. That surgery is much more complex with a longer recovery time.

For those of you that know me, I had my first child when I was 18 years old. I never had the figure that many women have in their 20's, pre-child birth. Perhaps if I had, I might fore go these procedures...having lived a decade with a bikini-ready body.

Some people may judge me for this, others may applaud me for rewarding myself and my hard work with these procedures that will correct something that I can't correct by myself.

Either way, I want to be honest with each of you reading my blog.

Lex.

Holiday Weight Gain

With the holidays approaching, maintaining my weight is going to be tough. Did you know that the average American puts on 7 pounds between Turkey Day and January 2nd? YIKES!

I am putting my plans to stay fit during the holidays in writing with the hope that doing so will keep me honest these next two months.

My Holiday weight maintenance plan:

Before any holiday party, including the one I will be throwing on Christmas Day, I will eat a clean meal right before going. This way, I will be less likely to over eat.

On my plate, I will fill half of it with veggies/healthy/healthier stuff.

No seconds!!


Today's Weight: 137
Today's Body-Fat: 21%

January 2nd's Goal Weight: 137-140
January 2nd's Goal Body-Fat: 21%-21.5%


A lot easier said than done, I am sure.

I did it!! My half-marathon story and other news....

After over 12 weeks of training, I am proud to say that I completed my first half-marathon yesterday. My goal of a 2:10 race wasn't met, however, I am learning that the course was about .5 miles longer than a 13.1 so I came a lot closer than I thought. I stopped my GPS about .3 miles short of the finish line and even my GPS showed a longer course. GPS was stopped at 13.29 with a 2:15:30.

What was even more awesome was seeing my family (cousins, aunt, uncle, husband, son, and daughter) in my last mile. That gave me the push I needed to run through to the finish.



Also, today marks the last day of my vacation. I have enjoyed these last three weeks so much! I really focused on taking care of myself. I cooked new healthy dishes for my family and got to try a ton of new exercise classes at the gym. Also, one of my other goals that I set for myself was to do an unassisted pull up. While I am not there, I only have to offset my weight by 15 pounds to get one good one in!! This is a big deal for me. I used to offset my weight by 100 to do a set of pull ups.

Next challenge; maintaining my weight during these next two months of holiday madness. I am also running a 15k next week so I am hoping my legs are fully healed by then! I am a little sore this morning!

I am also going to begin training for a full marathon this spring. I also have my sights set on doing a couple sprint triathlons and perhaps even the Chicago Olympic distance in the summer of 2011.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me through all of this.