I have officially turned “granola,” as a good friend calls it. She uses it to describe people that go organic and sort of live off the land, as they say. They conserve on energy, recycle their garbage and probably smoke a lot of pot, so maybe I should qualify my terminology to the specific epiphany I had today – veggie pizza with a cauliflower crust tastes AMAZING!
My curiosity got the best of me last night when I saw the pizza in Costco and compared the calorie count to that of a standard pepperoni pizza. It was half the calories! So we bought a box of 2 pizzas, thinking we would only be wasting about $10 if I didn’t like it. Since we had very little time to make supper tonight, we decided to give it a try. I was hooked from the first bite! The only reason I knew it had a cauliflower crust was because it was written on the box. Otherwise, I could not taste the difference! If anything, the crust was crispier, but not by much. Normally I eat very little cauliflower, unless it comes in a pre-cut veggie tray. It often stinks, falls apart and feels a little funny when I chew. But mush it up, add some “stick-together” ingredients and voila – you have a tasty pizza crust. Who knew?
So instead of using up 750+ calories on 3 slices, I stayed around 360 calories. I usually order a supreme pizza with lots of veggies anyway, so the veggie-style was not a big leap for me. My husband was disappointed that there was no meat, but it didn’t bother me in the least. The mozzarella cheese was thick and creamy too, so 5 stars all around! I now decree that our family will have frozen pizza night at least once a week!
It was the perfect ending to my already successful day. I ate my standard one-egg breakfast for around 330 calories, had a shake and tea for lunch totaling 300 calories and kept my snacks and desserts to around 600 calories. My snacks included a banana, ONE granola bar, a Ghirardelli Sea Salt Chocolate Square, 2 cups of light popcorn and a Healthy Choice fudge bar with light Cool Whip on the side. Then I ended the night with a lemon-flavored Liquid IV packet added to my water and stored in the freezer for about 30 minutes so it would be closer to a slushy. After the last few days of eating too many calories and feeling defeated, now I am back to feeling satisfied, relieved and even excited - knowing I can continue moving forward.
Another epiphany I had today was that drinking a 32oz. tea and a 32oz. protein shake for lunch, really fills me up and keeps me from wanting to snack all afternoon. First of all, it’s a lot of liquid! It takes me a long time to get it all down. Second, the frozen shake does not travel very quickly through the straw, so that takes a good hour to drink so it takes me another couple of hours to finish the tea. When you put two and two together, I am too full to eat snacks and before I know it, it’s time to go home and I haven’t snacked all afternoon! For instance, today I packed grapes and strawberries but forgot that they were in the fridge. Oh well. They will go nicely with my left-over cauliflower pizza for lunch tomorrow.
But let’s not forget that the reason I stayed under my calorie goal for today was that I added 570 exercise calories to my budget. First, I walked to the shake place at lunch, adding a measly 126 calories, but then I lifted weights for 64 minutes in the evening, bumping up the total by 444 calories. I know I worked hard because my muscles were shaking during some of the reps. I was my annoying self in class again, too – counting out loud and grunting when I started to run out of strength. I make no apologies though. What can I say? I am an adrenaline junky with a craving for attention.
And, it seems I am becoming one of those people you read about who drinks a shake for lunch and eats cauliflower pizza for supper. (You are LITTERALLY reading this about me right now!) I also walk after dark while wearing a goofy reflective vest, along with a coal-miner’s light on my forehead. I weigh myself every morning, track every single calorie I put in my mouth – although sometimes reluctantly, and I spend at least an hour a day, writing in my journal. To say that I am committed would be an understatement. You might even call it obsessed. But if that is what it takes for me to achieve my dreams, I am up to the challenge. Bring it on!
