Cheesy Cheat Meal

Good Monday morning fellow FITness buffs and how’s was your weekend?  I was home alone.  My teenager was at a church winter weekend retreat and Mr. Chicken Frywas quail hunting or in Angi terms, “quailing.”

It wasn’t as luxurious as it sounds.  lol  The truth of the matter is I missed them like crazy and having the house to myself in actuality was only 24-32 hours.  Mr. Chicken Fry and the teen queen were home by noon on Sunday and I have never been so happy to see their beautiful faces.

On Saturday morning I trained a group of eager workout warriors in the freezing cold.  Even with the heaters on it was a chilly 50 degrees in the gym.  But we worked hard and eventually worked up a sweat.  Here is what we did!

Lunge pulses to 10 – Take a lunge – take a second lunge and pulse for two – take a third lunge and pulse to three – until you reach 10 reps.

Chest Fly’s from a ball – 20 reps

Curtsy lunge curl 15 reps each side

Plank for 1 minute

Kick your own butt for 45 seconds

Repeat this for 6 rounds

Saturday evening I went to a movie with a girlfriend.  We chose a dine in movie at AMC theatre to see Molly’s Game.  A new release true story about a girl, who due to an injury, lost the qualifier for the olympic women’s free style ski team.  From there the story unravels and it’s CRAZY GOOD!  A must see!

Yall, when I go to the movies you can always know one of two things, if not both, is going down. I will either order a giant bucket of popcorn without butter and sprinkle milk duds in the top or I’m going to order a chicken pizza.  Plain and simple, a cheat meal is taking place!  This time I ordered a flat bread double chicken with very light cheese.

For almost 24 years I have predominately led a cheese free life.  I made a decision to give it up in my early twenties and have really never looked back. What’s more, is I still have a pulse.  I haven’t dropped dead or fallen off the radar.

Cheese, which I’m sure you know, is a fatty food that I gave up years ago when I began my weight loss journey.  I told myself that CHEESE was DEATH.  I stuck it in my mind…I told myself that if I ate cheese then I would die. This is the nuts and bolts of how I quit eating cheese cold turkey.  Plain and simple and sure it sounds cheesy.  I know it sounds completely absurd but the mind is a powerful powerful tool.  

Too harsh?  Not believable?  It worked for me.

Here is what I knew, I wanted my body to change.  I desperately wanted to shrink my midsection, thighs.  I was looking for a transformation so I made an extreme change.  I quit eating what I believed to be something that wasn’t doing me any favors.  I quit – halted – eating cheese!

Yes, saying NO to cheese has often been hard and inconvenient.

But when we do something hard we know that there will be a better reward on the back end.  I knew that by deleting cheese from my diet I was rewarding my health, my body and my gut!  I felt better about myself.  Additionally I started to see and feel the results on my waist and in my behind.

When I quit eating cheese I felt less bloated and pudgy.  When I quit eating cheese I noticed that my jeans fit better.  When I gave up eating red meat I felt way better.  Just as I have when I have gone long periods without sugar and or alcohol, I ALWAYS feel better.

Because too much of anything isn’t balanced or good.

For me, it wasn’t about lactose intolerance or a dairy dilemma. Giving up red meat wasn’t about saving cows.  It was about how not eating these things made me feel and look.

I quit and repeated the death mantra over and over and over again.  I repeated this until eventually it became second nature.

Anything is a hassle before it’s a habit. ~ Angi Abercrombie 

For  me, not having cheese or red meat at all was easier than yo-yo on and off. It was too unbalanced. It was easier to have none than occasionally have some.  Because most of the time we can’t just have one, or some.

Easier?   Easier is a relative term, right?  Trust me, the first twenty-five times I had to ask for no cheese please it was hard.  I was berated with a ton of questions from friends and family. I got eye rolling looks and long stares. Questions like why?  How long?  It took longer to order than most people and that was always fun.   I had to be careful not to forget and be diligent that if came with cheese to politely send it back to the kitchen.

Here is what else I knew, I was eating cheese and I was fat.  I was eating cheese and working out and still couldn’t get the last 15 pounds off. I took the advice of a trusted FITness mentor and scrapped cheese and red meat-from my diet! I lost inches and my body transformed.

To this day, 24 years later, I remain predominantly cheese free. What I mean by predominately is I don’t freak out as much. If a salad accidentally comes out with cheese I take what I can off and eat the rest. I still order cheese less pizza, turkey burgers etc. I don’t eat cheese dip or cheese fries. If at a pizza party I pick off the cheese as best I can and move on. My goal is to maintain a healthy lean body weight.

Maybe cheese isn’t your thing.  Maybe its alcohol or cigarettes.  Maybe it’s greasy processed carbohydrates?  Who knows, it could be sugary baked goods loaded with saturated fat.

Whatever it is you are ready to give up or stop doing, you CAN do it.  You have the power and don’t let anyone tell you differently.  Believe it.  Repeat it.  Live it. Will the wolf inside! Attack your fitness goal head on with a vengeance.

If you want to lose weight or change your body you have to do something different.  Small steps make for big results.

Love, say please and skip the cheese!  

Angi

I’m 44 years old and for 20 plus years I have been committed to a healthy lifestyle.  My passion turned into a successful small business and I’m ready to help you acheive your goals.