Some Say Stinky

But I say deeeeeeeelicious!!

When I smell the scent of brussels sprouts roasting in the oven, I don’t plug my nose, just the opposite: I inhale as much of the aroma as possible. Roasted brussels sprouts are one of my favorite veggies!! Are you a fan?? My greediness surfaces when these are in the kitchen. I seriously do not even want to share any of them; I want them ALL! Dustin doesn’t like them, but nobody’s perfect. So my only competition is my mom, but she can have 2 or 3 some. 80/20 split, my favor.

Unfortunately, you can’t live on roasted brussels sprouts alone—or can you? Hmm… I’d be willing to find out, LOL. Only half kidding.

I bought two yellow and orange peppers at Hannaford the other day. I normally don’t because they’re usually $4.99/lb —for a bell pepper, really?! —but they were on sale and the same price as green, so I pounced on the rainbow. I decided to make peppers + eggs + Al Fresco apple maple chicken sausage.

Sautéed in Spectrum Organics palm shortening, then I added in the eggs + diced chicken sausage.

While I worked on the peppers and eggs, roasted brussels and sweet potatoes were roasting in the oven. Before long, a perfect meal was born.

Peppers, Eggs and Al Fresco apple maple chicken sausage for 3

• 13g Spectrum Organics palm shortening
• One half each: yellow, green, orange bell pepper
• One small red onion, sliced
• 4 Al Fresco apple maple chicken sausage links (60 cal each)
• 6 large eggs, beaten

1. Sauté bell peppers + onions in oil until softened;
2. Add in sausage, stir and let cook for a few minutes;
3. Pour in beaten eggs, scramble immediately. Turn off heat when eggs are thoroughly cooked

Makes 3-4 servings

Small roasted sweet potato with a bit of Kerrygold butter and a few teaspoons of Fifty50 maple syrup on the side.

Everything was EGGcellent!! But… I was starving an hour later?! What the heck! Plenty of fats, protein, fiber, and of course carbs. Not sure! I find this happens with scrambled eggs for some reason, but not when I have runny yolks. Weird, right? I’m sure there’s a scientific EGGplanation.

Speaking of stinky: March 8th marks the 5th anniversary of Dustin and I quitting smoking!!!! YAY for US! They say that after 5 years it’s like you never smoked at all and your risk of lung cancer goes down to that of nonsmokers. Awesome! Now, to avoid radon.

How and why we quit smoking: We did it cold turkey. No nicotine patches, hypnotism, or pills, AND absolutely no relapses! Nada, zip, zilch! We actually had a full stock and quit mid-puff. Seriously! At the time, NY state was running a hardcore anti-smoking campaign with graphic commercials on TV and shortly after seeing this one, we quit right on the spot. No kidding! Totally grossed us out and woke us up. Talk about a rude awakening! We had been talking about quitting for awhile, but those ads pretty much sealed the deal. I couldn’t stand to watch them knowing that they were true and we were doing that to our bodies.

I quit smoking AND went on to lose over 90 lbs a year later

The antiquated excuse: “I don’t want to gain weight if I quit smoking” is an irrational fear. Quitting smoking set the wheels in motion to be better to my body. When I hit 26 I knew 30 was right around the corner and that meant 40 wasn’t too far off. It was time to take my health seriously. I’m 31 now and boy, I was not kidding when I said 30 was right around the corner! It feels like just yesterday that I was 26-years-old and puffing my life away. But these days I pretty much forget that I ever smoked; the whole concept feels so foreign to me. I never actively think about it and when I walk by a cloud of smoke, it makes me gag, just like it used to when I was a kid.

I have kept off 60-70 lbs (depending on fluctuations and accountability) of the original 90+ that I lost from 2007 to 2008. I found 30+ lbs of what I lost back in 2008, but have slowly been creeping my way back down and haven’t gained after the regain back in 2008. I was never in this for speed, so when I look at the big butt picture, I acknowledge that I lost and have kept off at least 60 lbs for nearly 4 years, which I have never been successful with for any long stretch of time in my whole life. To me, that is something to be extremely proud of. Keeping it off is more complicated than actually losing it. To maintain something, you have to reach equilibrium and it’s so easy to slide back into old habits if you are not conscious of your choices. So while I’m not always in a caloric deficit—and make NO apologies for it— I do have a long way to go before I am where I ultimately want to be, so I always make an effort to at least not gain anymore and maintain the dozens of pounds that I have already lost. That is more important to me than how quickly I lose the remaining flub.

Moral of the story: One good thing can lead to another. Be patient and persistent; doubtless and fearless. Let go of deadlines and unrealistic expectations. But most importantly: Celebrate your accomplishments; don’t dwell on the negatives. You cannot change the past, but you can change the present and the future. Be good to yourself, physically and mentally.

Question: What are you proud of today?

Tagged as: Al Fresco chicken sausage, brussels sprouts, eggs, intermittent fasting, quit smoking, sandwiches, sweet potatoes