Friday Meatspiration (or Cheesespiration, Maybe)

I just had my first piece of pizza without the crust in a loooooong time.

I remember when Tracey and I first read the Atkins book several years ago and were so convinced that every stick of sugar-free gum and every can of Diet Coke was going to throw us off the weightloss train; we'd stress about the tiniest carb intake. My company would order pizza every Friday, and I'd only eat the white pizza because I thought the tomato sauce had too much sugar. But the white pizza had fresh mozzarella, which I figured wasn't hard enough to count as one of the acceptable cheeses on Atkins. Fridays felt like a field of land mines to me.

Then, when I got interested in the Belly Fat Cure last year, I started allowing myself a whole slice of pizza if I ate one without the crust first. Those initial toppings would seem so dumb to me when all I wanted was to get at that second slice with the crust still intact. The problem was that once I gave myself the freedom to eat some crust, I'd end up going back for the leftovers with my co-workers a few hours later and have another whole slice. And sometimes two. I'm not good with an un-strict diet.

Now, I'm trying to eat according to the primal blueprint with some protein shakes added in for convenience, so I made myself eat a salad for lunch today with the promise of a crustless slice for a snack later, and boy, did it taste great.

Maybe treating diet-appropriate foods as if they were treats is the way to go.

Keeping Your Goals Stylishly Visible

Check out this adorable printable resolutions poster from Li'l Magoolie, available in both multicolor and blue. I especially love that "LESS SUGAR" and "EAT MORE GREEN THINGS" are the very first resolutions listed.

Via Odeedoh.

Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Mushrooms

I spotted this mouthwatering low-carb creation on a non-low-carb blog, and it made my renewed enthusiasm for non-starchy foods kick into overdrive.

Butter-sauteed mushrooms stuffed with ground beef, pepperjack cheese, bacon, and mayo, topped off with french fried onions. And you know all about my love for french fried onions.

I can't wait to make these.