By Lis From La Mia Cucina

Happy New Year! May your year be filled with happiness and good health!

So it’s this time of year that most of feel is the best time to try to change some things. Be it losing weight, doing better at your job, quitting smoking, volunteering more often, or finally finding that damn bracelet that fell behind the dresser last New Year’s Day.

Okay, so maybe that’s just my list of things I’d like to accomplish in the year 2008. But still, ya gotta admit… there are one or two or eleventy thousand of you who wouldn’t mind dropping a few pounds and/or quitting smoking without significant weight gain, yes?

Here’s a couple things to think about firstly regarding quitting the coffin nails… Did you know that in just two days, your oxygen levels will increase… your carbon monoxide levels will go back to normal, and most importantly — NO, not your risk of heart attack and stroke decreasing, although that is VERY important — but most importantly your ability to taste and smell improves.

So seriously, how FABULOUS would it be to taste food as if it were the first time? Or smell delicious aromas the way they are meant to be uhh… smelt?

I am no expert in either of these issues. I am still not 100% smoke free, and Lord knows, I’m nowhere near the weight I should be. So what gives me the right to write this article? I guess because I’m just like you… I don’t know what will work and what won’t work but I really want to try.

So here are some tips that I’ve read about and that I think will help me quit smoking completely. Maybe you’ll find them helpful too.

1. I’m not going to stress or get upset with myself if I screw up. What’s the point? The more down on myself I get, the quicker I will decide I can’t do this.
2. If I want to eat something instead of lighting that cig, then I’m going to eat something. Eating is the lesser of the two evils at the beginning, so I’m not going to try to stop myself constantly. I will try to grab something healthier than that tub of ice cream, but I will eat if I want. And hey, I might gain a few pounds at the beginning… but I can guarantee the self pride and joy I will be getting from wanting less cigarettes a day, will totally fuel my next quest to drop the pounds. I’ll know that I really can do it!

3. I’ve made it more of a pain to get to my cigs. If I’m going to be in my home office, I’ll leave my cigs out in the kitchen. I’m finding that it’s too much to bother with, so I don’t go get one. I also keep a bowl of sugar free AND regular hard candies on my desk. I can snag one of them without getting up and find myself forgetting about that cig within seconds. At work, I leave my cigs in the car.. it’s way too cold and nasty to run all the way out to my car. I do not smoke AT ALL at work anymore — that’s huge!

Now let’s talk food, shall we? I can’t kid myself… I’m going to want to eat more but I gotta remember a few key things.

• Portion control. Dear Sweet Jebus, please allow me to put HALF the amount of food on my plate from here on out.
• No. It is NOT my party and I am NOT allowed to cry if I want to. It’s time to STOP being a spoiled brat and START becoming responsible. It’s the only body I’m going to get and I’ve beat it into the ground for 40 years.. I will knock it off and start respecting myself for the next 40 years!! I deserve this!

• I’m going to make a conscious effort to grab those carrot sticks instead of the Butterfingers. I’ll put down that delicious apple fritter and pick up that yummy strawberry yogurt that I really do enjoy but won’t think about eating after 10 a.m. for
  some ridiculous reason.

And finally, finally I am going to be cooking some fantastic recipes that won’t taste like they are low in calories and fat. I’ve eaten them before and loved them… why did I leave them in the dust? Not anymore!!

These lil Potstickers With Tangy Ginger Dipping Sauce are so easy to make and so delicious. Not to mention that dipping sauce.. you’ll want to start dipping EVERYTHING into it.

This is just one of a BAZILLION excellent good for you recipes on Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen blog.. she’s an amazing writer and chef try this Crab And Fuji Apple Salad just for starters.

Kalyn is the queen of the South Beach diet — and she’s a pretty darned good cook to boot! I’ve tried several of her recipes and enjoyed each one… especially this Stuffed Zucchini With Brown Rice, Ground Beef, & Red Peppers dish *swoon*

So there you have it, kids.. I’m no expert, and I do not play one on TV. I’m just your average 40 year old, over weight, smoking woman who is finally ready to do something about it. Will I be successful? Who knows. Will I give it my best? You can betcher sweet bapippy I will! What do you have to lose? Try with me? C’mon… please? You know you want to!

You can also search for thousands of Low Fat, Low Carb, and Low Calorie recipes on FoodieView.

To find several hundred FATTENING and completely WRONG FOR YOU recipes, check out Lis’ blog, La Mia Cucina. It too will be going through some changes.. all for the better!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.