New card, new wardrobe...

Hello everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank all of you who follow and read my blog, although it takes longer now to post something.

I'm back with another card, that I did on the floor, next to my boy, who was playing and wondering why he doesn't have mommy's undivided attention. My precious boy has the widest and cutest smile in the world and when he sees me in the morning, he lets out this excited shriek that completely melts my heart! To be honest, it's really hard to do anything else when he's awake, because I haven't gotten over the affection that he gives and needs.

But now he's sleeping so I'm rushing to post a card. It's for Curtain Call Color Challenge #15, which proves to be a rather old one. I mistook it for the most recent, because of "Halloween" colors. Never mind, hopefully I'll make a card for the newest challenge. This is the first time I participate in this challenge, although I've been following it with the corner of my eye for quite some time.

All this time, I've done some other things that I haven't talked about and maybe now it's the time.

I have lost 30 pounds since giving birth! So happy!

After having Mircea, I have given myself a couple of months, to see if breastfeeding will "miraculously" melt the fat off my body. Other friends have inspiring stories, but it didn't happen to me. I also didn't pay attention to what I ate, thinking that since I'm breastfeeding, it doesn't matter how much of what was on my plate.

Because I really felt the need to move again, I started going to Zumba and loved it! I had a great time, but...not losing much weight. I was feeling hungry all.the.time and I would eat whatever was there.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, until I changed my eating habits, the scale would not budge a single little line. I started thinking what was important for me in a "diet": I could NOT go hungry, that was sure and I needed some substitute for foods that I loved.

I remembered that, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine sent me a copy of a book written by a french doctor, Michel Montignac, who divided foods based on their glycemic index. He explains that we gain weight because the insulin function of pancreas is "uncalibrated" and therefore, instead of releasing the amount of insulin to metabolize only the carbs, it releases much more and ends up transforming everything in body fat. This is due to a history of eating carbs like refined sugar, white flour, corn starch, that spike the sugar levels in our blood.

After reading it again, I was convinced that I don't need to eat less, but better and that the abundance of bad carbs in our diet makes any amount of exercise futile (unless you're a professional athlete) or it takes so long to lose a little bit of weight that you become discouraged.(I'm talking here about people like me, I'm sure there are people out there that can lose weight only by batting their eyelashes..like my husband and his family. Seriously, these people have a secret and don't share with anyone!)

That day, I decided to give up over-processed foods and eliminate any products that have sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, starch, etc. You would be shocked how many products have unnecessary ingredients for nutrition, but necessary for preservation, so they can stay long amounts of time "fresh" and unalterated on the shelves.

I stopped eating sugar, white flour, white rice, potatoes and corn completely.

This regimen meant that I would cook and eat most of the meals at home. I used to cook before, but I would always have a frozen bag of "goodies" for days when I didn't feel like going near the kitchen. But now, unless that frozen bag was "spinach", I had to (and wanted to) eat a homemade healthy meal everytime I was hungry.

I didn't count calories, I ate when I was hungry and how much I needed and in a month...15 pounds! Have I really eaten 15 pounds worth of sugar, flour, corn starch, corn syrup before?! It was hard to believe, but I did!

I gave up all these, but I discovered cabbage, beans, oat bran, wild rice and "exotic" things like quinoa and jicama. I've substituted white flour with a mix of oat bran flour and almond flour. I've always loved to try now things and I had the chance with this "diet" also. I wouldn't call it a diet, but eating healthy and being mindful of the crap that it's offered out there as "food".

These are some of my favorite dishes:

Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins

(made with oat bran flour and almond flour, not even a trace of wheat flour)

And because nothing says "diet" better than pizza, I'd like you show you a pizza with pinto bean crust.

A modified version of the well-known Shepherd's Pie (with mashed cauliflour puree instead of mashed potatoes)

And now, my 35th birthday cake: Black Bean Cake. (I was suprised how "tasteless" unseasoned beans actually are. Cocoa had a stronger taste than the black beans.)

Isn't it fun to "diet"??? *smile*

To be honest again, sometimes it's a lot of work to cook every single day, but it's worth it!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm leaving you with the cutest face on Earth! Trick or treat?

HAVE A SCARY MERRY HALLOWEEN!

{Count my blessings} Card 5 1/2 x 4 in

~ Cardstock: Papertreyink {Vintage Cream}, unknown orange cardstock;
~ Stamps: Papertreyink {In Bloom, Fall Elegance};
~ Ink: Papertreyink {Ripe Avocado}, Stampabilities' {Plum};
~ Ribbon: Martha Stewart
~ Buttons: Papertreyink Vintage {Spring Moss}, purple button from my collection.