Food For Thought - Introduction To the Kitchen at Two-A

If any of you who are reading have read some of what I written before, you will know that one of my joys in life, one of my passions, is health and fitness. People who know me have all heard the story - it's a major part of my life, a major part of who I am... When I was a teenager I was a runner, a swimmer, a bicyclist; at 16 I started dancing and by 24 I admitted I didn't have the talent to make it as a dancer and I quit. Overnight, I gained 20 pounds. By the time I was 37 I weighed in at 205 lbs. I joined the 19th Street Gym in New York and by my 38th birthday I weighed 165 lbs; my goal was to weigh what I weighed when I was 18 -- and I had to weigh that by my 40th birthday. It took me two years to lose that last 20 lbs but on July 8th, the year I turned 40, I did (indeed) weigh 145 lbs. It wasn't healthy. I was underfed and underweight and I had to make a change.

I got some good teachers to teach me how to be at a healthy weight through diet and exercise. Since then, people ask me (often!) for tips on weight loss, on working out, on eating right. I am happy.. HAPPY.. to impart my knowledge; as long as people understand that it takes work and sacrifice. The reward, though, is so great.

I am a bit extreme with both my diet and my training; but I am an extremist in everything. I would never ask anyone to live the way I live. HOWEVER... that being said, people can start to live healthier lives by just replacing ONE meal a day or even four meals a week with some of these recipes. By changing your life even a little, by switching out a night of lasagna with a night of my spicy turkey meatballs with fresh steamed vegetables, you can start to live a healthier life. And, trust me, your body will thank you.

So, after a few years of writing down recipes for individuals, I have decided to go public. I will be posting regular (or semi regular, depending on how busy I am) meal tips for anyone who wants them. These are really tasty things to eat that are really quite healthy. I'm not a nutritionist or an expert or anything - this is just what I have learned to do.

I've walked the walk.

Now; I talk the talk.