Goodbye Cheese!

For lent this year I decided to give up cheese.  Yep you read that correctly - the professed mac and cheese addicted has given up cheese for 40 days (in reality - 44 days).  The fact of the matter is that I eat too much cheese - way too much cheese!  It is beyond delicious and I have been known to have multiple blocks in my fridge at once.  After much reflection I also realized that cheese is often the catalyst to many of the delicious - yet unhealthy meals I make.  Cheese (except when very little is used) adds TONS of calories to a dish and regardless how good it tastes - I don't need those extra calories.  Today is day #6 without cheese and so far so good!  I have had to make conscious decisions not to add cheese and have had to search for some cheese-less recipes to make for dinner but so far it has not been that bad.  (I will admit that I did have a mac and cheese craving the other day - but I tried to quickly dismiss it).  The other night I even made a dish for my family that was topped with cheese but I seperated some for myself and baked a seperate dish without cheese!

To go along with this I am trying to take my cheese-less 40 44 days to the next level.  It may sound stupid but I have found myself saying it often the past week or so - "my body is a temple" - and I am really trying to make it one!  To me this is an opportunity to eat super healthy, workout a ton and reignite my weight loss!  Wish me luck!!

About a year ago this appeared on a billboard in Albany.  It is sponsered by a pro-vegan organization and is quite 'in your face', especially when plastered on a billboard overlooking the highway.  And while I don't completely subscribe to what the billboard is about - I understand that cheese can and does indeed make you fat!  That being said - I think this lental challenge will be great for me and will hopefully spur a sense of moderation when it comes to my cheese consumption.