Welcome to Second Chance Living!

Never take life for granted. Last year, after 15 years of marraige, my husband was diagnosed with heart disease at the young age of 42. He got three stents in what the doctor described a very difficult surgery on his "widdow maker" situation in his arteries. We are very blessed to still have him. The doctor and dietition gave us strict orders on how to eat in order to live a long healthy life, and we are doing it! The typical American diet is what we were doing before this big event of a near fatal heart attack...Pizza on Fridays, sure, I'll have a couple of brats, MMM! ribs, sweeet! We would eat birthday cake and some sweets if we felt like it. We thought were doing well. WRONG!

Since the 3 stents, we have changed EVERYTHING! We exercise so much more, 30 minutes a day of cardio at least 5 times a week. We strictly gave up sugar, fat/fried food, white pasta and rice, alchohol. After being in intensive care for a week, I thought I deserved a PHD in nutrition because I listened to the dietition and doctor, and read the thick packet that they gave me about what we can and can't eat. I know that my husband would do nothing if I didn't do it myself, so I am eating what he is eating.

After changing our lives, both of us lost 30 pounds in a mere 2 months. It was strange, it just fell off! People kept asking what I did, and I would explain what happened and what we ate now.

Things I have incorporated into our new "Second Chance Living":
Portfolio Eating Plan (google it)
Skinny Bitch Books (but we eat chicken at parties and fish once a week)
The Kind Diet
Sommersize by Susan Sommers
Lots of Vegetarian cookbooks, I love the ones with color pictures because I'm a visual learner.

The other element of our new life is exersise. I joined Elements Diet and Fitness so I could stop freaking out and shaking because I was so stressed. I thought I'd try yoga. Then I found out lots of ways to confuse my muscles! I found Zumba. I am now a Zumba freak! All of these classes from Elements as well as the awesome weight machines have lifted me out of my mess from a year ago to feeling better than my twenties in my forties!

I want to share some recipes and stuff with friends who might be interested. I want to change America with my own "Food Revolution" like Jamie Oliver! Too many people are sick and dying young because of what we eat and our lifestyle. But I have learned that some people just don't want to be helped. I am so thankful that my husband and I are on the same page in this lifestyle. We are opposite of where we were exactly one year ago. This is our second chance, and we want all of you to have it before you go through what we went through.