HOW I BURNED OFF 40 POUNDS WITH RED HOT PEPPERS

Heed the warning signs your body is broadcasting, my friends. That's number one right there. For years I was complaining to my Doctors about chest pain and shortness of breath. They did all kinds of tests and found nothing. The pains continued and I wrote it off as anything but what it really was. At my peak I was hitting 248, then I would cut back for a while and drop down into the 230s. But I didn't really change my diet. Rather than list all the bad food I was eating lets just say this. I lived in Las Vegas, NV. for thirty years and never met a buffet I didn't fall in love with.
In the 90s I was writing a lot and sitting around all day, by the turn of the century I was really getting weaker and having difficulty with physical excretion. But still the Doctors could find no abnormality with my heart. I was getting so tired I couldn’t even write or concentrate. We like to fantasize about a catastrophic end by super storms, biblical plagues, or the eminent zombi apocalypse, but the real danger is right in our refrigerators.
In my life time I’ve eaten hundreds of cows, pigs, turkeys, sheep, countless chickens and just about
everything else even fried gator. I especially loved them deep fried with buckets of gravy and potatoes.
Fried catfish! Oh shit, don't get me going on catfish. Everywhere I went it was all you can eat catfish, breakfast lunch and dinner, YUM.
In 2008 we sold our Vegas properties and bought Mystic Canyon Ranch in New Mexico. At last I could devote more time to writing Sci Fi novels. I was getting more exercise working around the ranch but New Mexican cuisine is so freaking good and I do love spicy food. You know I found a place down here that serves deep fried avocados with jalapeno ranch. Kill me to death!
Unfortunately, the chest pains got worse, so bad I couldn’t ignore them any longer. At one point I was flat on my back like a five hundred pound gorilla was bouncing on my chest. What's his problem? I never ate any primates.
I went to the Doctor he took one look at my EKG and rushed me to the emergency room. They did some tests and determined that I had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. They shipped me by ambulance a hundred miles away to a crack team of cardiologists. My surgeon was ancient shriveled up with hunched shoulders. He reminded me of the proverbial mad scientist, I new right away I was in good hands.
They went to work on me immediately making an incision in my artery and inserted wires and cables from my groin to my heart. They pumped a special dye in to track my blood flow through my heart. Once they determined my arteries were 91% blocked they inflated balloons in there and inserted three stints. Little tubes to keep the arteries open.

You know when you’re laid out on a slab wide awake and some guy you just met five minutes ago is using your heart as a sock puppet. You get a new perspective on life really quick. You also discover just how much excruciating pain you can endure without flinching. For to do so would instantly change the outcome of the procedure. Well, I guess I had it coming, I did eat all those animals.

After my near death experience 16 months ago I had to make a lot of changes. Diet mainly I’ve
lost 40 lbs on my salsa diet. Yeah you eat a lot of greens, very little meat and you cover all that
grass up with SALSA. It’s great and I feel good. I also had to reevaluate my perception of time.
You do that when you pass the reaper in the hall and he winks at you. I’ve been working my crossbreed series for five years and I decided I’ve got to get on with it because time is fleeting.
So how did I do it? Changing my diet was key. No fried food, no pork in any form and yes bacon is pork and stacking it a mile high on everything is not good. No sugary sweets or ice cream except on birthdays. Milk yogurt and cheese in extreme moderation.
Now days I have to eat a lot of vegies fruit and Oatmeal. so it’s good I like them but they can get boring if you must cut out red meat. Now that’s tough if you’re an omnivore. So here’s a tip, but I warn you it’s not for the weak of stomach.

SALSA OLE'

Slice and dice 1 cup of onion, 5 cloves fresh garlic, chile peppers to taste. I like a lot, but you should be careful if you haven’t built up resistance. Add a little cilantro if you have it and a squeeze of lime juice. Now comes the tomatoes. Dice them fresh as many as you need. 5 big ones will make a good amount of salsa. A faster way is 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Either way is good. Add all ingredients to a large pan and bring to a boil. Warning, pan searing peppers, onion and garlic together requires some ventilation. Very powerful combination.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer ten minutes or longer as needed. This is the basic recipe for salsa. From this platform you can run wild. Add almost anything, ground turkey meat cooked

separately or steamed vegies and mushrooms. Pour over rice, noodles, toasted bread of course chips will do but they are high in fat. Salsa has no fat or cholesterol. For a splash of western flavor add a squirt of BBQ sauce.

Salsa really takes the boredom out of vegetarian fare. You can also add cheese and other meats if your heart Doc doesn’t find out. Those days are over for me but the party must go on.

If you’re looking to shed a few pounds my salsa diet works as long as you eliminate the obvious
pound packers. You know the ones without me listing them. Alcoholic beverages are a factor too, I only have a glass of wine rarely anymore. There was a time when I launched battleships on seas of booze but not for many years.
I eventually dropped down to 195. after a year and just stopped, for months I was stuck. This was not good and my cholesterol count was still bad. So I had to make another change. I cut way back on carbohydrates. About a hundred grams a day. I dramatically reduced my bread, tortillas, rice, noodles, potatoes and defiantly cut back on sweets. Oh yeah gravy is for holidays only. I know that's rough but fear not, salsa will save the day I assure you. At this point I started eating the occasional steak, beef has vital nutrients and 2 or 3 times a month is acceptable. You can have a few bites of rice, bread and pasta... I said bites not bowls. A bite fits on the end of a fork. I don't care if it is fat free it's the carbs that kill you.

ZUCCHINI BOATS

We are lucky that we can grow organic vegetables in our garden. This year we started Habanero peppers. Ye ha! Hot!
So what do you do with a squash that’s as big as a watermelon? First you cut it in half and hollow
out the seeds then place in turkey pan. Then get out your slicer-dicer thingy and finely chop up
about a ½ cup each of onion, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, carrots, and broccoli. Then 1 or 2
jalapeno peppers, 5 cloves garlic, 2 eggs and 2 cups turkey stuffing. Moisten with chicken broth.
Grind up 2 skinless chicken breasts and mix it all in a large bowel. Then stuff the boats. Add some
vegies around the side and bake for 1& 1/2 hours at 450. Adjust cooking time to size of zuks.
This recipe is based on what you like and have in the fridge. If you want to go totally vegan leave
out the chicken and sub with lots of mushrooms. If you’re not too keen on all those vegies then
just smother it in salsa like me.
LINTAL FEISTA
Start with chopping red onions, garlic and a pepper. Add a leek if you've got it. Pressure cook a bag of lintels in four quarts of water. Very good for you and goes well with salsa. Actually most any beans will work with this recipe.
HUEVOS CON SALSA
I love eggs but I eat eggbeaters now [0 Cholesterol], I make spinach mushroom omelets with salsa for breakfast. Or oatmeal and fruit. No cholesterol to worry about and the carbs in oatmeal are off set by the fact that oatmeal helps control cholesterol. Unfortunately, oatmeal gets tiresome so I add peanut butter and pecans with blackberries.

NO BURN NO LOSS

Well that covers the diet, but if you don't burn the calories you take in it will never work. I get up before dawn and drink steaming hot Chinese green tea and watch the sun come up over Mystic Canyon. Some times I do this from the tree house. It gets my Zin going to face the day. I work on the computer for a while then I go out and work until around 3pm. I stay really busy just read the other blogs before this one. Physical activity is painful at my age but it keeps me from stagnating. You have to burn those cals and keep the body limber.
So why the big emphasis on salsa? Look at the ingredients. Onions, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers. These four items are packed with nature's healers, all four are known to aid with a score of conditions that plague humans. Thousands of books and articles have been written about them, you've got the internet at your finger tips look it up.
Then you must deal with the fact that we are carnivorous creatures. We love meat, dairy, sweats and bread products. If you cut all that out you will give up in short order because of boredom. Spicy food is not boring, salsa added to most meals will liven up your day. You don't have to go wild like me, I love the burn. You can turn the pepper down to a warm glow and be satisfied.
My current weight is 190 Lbs. When I went in for surgery I was 230. You do the math it's no magic formula. Eat less of fat and carbs work out a lot and spice up your meals to make them fun and exciting. I hope this helps and even if you're not concerned about your weight Salsa is a great party food.
FINAL NOTES
Counting carbs is a pain so I made a carb chart of all my favorite foods by looking them up on the net. I keep it handy where I cook and a small one in my wallet. Don't keep your peppers in the fridge. They tend to rot so leave them in a bowl on the counter. They dry out and turn red but you can still eat them. Also fresh salsa is the best but I always keep a dozen jars of store bought in the pantry. You know just in case the zombies overrun Walmart.