Week 2 is in the books now. Another week of eating nothing but pizza,for the most part, with promising results. As in week 1, I started my day with a nice slice of breakfast pie. Honestly, I could eat that pizza every day. It's still my favorite. This week I changed up my lunch and dinner slice a bit for variety.

I started coming down with a cold early in the week, and by Thursday, I was immersed in a battle of microscopic proportions. For two days, I fought my way through the trenches, only to emerge victorious with the aid of physical activity. Basically, this cold kicked my butt up and down for two days. It interfered with my regular workout schedule. Now as some of you know, when you get into that kind of physical routine, you feel guilty about missing a day. It's a good guilt, a motivating guilt.

So Friday evening, feeling beleaguered and weak, I decided to go to the gym, for a light workout. Two hours later, I finished feeling better than I had in the last few days. Not sure of the science behind it — maybe just sweated out a lot of germs, but I'm just glad it worked. I immediately followed this with a return visit Saturday night at midnight. It was a last-minute decision. Feeling a little energetic, I thought I'd put those positive vibes to good use. I had the place to myself. This gave me a chance to try some new equipment and exercises I wasn't super confident in, and maybe didn’t want to try in front of the entire gym. 

On Wednesday, I talked with my mentor, and the Pizza Diet inventor, Matt McLellan, and told him of my health issues. On his recommendation, I came up with my next pie. Matt suggested I use a garlic olive oil mash to help boost my immune system. This was perfect since I love the flavor of garlic and was gaining the health benefits associated with this pungent ingredient.

I used minced garlic in olive oil as my base for the pie, then added two leaves of basil, torn and spread around the pie. I added half my mozzarella, then added red onions and marinated artichoke hearts, which themselves have a laundry list of health benefits. I added the rest of my mozzarella, then some steak marinated in Worcestershire sauce, and seasoned with celery salt. I then finished the pie off with some feta.

While I knew I would love this pie, the unexpected bonus of the slice was every bite had a slightly different flavor. Some bites were basil heavy, others filled with the marinated artichokes, and all mixed with a little steak and feta. In the words of the great Cousin Eddie, "It is gooooo-oood".

Having met my workout quota for the week, I was back on track. Then another obstacle presented itself. The desire for some comfort food (cue villainous music score). How dare Burger King start their 10 nuggets for $1.50 promotion right when I start my diet. The audacity! Visually bombarded with reminders of habits and a lifestyle I am trying to put behind me, I was wavering. I’m loving the pies I’m eating, and am in no way "tired" of eating pizza every day, but I am in the midst of rebuilding my once impenetrable will power against less than stellar food choices.

Now technically, with flex dieting, I could eat those nuggets. I only need to know the amount of carbs, proteins, fat and fiber in them and track that, and  sadly, I did look that information up. Unfortunately, they are listed in MyFitnessPal, which didn’t help my cravings at all. But, I mustered up the strength to not get in my car and go two minutes down the road to nugget up. Instead I thought about how I could stick to the diet, but give myself a snack I know I love. Then it hit me, soft pretzels!

I took half a pizza dough ball (7.5 oz.) and made three small soft pretzels. This technically was still using the pizza dough, just no toppings. So, fending off the deep-fried demons, I was able to add a little variety while still maintaining the integrity of this diet. This battle goes to me, but I can't let my guard down for a second. Those desires and cravings are looking for chinks in my armor for the perfect chance to pounce.

My results for the second week of my 4-month journey are encouraging. I am down 14 pounds to 272, and down from a 49.25" navel measurement to 47. 25”. My weight loss was recognized by my first outsider today. In the middle of a conversation, my boss Linda Green just stopped mid-sentence and said she just noticed my face had thinned out a lot. That kind of recognition just helps to increase the desire to produce more results. I also noticed a little reduction in the love handles from the back. But I know the first couple of weeks and pounds are always the easiest as your body is flushing itself out. I realize the future weeks will see a slower weight loss with more work required to produce it.

 I’m ready, let’s do this! With all said and done, I think week 2 was a big success. I faced several hurdles that I was able to overcome, which adds to the momentum I have created. I know the road ahead will be filled with more speed bumps, but fueled by this victory, I'm looking to successfully navigate the bumpy highway called the Pizza Diet.