I'm Coo Coo for Cous Cous

One of my new favorite, super easy side dishes.

Pour a cup of this into a saucepan

Add a couple handfuls or more of any frozen veggie mixture (I like Trader Joe's Frozen Foursome Medley)

 Get it up to a boil and then add a cup of whole wheat couscuos

Now here is where I stop, dish out my 3 year old's portion and then proceed to make it into something truly yummy (I know I get excited about weird things)

A dash or two of balsamic vinegar, then fluff that couscous

And then top it off with a tablespoon of fat free feta cheese

I've made this the last few nights and have even eaten the leftovers for snack the following day. I've paired it with my 4 oz. meatloaf cupcakes, freshly steamed green beans, and corn for a very satisfying, low calorie yet filling meal.

What is one of your favorite side dishes?

Week 2 and Week 3 Weigh-ins

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Let's see, Week 2 was going really well. Worked out at least once each day, sometimes twice. I met my calorie goal each and every day but stayed even steven on the scale. I was a little bummed to say the least and in the past it would have been a breaking point, but this time I had a little positive self-talk with myself

"Laura, you're hitting your calorie burn and calorie intake each and everyday. You're eating the right foods and your energy levels are soaring, you're doing something right. Stick with it, it will come off....a 1500 daily calorie deficit is going to produce weight loss. Just trust the system! "

Well, I'm so glad that I listened to myself ( now, if everyone always listened to me it would be even better) cause by-golly, those pounds did fall off. Which brings us to Week 3 and a weight loss of 6.8 pounds! For a total of 15.4! I'm so glad that I only took a glance out of the big ugly window of dissapointment  but walked my  big (although somewhat smaller than before) hiney through the door of opportunity. 

I'm hoping to do a food finds entry this week and if I can get my act together a weekly or bi-weekly series on trying new recipes. If your interested in joining in or have a great healthy recipe that you would like me to try and post about. Let me know.

Chugga Chugga and Week 1 Progress

It's been two weeks since I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which I truly believe is my "AHA" moment, and one week of wearing my bodybugg and food journaling. So without further or do,  ladies and gentlemen....I'm down 8.6 pounds. Wohoo!

My energy levels are bursting at the seams (unlike my hips after this week's weigh-in) and I feel alive. For the first time in all my weight loss efforts, which have been too many to count, I view food as fuel. Prior to these last two weeks, that concept could never be fully instilled in me. Sure, I've heard the line before but I've never "lived it", I never honestly, whole-heartedly, believed in that concept.

And why is it sticking this time? I'll tell ya, my kiddo. My crazy, train lovin', 3 year old is helping his 30 (shhh, don't tell anyone) year old mama learn a long overdue lesson. As I'm learning more and more about nutrition, and relaying it to him in relation to his fave toys, trains. You've got to fuel the train properly in order for it to work. A very simplistic concept that I'm using to teach him about  fruits and vegetables could very well be the  piece to the puzzle that could save my life!

Crazy, huh! Sometimes I think that is so embarrassing that it took me this long to figure it out and other days it can be incredibly empowering to know that I might finally be getting it.