30 Day Challenge

I am new to this site, so just trying to figure it out. I am terrible at counting calories and such. I need a challenge to get jump started. One of my biggest problems is health problems and I take a lot of medication, and I have a husband who will not co-operate with anything healthy! We are on a tight budget like so many others.
I am not quite sure how this site works yet. Help??
I have 80lbs. to lose for me.

Let's see how it shakes out in week or so, and maybe I could help out with the tracking of the weigh in for those that want to participate in that part?

I am doing well with my "healthy eating". It will be interesting to see if I get the same results as I usually do when I do a "limit the calories" approach.

Couscous Salad - Easy & Delicious

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
5 tablespoons pitted and sliced kalamata olives
5 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 ounces low fat feta cheese, crumbled
Dressing, recipe follows
Dash Ceylon cinnamon, optional
DRESSING:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring the water and the 1 teaspoon oil to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 2 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and toss with dressing. Taste and add a pinch of cinnamon, if desired. Serve hot or at room temperature.

DRESSING:
Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

My huBy and I both love this super eady low-cal chicken dish. Serve it with brown rice, raw or wilted spinach, salad greens, or any other low-cal side and you have a killer and easy low cal dinner:

2 chicken breast
1 pkg athenos low fat feta
Any herbs/spices u like, I usually add sage, thyme, garlic and/or oregano

Cut a pocket into each chix breast. Blend 1/2 pkg of feta with fav herbs. Stuff breasts with feta (as much as u can fit) and close hole with toothpics.

Heat fry pan to med-high with less than 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When hot add breasts. Cook until golden in color on each side. Add lid, turndown heast and cook 5 mins or so more (to ensure cooked all the way through. Serve with fav low-cal sides.

I would love to join this, is it too late? I started back on December 1st and have lost 14lbs. I have been at a loss of 13 lbs-15lbs for the last 4 weeks and I'm struggling to move on, so I am hoping this challenge will help me. Everyone seems very supportive and this may be what I need to meet my goal.
Thanks
Cindy:happy:

Good afternoon everyone.....hope everyone is doing great today. It feels like springtime here and I've got spring fever. Here is a great dessert recipe that is wonderful. I change it around a bit when I make it. Instead of sugar, I use splenda. The brown sugar splenda is excellent! Also, you can substitute the mountain dew for diet. I also just add a tsp of butter. Enjoy:)

Country Apple Pie Dumplings

Ingredients

* 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
* 2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
* 1 cup butter
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew ™

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew™ over the dumplings.
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Nutritional Information open nutritional information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 333 | Total Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 31mg

With the splenda and diet soda it only comes out to a little over 100 calories per serving.

I've been taking this salad to work for my dinner this past week. I love the variety of fresh veggies, and the shrimp and egg provide protein. I just add a fruit to complete the meal for 600 or so calories.

2 cups mixed baby greens
2 small tomatoes, cut up
2 baby carrots, grated
2 oz avocado, cubed
1 oz. red pepper, cut up
1 large mushroom, sliced
1 hard-cooked egg, cut up
3 oz cooked shrimp
0.5 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp bleu cheese dressing

457 calories (22g carb, 28 g fat, 36g protein, 8g sugar)

Here's a salad I made for dinner last night. It's a variation on what I grew up calling a "Michigan Salad."

2 c mixed baby greens/salad greens
12 grape tomatoes
1/4 c dried cherries
1/8 c chopped walnuts
1/4 c reduced fat feta cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

This came out to 399 calories (carbs: 40, fat: 19, protein: 13). It's a salad, so I'm sure you could adjust the proportions of the ingredients, but I really like the way it all comes together. Traditionally, I would use blue cheese instead of feta cheese, but my boyfriend doesn't like blue cheese - I just checked and the nutritional info for feta and blue cheese are about the same, so go with whatever you like.

This sounds great. I'm going to try it with fat free feta to reduce the cals and fat. I can't wait to try it!

Yum all the recipes sounds delicious:) Hope everyone was able to eat at least one good healthy meal too. I know it's hard sometimes to fit that in especially when you have to work full time too. I ended up baking some blackened tilapia tonight with stir fried veggies and rice. It was good:) Thanks for everyone who submitted the recipes. If you are like me, you get in a cooking rut sometimes. How's everyone doing with their water drinking and exercise? As you know, my cousin Jessica and I started this 30 day challenge and we are so excited with the responses from everyone. We thought from now on we would start posting the daily challenge the night before. That way if you have to get up early and go to work, you can check it the night before. We are going to take turns posting the challenges and tonight is my night. Hope this doesn't get too confusing for you. It would be great to hear from each and every one of you everyday so that we know you are still hanging in there with us. This makes day 3 for us and I'm feeling really good. Let's continue the water throughout the month and at least some kind of activity everyday for at least 30 mins.

Challenge for Day 3- Thursday
I challenge you to do an additional 10 minutes of any type of exercise. This isn't that hard but sometimes it's little things that can make a huge difference. Did you know that an additional 30 mins of walking a day will increase your weight loss to an extra 1/3 lb a week? Doesn't sound like much but it adds up. Maybe all it would take is to park further away than you normally would. If you are shopping, just take an extra 10 minutes of walking around in the store. If you have a desk job like I do, try doing leg lifts in the chair. Take the dog for a longer walk. Run in place for 10 mins. Climb some stairs. It is all going to be so worth it:)
If you are just starting to exercise and think you can't do this, well try just doing some extra housework. Anything that is moving our bodies counts. Good luck to everyone and check in tomorrow and share with us what you did for that extra 10 mins. We love to get your feedback and ideas of challenges you might like to do. Have a super night:)

~~Angela~~