FGIALC: Weigh In, and Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup Recipe

It's time for the first OFFICIAL installment of

 First things first: You guys are AWESOME! Thank you so much for all the amazing comments, emails, and tweets in support of my weight loss quest! It feels really good to know there are people cheering for me, and that so many of you are struggling with and working through the same issues as me. (In case you missed my last post, you can read about my weight loss goals here.)

This morning was my weigh in, and (drum roll, please...) I lost 2 pounds this week! That brings me to 8.6 pounds for the month - I'm not complaining about that loss at all!

I have to say, I feel FANTASTIC, and I fully attribute it to the plant-based, whole foods diet. I have an absurd amount of energy - more energy than I've had in YEARS. Actually, more energy than I can EVER remember having, even when I was thin in high school. I really think it's because of the amount of fruits in vegetables in my diet now. I'm sleeping better too. Before I switched my diet, I was having all sorts of crazy dreams and sleeping terribly. Now, I'm sleeping great (when the kids will let me), and I can get through the whole day with lots of energy. I don't have that mid-day lull in energy anymore. It feels amazing. If that's not motivation to keep going, I don't know what is!

Today, I'm going to share with you a recipe for Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup that I've been eating a ton of in the last two weeks. It has no added oil, is entirely plant based, tastes great, and is really filling.

Sweet Potato And Black Bean Soup

• Makes about 8 cups of soup
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 2.5 per cup (The whole pot contains 20 PointsPlus values.)
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• Ingredients:
• 
  

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 can of chiles in adobo sauce (only need 1 chile or so - don't dump in the whole can!)
• 1 box veggie stock
• 1.5 cups of water
• 2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
  1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. red cayenne pepper (more or less to taste - if you don't like heat, you can decrease or eliminate the cayenne)
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In a large stock pot, using a little veggie stock (about 1/4 cup), saute the onion, garlic, chiles, sweet potato, and squash until the onions are softened. Once the onions are softened, add the rest of the veggie stock and simmer until squash and potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, add water while blending until smooth. Add black beans and spices and simmer 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

(I just realized you can see my reflection in the spoon - HA!)

It's super easy and delicious! I've made it with 3 sweet potatoes, and it worked great as well, but subbing the squash reduces the PointsPlus values while achieving the same flavor. I've topped it on occasion with some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and it was fantastic.

How are things going in your world? So many of you said you were trying to lose weight, eat healthier, or exercise more - how's it going so far?