17 (ok, 20) days later....

I'm down 12 pounds!!!!! Yay! I haven't lost this much in well, ever. Two years ago I tried hard to lose some weight, but I only lost about 5 lbs, got discouraged and stopped trying. I guess I lost 12 lbs after both pregnancies, but when you're throwing up after every meal what do you expect. Nope, I did this all on my own. No growing baby inside my body to help! Woot!! Here are some awesome cycle one recipes I used: Chicken Marinara: Boneless skinless chicken breasts Low carb (or light) marinara sauce Parmesan cheese Fat free Mozzarella cheese Fat free Italian dressing (optional) Basil, garlic, salt, onion (or onion powder) Optional: peppers, tomatoes, other veggies Put your chicken breasts in the crock pot. The first time I made this I put fat free Italian dressing in it, the second time I didn't. I like both ways, but Nathan liked it better without. Add the marinara sauce and spices (and veggies) and turn on high for 4-5 hrs (you may need longer if your chicken is frozen) then turn to low until you serve. To serve take chicken out of the crock pot and put it into a casserole dish. Top with marinara, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheese, warm in the oven until the cheese melts. Then serve! Yummmmmm! Enchilada Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts Low sodium enchilada sauce Cumin, garlic powder, onion (or onion powder) Optional: peppers, tomatoes, cilantro Queso Fresco Put your chicken in the crock pot with the enchilada sauce, and spices (and optional ingredients). Cook on high for 4-5 hrs (longer if your chicken is frozen), then low until you serve. To serve, dish up chicken, cover with leftover enchilada sauce and Queso Fresco! Double yummmmm! Salsa Chicken: Same ingredients as the enchilada chicken but instead of enchilada sauce use salsa. Cook on high for 4-5 hrs (longer if your chicken is frozen of course), then low until you serve. To serve dish up the chicken and put more salsa, and/or pico de gallo, fat free sour cream, and fat free cheddar cheese on it! Triple yummmmmmmmm! And you can totally do these recipes full fat if you want. They'll probably taste better. :) Stay tuned for more weight loss updates and yummy recipes!

What I would say if I could...

Dear sisters in Christ,
Oh how we failed this morning. It breaks my heart. Our purpose in meeting together is to enrich our souls, edify our walks with Christ, fellowship together, and learn from the Word. Today, I am sad at the way a sister was treated as she walked in the door this morning.

This morning, a new mother woke up exhausted from a very long night with an infant. She got herself ready to be at this conference early this morning. Her husband stayed up too late last night, so he woke up crabby. They had an argument. The baby woke up,crabby and cried all morning. She still came. And as she struggled to get her stroller in the door because women standing around her would not help her with the door, a coordinator appeared and scolded her for not wearing her name tag. She appeared at my breakfast table looking utterly defeated this morning. She was expecting to come here after a difficult morning and get her should fed and cared for and instead she was scolded about something has stupid as a name tag. If you think something so small can't cause someone to stumble, you are wrong. Sisters, we do not know what each woman coming into this conference this morning has endured. We need to extend grace and mercy towards each other. Let's do better for the rest of the day, ok?

30lbs.... Is it possible?

Ok, this is not turning into a weight loss blog or anything like that (cuz that's one of my pet peeves. I don't care that you just did 30 crunches!!) but, I am going to journal my way to shedding these 30lbs that have been hanging on to me the past, oh, 5 years or so. I am (thankfully) lighter now than I was when I got pregnant with Derek, but the pregnancies have left me... Different in the tummy area than I used to be. So, I am going back to the way I was when I got married. So, here we go. I've been walking 4 miles for 3 weeks, and carefully watching my calorie intake, making sure I don't take in more than what I need for Breastfeeding. I'm also using a system called ItWorks. Maybe some of you have heard of it before. Ok, I'm about to make a shameless advertising plug for my friend!! ItWorks has served me well so far. The best part of it are the Ultimate Body Applicators (wraps), the defining gel, and the Fat Fighters. Ok, the wraps you wear anywhere on your body for at least 45 minutes, and they help detoxify your fat cells and you actually lose inches!! It's pretty cool. The defining gel helps tighten and tone your skin, and the fat fighters are all natural botanical pills that you take after you eat to absorb some of the fat you consumed and prevent it from eing stored by your body. Now, before you say you can't lose weight with a body wrap, let me assure you, you're right. You can lose inches by allowing the wraps to shrink your fat cells, but you can't actually lose weight unless you diet and excersise. That's what I'm doing. ItWorks is a system to help. If you are at all interested in ItWorks, here's the website you need to go to: ambereaton.myitworks.com.

Anyway, I'm already down 4lbs, so yay me! Here's to another 4 or 5 soon!

April????

How in the world is it April already?? Oh my have I lapsed big time on my blog. It's not that I haven't had anything to update about, it's just that time has flown by!!! I will try my hardest to update you all very soon with pictures!