Back At It

After a two month hiatus on all my health and weight loss goals, I'm back at it. I'm gonna be honest... I really really wanted to just eat whatever I wanted. So, as a result of all that loveliness my 30lb goal has turned into a 40lb goal. YIKES!! It's enough to make me realize, it isn't worth it. Pizza isn't worth looking terrible in all my clothes. I went shopping after Christmas with my gift cards and I looked awful in nearly everything I tried on. It was a huge kick in the pants. When I got home and saw that I had gained 10 lbs I freaked out. That is NOT the direction I wanted to be moving. So, armed with a new year and a fresh outlook on things, I am back at it. Yesterday I started the 17 Day Diet again, and I am keeping a careful journal this time to help me stay on task. Pizza doesn't seem as awesome when I know I'm going to have to write it down for posterity. :) So, here is my regimen for the forseeable future: 17 Day Diet- Cycle 1 ItWorks Thermofit 2x per day ItWorks Fat Fighters as needed ItWorks Greens 1x per day ItWorks Body Wraps 1x per week ItWorks Defining Gel 1x per day I'm really hoping to lose 12 lbs in the first 17 days. It may seem like an unattainable goal, but that is what I lost in the first 17 days back in September, so I think I can do it again. Wish me luck everyone!!!

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!

The Great Healer

On Christmas morning Pastor David recited the fighter verse, "He restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:3-4) Verse 4 seemed to some to be pretty inappropriate for Christmas, until he said "because death happens at Christmas too." Oh how this touched me. One of my closest friends miscarried just a few days before Christmas. While the rest of us were rejoicing in a birth, she is mourning a birth that will never happen. My heart hurts for her. My soul aches for her. She lives too far away now for me to comfort her in person, but I wish I could. Death is awful no matter which way you cut it, but the death of a child, even an unborn child is devastating. Death was never meant to be. It is because of sin that death entered the world. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they ruined God's perfect creation. Romans 5:12 says "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all have sinned..." We all have sin natures, even precious tiny babies, and so we are all susceptible to death. But God, in His perfect will had a plan to save us from death. Romans 5:18 says "Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men ,so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." That one act of righteousness was Jesus' death on the cross. He died to take the sin of mankind so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life. John 1:12 says "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God." How amazing is it that all we have to do to receive eternal life is to believe in the name of Jesus? Acts 16:31 says "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved..." Oh how wonderful to believe in a God who is victorious over death. "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces..." (Isaiah 25:8) "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55) So, take heart my dear friend. Death is not forever. We serve a victorious God. One day there will be no more grieving, no more tears. One day you will be with your precious Noah in heaven. Until then rest in the fact that Jesus holds him in his arms. This pain is temporary. And if just one person reads this and is touched by the Gospel, then Noah's short life and tragic death are not in vain. You are loved, my friend, and prayed for.

If you want to follow her healing process you may visit her blog:
www.learningfromthegreatteacher.blogspot.com
(for some reason I cannot link to it, so you'll have to do it the old fashioned way and type it into your url)

2011 Year End...

As 2011 comes to a close I feel compelled to write a Christmas letter, even though most people who read this probably already know everything anyway. So, here goes!

2011 has been an eventful year in the Metcalf house. Our beloved Derek turned 2 in February. It was really hard to believe he was that old, and now we are staring down the barrel at 3!! He was in his first wedding in March when he was one of the ring bearers in his Aunt Jessica's wedding. He did so well, and was the only one who did not cry going down the aisle! Go Derek!!! He has loved being a big brother since May. He loves his baby brother so much. Every night before brother goes to bed Derek has to give him a hug and a kiss and tell him that he loves him. It's adorable! In August he got another opportunity to be a ring bearer in his Aunt Rebekah's wedding. He walked down the aisle so nicely, and made everybody laugh when he was aghast that the flower girl was throwing the flower petals on the floor. he kept saying "no, no! Don't spill the flowers!" Right after the wedding we tackled potty training, and he accomplished that in less than a week. Christmas this year was a blast! He loved opening his gifts, and even loved helping his little brother open his gifts to. He would open them and then go show him what each thing was. Derek speaks in full sentences now, and there are not many things he cannot say. He's growing up before our eyes. We are so proud of how much he has learned in the past year.

On May 27th we were ecstatic to welcome Owen Michael into our family. He was born at about 4:30pm after a 5 hour labor. This was my first natural birth, and it was amazing! I am so proud to have been able to accomplish it. Owen is not the greatest sleeper, but he makes up for it in sparkling personality. He brings a big baby smile into the room whenever he enters. He has cut two teeth in the past month, and is eating solids very well after being exclusively nursed for the first 5 months. He still prefers to nurse over any other form of food, but he is enjoying trying new tastes of fruit and veggies as well. He crawls everywhere, and is into everything! It is so fun watching him grow and develop!

Nathan continues his job as a youth pastor at our local church. We just passed the two year mark at this church in September and things are really amping up there. This past year Nathan went on two ski trips, a Colorado camping trip, a service project trip to Wisconsin, and a few other trips with the youth group. He stays very busy to say the least. He is also a substitute school bus driver for our school district. It's a great chance for him to meet new kids.

I continue my work with the transitional home for women. I have moved from just being a relief staff member to being the relief staff manager. It is a big change so far as I take over the tasks of scheduling and managing the staff. So far so good though. My primary role is still at home with the kiddos. Derek and Owen are the lights of my days! They are a lot of fun. I am doing a lot of pre-preschool things with Derek to prepare him for starting preschool in the fall. Owen and I are the best of friends. Anywhere I am, he has to be too. I love it!

Our cats, Calvin and Piper are doing well too for those curious. They still don't get along very well, but they have established the pecking order and they have calmed down about it a little.

We wish you all the best in the coming year. We rejoice that the Son of God was incarnated as a tiny baby so that he might grow to be the perfect Lamb of God, a sacrifice for our sins that we might be reconciled to God. We thank Jesus for the precious gift of salvation. And we praise God for His perfect plan to send his Son as a baby. Amen! May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all this holiday!!!

Soli Deo Gloria,
The Metcalf family,
Nathan, Sarah, Derek and Owen