It’s no secret that we are working on living healthier. From clean eating to more family fitness, we are doing all we can to move forward and give our family a healthy new start.

This month has been particularly busy with house hunting, a blogging conference coming up this weekend (SNAP! Yay!), and planning for our trip to Disney World next month. When a family member mentioned a book that was working wonders for them and their weight loss, I cheered for them, but left it at that.

A month later, they had reached awesome weight loss goals and I decided I better give this book a second look! The book is The Fast Metabolism Diet: Eat More Food and Lose More Weight.

Let’s be honest, I am wary of the word “diet” and having to eat a certain meal plan every day. I know the importance of clean eating and avoiding processed foods, but have such a hard time on a limited diet. I was immediately impressed by the variety of foods you can eat on the plan.

When I started reading The Fast Metabolism Diet, the first thing I loved was that you switch up your meal plan every few days. I get so bored of eating the same thing or same types of things every day so this was perfect for me. I also liked that the plan provides you with easy, tried and true recipes. Every single one we have tried, we have liked! I’ve posted several of the pictures on my Instgram feed and my friends have been drooling over them.

The first week was an adjustment for me – our fridge was OVERFLOWING with fruits and vegetables. But by the end of the week, that produce was completely eaten and my husband and I both had more energy. It was also nice not to have to count calories or be hungry – I still got many of the foods I loved and my body got better fuel to burn off fat. I lost 5 pounds and my husband lost 8! Along with the recommended meal plan, we drank lots of water and did one day of cardio, one day of weight lighting, and one day of stretching/yoga.

For the most part, we stuck with the recipes in the book, but during the second week, my husband came up with one of his own. We added Tropical Oatmeal into our Phase 3 meal rotation.

The recipe is simple!

Tropical Oatmeal
Serves 1
1/4 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup fresh berries
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
Stevia
Ground Cinnamon

Bring 1 cup coconut milk to a boil on high and add the steel cut outs. Remove from heat and let soak-in for 5-7 minutes. Add the fresh berries, pineapple, stevia, and cinnamon to the top an enjoy! So simple! You can also soak the steel-cut oats overnight and try baking it in the oven – I am going to try that next week!

But back to the Fast Metabolism diet and the yummy recipes in the book!

The Fast Metabolism Diet divides the week into three phases:

PHASE ONE (Monday-Tuesday): Lots of carbs and fruits

This is such a yummy phase! The Strawberry French Toast recipe is one of my favorites.

PHASE TWO (Wednesday-Thursday): Lots of proteins and veggies

Phase two was the trickiest for us with so much protein and veggies, but snacks like this Stuffed Mushroom saved us!

PHASE THREE (Friday-Saturday-Sunday): All of the above, plus healthy fats and oils

This Three Egg Salad was my favorite recipe from Phase 3. So simple to make! You can find all of these recipes in The Fast Metabolism Diet book as well as the Cook Book!

Just a little disclosure, this is not a sponsored post. I bought the book on my own to try and I have loved it! The only affiliate links in this post are the ones from Amazon.com (thanks for supporting me!)

My husband and I are working on a few of our own recipes that work with each of the phases! And I was so happy to see that the author, Haylie Pomeroy, has more recipes online. You can see many of them on my Pinterest boards.

What are your favorite healthy foods to eat?

What are your favorite healthy family activities?

Linking up to NomDay Monday!

The post How I Lost 5 lbs in a Week! appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

As a Latter-day Saint, I look forward to hearing from our world-wide church leaders twice a year at General Conference. The event is held in downtown Salt Lake City, but is also broadcast to LDS church buildings worldwide as well as on the Internet and television. I am so excited to listen with my family!

Each year, I find myself asking, how do I prepare myself and my family for General Conference? The church has put together amazing resources (available at the above link) and I have also teamed with some of my favorite LDS  bloggers to share our favorite conference traditions, recipes, and activities. You can check out their fun links at the bottom of this post! 

My three children are ages 6, 4, and 2. Each year since our oldest was born, we have tweaked our traditions, but the basis is the same. A family gathered together listening to the prophet and apostles! A typical conference weekend for us includes delicious recipes, quiet activities for the little ones, and this mama saying a little prayer that our preparation pays off! Here’s a little sneak peek into a few of our favorite recipes and quiet activity ideas!

Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice … General Conference Preparation

My two oldest love watching this youtube video every year to help them learn the names of the apostles. Sometimes we have it on repeat over breakfast (at their request!).

As mentioned above, our kitchen table is prime real estate when it comes to places to learn! Kids have to eat so I take advantage of it. I first saw this at my neighbor’s home and I love the possibilities! I bought this clear, durable table cover  and rotate the content that goes underneath as my children learn or memorize it.  Right now we are working on learning the Family Proclamation with these printables from Chocolate on my Cranium. You could easily print off pictures of the first presidency and twelve apostles as well to help your children learn and recognize them. Easy pop quizzes at the dinner table!

General Conference Breakfast Ideas

Before the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions, we like to have a big family breakfast to start our day. These yummy blueberry crepes are on the menu for Saturday morning and I am debating between Cupcake Diary’s cinnamon and sugar pull-apart rolls and Love to be in the Kitchen’s homemade cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning! Can you tell I am a fan of cinnamon baked goods? We are going to be snacking on Live to be Inspired’s banana bread some time during the weekend as well!

General Conference Traditions and Quiet Activities

With three young children at home, I like to start General Conference weekend with a plethora of printables (see the blogger links below!) and quiet activity ideas. We’ve watched conference from our version of King Benjamin’s tents, illustrated the stories we are hearing on giant pieces of butcher paper, and played conference bingo many a time! I also like having a big basket of books available for my children to look at and read. I’ve listed some of our favorites below.

Books are a big part of our General Conference preparation! Earlier this year I helped make flip books with text and pictures for The Family: A Proclamation to the World from the Chocolate on my Cranium printables. My daughter loves reading her book because it matches the songs she is learning in Primary. She’s learned so many big words from reading it so often!

My children also have books with pictures of the Savior put together by their grandmother. She took card-sized pictures of the Savior by Greg Olson and put them in the sleeves of photo books to make darling books for each of her grandchildren. She wrote her testimony in the cover which is sweet for the children to have! My kids love looking through those as well.

Story of the Walnut Tree is one of our favorites to read while getting read for conference. It is the story of the walnut tree from President Hinckley’s home that was used to build the podium for the conference center. Knowing the story gives my children something familiar to look for during the sessions.

I am going to add The Giver of Holy Gifts to our collection this year in the children’s Easter baskets. The beautifully simple children’s board book shows some of the images from the Sacred Gifts art exhibition taking place at the Museum of Art at BYU right now and talks about Jesus’ holy gifts to us.

If Jesus Came to Visit Me and others by Jill Roman Lord are sweet board books as well. Perfect for the 2-6 year old crowd to look through during conference. We also have The Story of Easter and others by Patricia Pingrey in our book basket for conference.

Session Breaks 

In between sessions, we like to let our children get all their energy out! Whether it is a picnic in the back yard or a quick family walk to the local park. It definitely helps to let them play to their hearts content and get the wiggles out! After an hour or so of outside play, afternoon nap time is much more likely to happen!

In between the Sunday session, we like to update our 72 hour kits. So many stores have case lot deals and emergency essential sales. General conference weekend is a great time to see what you have and add what you need! I stay tuned to sites like Freebies2Deals to get the heads up on the best local and online preparedness deals. My children love rotating out the older clothes and munching on the 72 hour kit snacks!

Find more ideas on my General Conference and Primary Pinterest boards! Be sure to check out these fabulous ideas by my blogger friends as well!

We would love if you added your General Conference traditions to our link up! Just two requests, please link back to this post and it must be General Conference related! To find out more about the LDS Church and what we believe, click on this link! 

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