Happy Halloween!  I can’t wait for the little kids to start delivering candy right to my door! (Insert evil_laugh)  Ohhhhhhkay fine I won’t really steal any candy…..   I did guarante I won’t eat any candy I have here either!  I only bought Halloween candy I don’t like!  YEA ME!!! (Smart me!!)

My weight loss is really starting to show.  I’m starting to get a lot of comments from my daughter, to the girls I work with and the patients that we see from year to year.   Boy if compliments aren’t a big diet boost I don’t know what is.  It might be a big enough boost to make it through Halloween without eating mass amounts of candy!   But, I should probably put on a really tight pair of jeans …. so tight I can’t eat just to be on the safe side.

Today was my weekly phone call with Tyler at Well Strong Fitness.  Tyler said he is going to leave my exercise routine alone.  Since I lost 2 pounds for the week.  Ya know for the total of TWENTY pounds…. (Sorry, I just really REALLY like that number!)  Tyler does want to shake things up in the diet area from now on no more fruit at night.  I have to change things up a little, confuse my body to keep promoting weight loss in the home stretch.  So no fruit at night, veggies and salads good or even some grilled chicken.  The reason behind no fruit at night is vegtables don’t cause the insulin storage that fruit does.  So I should be able to burn more calories.  (I can have fruit during the day though).  But right now??  Right now I want something salty!  Potato chips.  Ohhhh potato chips and french onion dip!  So???  Which one’a ya’ll will deliver?  Please?? 

I also have to brag a little here my son Zachary’s friend,  Jeff Diamond has released a new cd 30 Trips around the Sun .  My favorite song is “In The Shadows Beyond The Light”.  Jeff is really talented!!!  And not to be all cougar like here….l but the album cover shows just how cute Jeff is too.  (NOW I know you really want to go look don’tcha???)

Here is my weekly blah blah YEEEE HAAAAblah blah post.  (I’m all about the subtle!!)  I am down 2 pounds!!  That make TWENTY pounds GONE!! 20!!!  I only have ten pounds to go!!  Okay, here is the rest of my weekly report, I walked every morning with Kaki, wearing my weighted vest. (A little faster pace and just a little further too)  The vest weighs in at 30 pounds now.  I did my ab crunches 3 days.  I tried to really limit my carbs. I hardly ate any candy either(It’s Halloween time! I don’t stand a CHANCE!!!)   I would have said I didn’t have ANY candy but I’m sure Barbara or Gretchen would rat me out over those stupid York Peppermint Patties… but I only had 4 or maybe 8, I kinda lost track)   Lunch consisted of either a Healthy Choice or a Lean Cuisine frozen meal.  Dinner was a lot of  fruit and vegetables and sometimes a grilled chicken breast.  I’m still addicted to the frozen Yoplait Whips for dessert.  Being good was really worth it.  I wore a skirt today I haven’t been able to fit into before.  (Not to mention the 2 POUND loss!!  Wooooo hooooo!!)

Okay now I am really stumped!  Two days in a row where I am not ravenous?!  Do I have an on off switch I didn’t know I had??   This isn’t like me!!   Two days in a row where it was easy to stay on track??   Is this how fit, thin people live??  Not thinking about food?  Breezing thru exercise?  I want to be one of those people!!   PLEASE!!!   I mean more than just 2 days in a row please.  (I know… I’m a greedy girl.  HELLO!?!?!  Have we just MET!?!?)

WOW!  I really don’t want to jinx myself but today was easy!  Little extra exercise easily done!!  Sticking to my diet super easy!!  Even bed time…. I actually think I will be in bed and asleep at a decent hour.  (And I’m sleepy enough that I don’t think I will be tossing and turning either!!!)   I’d like to tell you I’ve learned to control my hunger….. love exercise…. and all that…. but really?  I think we all know that’s just not me!!  So I’m left with “today was just TOOOOO easy…. what’s the catch!??!?”

 Hummmmm…… can’t decide if I am happy or I am sad.  When I got dressed this morning  I decided to see if an old favorite pair of jeans fit yet.  Yea….. someONE should have checked several pounds ago because they were so big a belt wouldn’t even have helped keep them up!!   I can’t believe how big the ‘to go’ pile of clothes has gotten!  My family better decide soon when this Garage sale will happen!

 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what a great day off!  I slept in.  I watched back to back movies.  (I highly recommend Monsters vs. Aliens! VERY funny!) I didn’t exercise. (I did still pay attention to what I ate… I’m not gonna gain just cause I wanted to be lazy!!)  I didn’t clean house……I didn’t catch up on laundry.  I was 100%  laaaazy!!  It was AWESOME!! 

I know I shouldn’t admit this…. but I stayed in my jammies allllllll day too!!

This week was exhausting all the way around.  If I sit still too long I start to dose off!!  A sure sign I need a break!

Luckily, it’s my weekend off and I have NOTHING planned except to sleep IN!!!!  How great does that sound!?!?!?   I bet ya’all wish you were me!!

What a great night!!  Spent time with my wonderful daughter Selena and her best friend Heather.  We carved pumpkins!!  It’s been so long since I’ve done that.  I really need more practice because ummmm really?  I am not very creative at ALL!!  (I would so like to take credit for one of the cooler ones…. but I’ll bet you will be able to tell which one I did without me even telling you)

I had my weekly phone call with Tyler today from WellStrong Fitness.  Since I lost this week we aren’t making any changes.   I’ll be sticking with the extra walking, eating lean proteins and less starches.  Now I’m off to put my pumpkin out!

Finally!!!  My plateau has been BROKEN!!!  And it’s about TIME!!!  I am down 2 pounds this week!!  WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!  That makes me 18 pounds GONE and ………..12 pounds to go!!

I’ve tried a couple of different exercises this last 2 weeks.  From the defective hula hoop fiasco.  To adding a little extra time walking with Kaki.  My weighted vest is now weighing in at 26 pounds.  I’ve added ab work (probably can’t count that because I only did 4 days worth…. mostly cause I forget!  Which is insane because if I actually do 5 minutes of ab work a day my stomach really does show results!!).

Ever have a great diet day………….. only to be ruined just before bed??   AHHHHHH!!!!  I should have just come home and gone to bed!!  Lucky for me I did great with the grocery shopping over the weekend…. so I don’t have any really “BAD for me” foods in the house…. but I still managed to make up for that with the sheer VOLUME of food I’ve stuffed in my mouth!!  Grapes, almonds, 100 calorie pudding pack, Weight Watchers chicken enchiladas and because that couldn’t have possibly been a enough food I had string cheese.  So now I shall wobble my way to bed too full to sleep before I go look in the fridge again.

It’s pretty bad when a piece of  partially wrapped candy gets thrown in the trash can and you actually THINK about going in after it!!!  Yup!! Gretchen threw away CANDY!!    And I contemplated going in after it.  I just couln’t bring myself to be that person! (Had it been a Reese Peanut Butter cup MAYBE!!)   Instead I settled for a Jell-O fat free pudding cup.  90 calories and actually really good!!  So crisis averted again!   (but still….BAD Gretchen!! BAD!!!)

For the record…. no…. that is not me in the trash can.  Gotta love the internet you really can find a picture of anything you want!!!

Okay sooooo I have to post that DH now has the high score in Wii bowling……  but he cheated!!  He taught the dog to lay in front of ME when it’s my turn to bowl.  That’s cheating….. besides…… DH bowls with a PINK bowling ball!  SO HA!!!   (I am NOT a spoil sport!! I do NOT know where you got THATidea!!  Sheeesh!!)

You might remember that I’ve been putting clothes away for the garage sale.  Anything that doesn’t fit GOES!!  I’m NOT going to need them ever again…………. but my flip flops??  REALLY!??!  I wanted to run to the grocery store tonight (BTW….. spent more time in the produce section than any other!! Even managed to get out with out visiting the ice cream section!!  Wait…. what??  I forgot ICE Cream!??!!?)  Anyway, went to slip on my favorite pair of flip flops and they were so big I couldn’t keep them on my feet!?!?!?  Ahhhhh MAN!!!  They were so CUTE too!!!  So into the trash the flip flops went.  I just never gave any thought to my feet losing weight too….  duh…. I guess they would.  OHHHHHHH wait….hold the phone!!  NOW we’re talking lemonade!!!  I GET TO GO SHOE SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!

 It’s official…..  I can no longer stay up all night and still function the next day!!  I’m thinking of hitting the pillow by 8pm???  OH COME ON!!!!!!!!  HOW (and when!?) did this happen?!?!  But tired or not I still walked this morning.   I can’t say I walked as fast as normal…. but I walked none the less.  I even had fruit and yogurt for dinner.   I’m SOOOOO responsible!!   (wellll about food today anyway!)

I was a very good girl today.   I walked this morning.  Weighted vest and all.  I did stomach crunches.  AND I ate like a little ANGEL!!  Now that the blog is updated with just how WONDERFUL and perfect I was for the day …… don’t NOBODY be watchin’ me now!!

I’ve had a bad week.  I didn’t exercise like I should have.  Actually, I didn’t exercise at all!  That is so BAD for me!!  And I paid for it to!!  No weight loss and I was tired all the time!!  (Okay saying it out loud is making me feel worse!!)  In my perfect world I would have more energy if I slept in….. chocolate would be one of the 4 basic food groups too. (The big group!!  I’m a greedy girl)  But in the real world if I walk and sweat I have energy all day??!  I sleep in?  I drag all day.  Shouldn’t I be tired AFTER I sweat and exercise??  This week has just been so hard.   I was unmotivated, overwhelmed and tired of dieting! (eating healthy… ugh whatever!)                                                                       

BUT the pity party stops NOW!!  I have to get back to work!!  I have a Challenge to win!!!   And really not a lot of time left!  I better find where I hid that motivation!  Seriously!  WHY is losing weight SO DANG HARD??!?!?  (Waaaa waaaa waaa Okay I’m done.  Honest.  I mean with the oh poor me part.  Tomorrow I’m walking AND doing crunches!)

I made it ALLLLLLL day without breaking ANYTHING!!!  So I think I’ll go to bed early just to be on the safe side!

Oh and thank you for keeping your fingers crossed about the car.  The coolant thermostate went out and needed replaced.  Not overly expensive…. but I really can’t afford to break anything else.   (Good thing payday is soon!!)

Soooooo… I made a paper weight out of my old slow laptop and DH made my day by buying me a shiny new FAST FAST FAST laptop!!   Wooo hoooo! I’m so excited.  This little laptop is SWEEEET!!!!  Yes, I know!  I know!!  You think I am SPOILED!!   I prefer to think of it as very well taken care of! 

Now as far as exercise for the weekend…. shopping counts right??  

Okay OKAY!!  I’m off to do a work-out on the wii fit.  MAN!  You guys are STRICT!!!

Well, that 3 lbs paper weight formerly known as ‘Connie’s Laptop” is demanding to be factory restored.  Working on this computer has sent me into eating non-stop!  Granted it’s been better food than I would have chosen before.  Almonds (Course probably NOT as many as I’ve eaten and by probably I mean WAY more than I should have)  Grapes (good choice. Yea me??)   Anyway, I’m still stuffing food in my mouth and growling at my laptop and hopefully I’ll be back up and working for tomorrow’s blog.  Why can’t I be one of those people that lose weight when they are stressed?   Instead I just want to EAT constantly?!?! 

I am in SUCH A BAD MOOD!!!  Whatever COULD go wrong HAS gone wrong.  Starting with my laptop which is totally screwed up!! Seems someone (okay me… but lets not nit pick here) has pretty much created a 3 pound paper weight!  I’ve worked hours on it… and I think made it worse by the minute.  GRRRRRR!!  Okay back to work on my fancy paper weight.   (WOW!!  Look at what I’ll do not to run at night!??!)

Today was my weekly phone call with Tyler at WellStrong Fitness.   Tyler instructions for this week are adding an extra 15 minutes a day to my walk.  Since I’m on a time crunch in the morning (you should see me getting ready for work when I’m running on time….. 15 minutes behind??  Wellllll you may just want to get out OF MY WAY!!)  So I’ll have to add a walk after work.  (Not crazy about the idea but I know it will kick me back into weight loss……… so I’m going to do it).  Tyler also says no starch for the week but add more lean protein.  Good-bye oatmeal…….. hello eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast.  Again with the time constraints here…. I’m going to have to wake up earlier… UGH!!!  THAT’s SO NOT RIGHT!!!  Why does weight loss have to be SO MUCH WORK!?   AND SO HARD?!?!?  Hello??!?!  I didn’t have THAT much fun packin’ it on!   (Well, wait… there was a lot of chocolate involved… pizza…. ice cream… apple fritters…. ohhhhhkay… maybe I did have fun.  FINE!!  I’ll work it off now.

Yea yea yea….. I know I said I wasn’t going to weigh in today….  but I did it anyway….  it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.   I gained 1 pound.   It could have been worse (ohhh it should have been worse! I had so much fun in Vegas!)   So one pound not bad.   (Still don’t like it!!)   But now it’s back to work!!

Okay, seriously??? I can’t HULA HOOP!??!?!?!?   SMALL CHILDREN can hula hoop!!!  I had one when I was a kid I have hooped before! ……… so COME ON!!! 

I bought one called  ‘acu-hula-hoop’.  It has these silver 1″ wide METAL balls inside the hoop (okay okay I know….I know… YOU would have kept shopping…after YOU saw the metal balls.  I on the other hand… well… never mind!!) anyway everytime the hoop falls it hits my knee.  (I have a very nice silver dollar size bruise on the outside of my knee) and have yet to get the dang hoop to go around a full time!!    I am NOT having fun!  I am having pain.    Stupid hula hoop!!  I’m going back to hula hooping on the wii… where I still suck ……… but at least it doesn’t leave a bruise.  Anyone wanna buy a used weighted hula hoop?  (It’s too late to say “works great!!” right?)

I know better but old habits die hard!!!  BUT….Since I’ve “already blown my diet THIS week” what’s MORE bad food choices??”  AUGH!!  NOW I have pizza guilt!!  (It did taste really good though!) 

The smart thing would have been to get right back on the diet  life style change wagon today……. but noooooooo not me!!   I’m telling you right now I am SO NOT WEIGHING IN ON WEDNESDAY!!!  You can’t make me…. you can’t make me!  NO NO NO!!! 

I also received my weighted hula hoop while I was in Vegas (seeing Cher!) and ummmm yea…. I can’t HULA HOOP???!!!  I don’t remember hula hoops being THIS hard to do.  Maybe I have a broken or defective one.  Yes, it’s round….  no it doesn’t have holes or a gap in it…. but I can’t keep it from hitting the ground! It must be BROKEN!!!   I can’t be that uncoordinated!?!?  Can I??  WAIT….don’t answer that!  I will keep trying.  But so far I can’t get it to go one time around.

Home sweet home.  Vegas was awesome.  Cher was AMAZING!!  Seriously!! If you are a Cher fan and ever have the opportunity to see her in person… GO! She is amazing!!  I promise she is worth every cent!!   I’m still on cloud nine.

Thank you DH for the most amazing seats!! WOW! I SAW CHER!!  LIVE!!!

   Zachary made it back safe and sound from the Pacific Coast Kikker Knock Out run to San Francisico.  

On the other hand….. I am so broke!  Vegas TOOK ALL MY MONEY!! TOOK IT!!!  (HEY!  They named it a one armed bandit!  That right there says I can claim VEGAS TOOK my money!  So stop laughing…. send money!!)

Vegas also MADE me gain weight!!  (Okay now I know I pushed my luck with that statement……) so tomorrow morning it’s back to work on diet and exercise.  

But WOW what a great weekend! SO worth an added pound (okay maybe 2) and being really broke till payday! (Seriously… donations… ohhhh wait…. maybe I’ll call my new BFF PARIS!!)

BFF = best friend forever. 

Okay, if you are gonna get alllll dolled up….. all wound up and excited…. AND tell everyONE that you are going to go see Cher in concert you MIGHTjust want to find out if she is actually PERFORMING that night. Come to find out Cher doesn’t give concerts on Friday nights (nooooo I hadn’t been drinking!!) 

So slight change of plans…. I will be seeing Cher TONIGHT (Saturday)!  So pretend this is brand new news…. woooo hoooo!!  Seeing Cher tonight!!!  Yea yea yea… I know…. but just work with ME HERE!!

Besides….. this way you get a costume change even in the blog!  WAIT! Maybe I did this whole thing on purpose just so I could post more pictures of Cher!!!  (Yea… we’re so going with that!)

I guess I should add some diet/fitness stuff too I have walked a ton!  I have stood in endless lines as well, but totally worth it.  I have pictures to post when I get home of Paris Hilton and me!  (Seems someone forgot to take her memory stick out of her laptop after updating the blog yesterday with Mike Tyson pictures!!  GRRRRR!! But I still managed to get a couple of shots with Mick Fleetwood but I’ll have to scan the one with Paris Hilton and myself when I get home…. wait…. I was talking diet.  I’m made really AMAZING food choices… mostly because I’ve been too busy to eat!!  So exercise… check…. food…. check… sleep…. not so much… hyper?  Oh yea!!

Okay standing next to Mike Tyson made me feel tiny…. next to Paris Hilton?!  No not so much!! 

I also posed with Mick Fleetwood!  I’ll post pictures when I get home tomorrow night….. because I don’t have time right now…. I am on my way to see CHER!!!   Betcha all wish you were with me in Vegas!!!    OH  DH you are SOOOO OUT OF TROUBLE!!!!   WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!