I had a blast.
Some of the things I did -

Drink, Gamble, Walk
Visited M&M World
Checked out the MGM Grand and Lion Habitat
Drink, Gamble, Walk
Watched the Mirage Volcano
Played tons of arcade games
Drink, Gamble, Walk
Watched the Tournament of Kings show drunk (Kick Ass show)
Shopped
Drink, Gamble, Walk
Visited the wax museum and took the horror tour
Went on a gondola ride at dusk
Drink, Gamble, Walk
&&&&&
Me and my husband got our wedding anniversary tattoo



Jon Poulson did both of our tattoos. Check out his page and his portfolio here.
He does awesome work. Very professional, very clean, and down to earth. Next time you are in Vegas and want to get inked, Tattoo Heaven is the place to go and Jon is the person to see.

I have some pictures of Vegas and I am going to work on a slide show this weekend.

So now that I am back, and have been back since Friday night, I should be back on track right? Wrong. I have no motivation, none, zip, zero. It sucks. It's like I am still catching up on sleep. Sheesh. Oh and I haven't even tried weighing myself yet. I will tomorrow. It's not looking promising.

Guess it's time for another challenge. I am going to restart my 2 week challenge with the hopes that it will bring me back on track.

So here it is, I start tomorrow, Wednesday 10/24

Stick to my calories and fat intake plan
(1800 calories per day/15g fat per meal - 3 meals)
3 Times a week at curves
Walking twice a week (30 min.)
Walking to pick Althea up from school
4 days of 15 minute toning exercises every night
NO stuffing my face over the next 2 weekends (big one for me)
I am worried about Halloween (anniversary)
Water, water, and more water

I am pretty confident that I gained all my weight back, I'll know tomorrow. So I might just be starting all over. Grrrr. Hey I need to suck it up though and keep going otherwise instead of this being a 10 pound step backwards it will be a complete failure and I am tired of doing that.

No I just got back from Vegas! I'll be back by Monday! Thanks everyone for popping in to check on me!

I need to challenge myself again. I am slacking off and I think it's because I am going on vacation in less than 2 weeks and I know I am going to be a very bad eater. I do know the consequences I am going to have because of eating crappy while I am gone and I am ready to deal with a setback and maybe even a weight gain. I will lose it again though it won't be the end of my journey for sure. Anyway, just because I am ready for that doesn't mean I can start taking steps backwards now.

So my challenge for the next two weeks

Stick to my calories and fat intake plan
3 Times a week at curves
Walking twice a week (30 min.)
Walking to pick Althea up from school
4 days of 15 minute toning exercises every night
NO stuffing my face over the next 2 weekends (big one for me)
Water, water, and more water

I am going to track my progress on the side!
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Do you like to read?

I don't know where I saw this, so if I found it off of your blog let me know.
It's a free paperback swapping site.
You post the books you are willing to swap and when someone requests a book from you, you ship it at your expense (you earn one credit per book you send) But when you sign up and post 9 books to swap you get three credits (1 credit is good for 1 paperback book). When you choose a book to be sent to you the owner of that book sends it to you at their expense. Its cheaper than buying the books (way cheaper) and it is free to sign up (for now, they might start charging a small yearly fee in the future)



If you sign up through the banner I get 1 credit!
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Caramel Apples Anyone?

Yes Please!
I love these.
Pre-sliced apples with a little cup of caramel.

90 Calories
0g Fat
75mg Sodium
23g Carbohydrates
1g Protein

Such a great snack.


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!Freebies!

Coromega - Omega -3 Dietary Supplement

Coromega is a natural source of Omega-3 fatty acids from pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

&

Pantene Color Expressions

Shampoo and Conditioner for colored hair

Someone asked me if the freebies that I post require you to complete sponsor offers or pay for shipping. The answer is, no way! I have only posted stuff that is totally free! I have been getting free samples of tons of products for years. Most of the time when I fill out a sample request form I get the sample, sometimes I don't. I do have a separate email just for samples because you will get some junk mail for sure. I should of said that when I first started posting freebies.
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So I decided to take some pictures. These will one day be my before pictures. Uggg when I look at these I don't see myself at all. I guess that might be a good thing. But lets get real I look like crap. I'm huge and and take up a lot of space. I don't look happy. I'm not smiling. I'm going to try to smile in my next ones. Oh Yuck. I do not want to look like this anymore.





So there I am. This was even after I have lost 10 pounds. Maybe I expected to see a little change in the mirror. But......

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New clothes

I really hate buying new clothes, especially when I am trying to lose weight. I feel like it will turn out to be a big waste of money. I have no clothes. I have maybe 3 t-shirts that I wear and 1 pair of jeans that only look good with flip flops since they are short in length. So I had to go out and get some jeans. I need some tops to but I'm going to go shopping one more time before I go on vacation. This shopping stuff is pretty much for vacation clothes. I went to Old Navy because they sell mid rise jeans which are the most comfortable for me. I bought a size 18! They are a little tight but I could button them. A 20 was too big this time. Yay! So even though I haven't visibly noticed weight loss it's happening. I also bought this cute t-shirt from Hot Topic, all black with three skulls across the top. XXL of course. But you know I have never been smaller than an XL because of my bust size.
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Walking

I need to add some walking to my Curves. I'm such an exercise procrastinator. I hate that about me. I'm not gonna get anywhere near my goal if I don't do more. I love to walk to, but since I moved to this house a year ago I have started hating it. I live right off of a highway there is places to walk but sheesh there is so many cars I always feel like everyone is looking at the fat girl trying to lose weight. I need to get over this and quickly.
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No freebie today :(

I'll have two again next time!

________________

I Scored a 93%!

The Princess from Once Upon A Diet Inspired me with her vision post to reflect on why I really want to lose weight. I read her post this morning and went to Curves and while I was doing my workout I compiled a list and went beyond the obvious reasons like, to look great and possible fit into a size 10.

My List

1) Be Healthy
2) Have the energy to keep up with my daughter
3) Have Confidence in who I am
4) Not have to be squished in a roller coaster like Teale said
5) Keep the grocery bill down (hehe)
6) Earn that cruise that I am going to reward myself with when I meet my ultimate goal
7) Be stronger emotional and strength wise
8) Learn self control
9) Have a better sex life
10) Show my family that I can reach a goal and not give up on myself

I have tons more!
I'm gonna look back on this list when I feel like giving up. While it is important to me to feel beautiful on the outside and I would love love love to fit into a size ten, there are so many more reasons why I want to lose this weight!
Thank you Princess.
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My Chicken Taco Recipe

1 Tyson Oven Roasted Whole Chicken (with the skin taken off)
White Corn Tortillas (Mission Brand)
Ice Berg Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cheese (Kraft 2% Milk Mexican 4 Cheese Blend)
Fat free sour cream (Naturally Yours Brand)
1 Cup Salsa (Safeway Brand Peach Pineapple Salsa)


1) Pull the skin off the chicken and throw in the trash
2) Rip all of the meat off the chicken and place in a skillet
(The chicken is already cooked so you are just warming it)
3) Add Salsa to chicken and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes
5) Cut up lettuce, tomatoes
6) Wrap tortillas in plastic wrap and place in microwave
(When you are ready warm the tortillas for about 10 seconds per tortilla)
7) Dress your taco
8) Enjoy!

1 Taco =
1 white corn tortilla
1 oz chicken
1 oz Salsa
1 tbsp. fat free sour Cream
1 tbsp. Cheese
2 tbs. tomatoes
1/4 cup lettuce

Calories - 162
Fat - 6
Carbohydrates - 16.5
Protein - 9
Sodium - 271.50


The carbohydrates can be lowered with a low carb tortilla.
You can omit the cheese and reduce the fat by 2 grams!
The salsa I used is sweet. Use different salsas for different flavors. I am going to try a garlic one next time.

Heres a picture of my taco from dinner tonight



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!Freebies!

Free sample of L.A.M.B Fragrance by Gwen Stefani

and

The Healing Garden Skin Organics Moisture Lotion with SPF 15

___________________________

- 0 and + 0

I broke even. I probably would of lost some if I worked out more and didn't overeat like I did over the weekend.
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I'm sick right now. Grrr. Rob was sick earlier this week and last weekend. He caught it from Althea. I got it from him. Hey better to get this over with now then be sick on vacation.

I've been sick on vacation before. 2 years ago we had season passes to Great America which included passes to Bonfante Gardens. Since its in Gilroy, CA, over 3 hours away, we decided to get a hotel for 2 nights. 3 days before we were set to go I got extremely sick. The doctor said it was just real bad congestion. She didn't want to be bothered with me. I asked for x-rays of my lungs and she said she didn't think I needed it and to take these congestion pills.

We went on vacation. I was sick with pneumonia the whole time. At a theme park in 100 degree weather. It was the worst time of my life. The whole time I couldn't breath. I was hacking non stop. I just didn't enjoy myself at all. On the drive back I had stopped breathing. Rob took me to the hospital. Turns out I had pneumonia and since it wasn't taken care of earlier it was really bad. I was bed ridden for over a week after that and was told that if I didn't some to the hospital there was a good chance of it being fatal.

I'm crossing my fingers that I am better by the time we go. I don't think i can handle that again.
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I went grocery shopping the other day and I bought some flavored water. It was on sale for $1. each. The had blueberry/blackberry and strawberry.

I am really not much for flavored water at all. Most of the time they are sickly sweet with a very nasty aftertaste. Well this water was so good. No sugar added. Just water and real natural fruit oil.

O Water
I am a big fan now! I can't wait to try all of the flavors. I had the Strawberry. All you taste is a hint of Strawberry, like if you were to squeeze the juice from one in your glass of water.
No sugar! It wasn't sweet at all!!!!


After I try all the flavors of O Water I am going to check out Metro Mint
If anyone has tried it let me know if you liked it or not.

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Time to go lay down. I feel like ehhhh crap.

No Freebie today : ( I just don't feel like searching around for something good. I'll have 2 next time!

I overate this weekend. My food choices were okay but my portion control....well lets just say I had none. The scale will not like me tomorrow.

Exercising

or lack of.
Lack Of Motivation
Lack Of Energy
Lack Of Willpower

I needed a solution. I quit my second job (cleaning, shopping, and helping an elderly couple)
I feel like shit about it to.

I'll go over my previous schedule and explain why I had to cut something.


I get anywhere from 4 to 6 hours of sleep a day - always broken up - never at once. On Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't work my second job I am trying to catch up on lost sleep and I am really burnt out.

I would work out for 1 or 2 days and thats it. The rest of the time I had no energy.
I had to cut something out for myself.
For my Health
For my Weight Loss
For ME

Thats whats important
I need to work on me

I was hard to quit. I felt really bad. Horrible in fact. But I have no choice. I started feeling like I was going to quit my diet.

Lose all of my progress Give up that 10 pound victory

NO WAY

But now I feel proud.
Proud that I did something for myself.
Proud that I figured out that there was a problem and I fixed it to benefit myself and not someone else for a change.

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A Salad with some flavor...Finally (and it's not bad for you either)



Oh I love this stuff! Tons of flavor! Crunchy and a little cheesy with some Salsa!

Nutrition Fact (whats important to me anyway)

1 serving is two cups
4 servings total

I mix everything together and then do my serving size

Per serving

Calories - 120
Fat - 8g
Sodium - 280mg (since I'm watching my Sodium now)
Carbohydrates - 10g
Fiber - 2g
Protein - 3g
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!Freebie!(s)



Pick from 4 flavors (I picked Vanilla Biscotti)

Sunsilk
includes shampoo, conditioner and CREME
Pick from 5 different kinds (I picked Hydra TLC)

I love free samples!

___________________________

I got my Vegas tickets from AAA today!!!!!!!
WooHoo!
20 days and counting!

When I bought my tickets I also bought a romance package. It was $53 per person (for me and Rob) and it came with admission for 2 to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, a Gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel, and I can pick go eat lunch at the Valentino's or Dinner at Ziffirino's.

I am not going to expect myself to eat correctly the whole time in Vegas.

The excitement is building!

Thank you Lady Rose from The Diet Pulpit and Once Upon a Diet (I don't know your name) for recommending me to take probiotics. I ate Activia like you suggested instead of taking antibiotics. I feel much better and feel I made a better choice.

YaY!

I signed my daughter up for hip hop dance class today for an after school activity. She is very excited. I only wish I could join. It sounds like tons of fun and they will have an end of session performance. I can't wait. So on Thursdays she will do dance and on Tuesdays she has chorus. He chorus group sang in front of the whole school today! I'm such a proud Mama!

SODIUM

Tomorrow is my scale day and I am a little nervous. I am nervous because the amount of sodium I have eaten in the past couple of days. Grrr. I hope it doesn't affect me to much.

For those of you that read this can you give me some reasons (Sodium For Dummies) why Sodium affects your weight and why it is bad for you when you are trying to lose weight and just in general? I am just confused on the whole thing.

Exercising

Since I have been kinda home bound I have skipped out on working out for the past week. Crappy. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are my curves days. Today I ran on my elliptical for 15 minutes and used my Ab lounge (lol) just to get back in the swing of things. So maybe tomorrow I won't have such a hard time there.

Fall

Is the best season of all time. It's slowly cooling down and that means I will get to go on long walks. I love the wind and I love the cooler weather. My Discoid Lupus keeps me from being in the sun and walking in 90 degree weather is a big no no. I also love fall because of Halloween. It will be our 3 year anniversary on Halloween. I'll go over all the details of our wedding on my anniversary.

Lucerne Foods - Eating Right Brand

Their blueberry muffins are so yummy!
Today I had one for breakfast with a low fat/low calorie breakfast shake. It was so good and I really felt satisfied. The muffins are 9 g fat and 230 calories. It seems a little high, so if anyone has any suggestions on some other muffins let me know.

So far I have liked most of this brand. I have tried a lot of the frozen meals, the potato crisps (cheddar, yum), and I have some of the chili that I am saving for a real cold night for dinner.

DESTROY THE WEB
(thought this was cool and I should share, have fun!)

Click here to vandalize a webpage


!Freebie!

Free 7-day Group X pass to 24 Hour Fitness

From their Website -

Try our group exercise classes for 7 days at no charge. Experience a blend of Water, Cardio, Core and Mind/Body group exercise classes.Restrictions apply.