So, I was supposed to go to work tonight and get rid of all the extra chocolate cupcakes and Halloween candy I have stashed in my kitchen. Well, my poor little 3 year old woke up with a 103 fever and I've only gotten it to go down to 102. She just wants to lay around and not eat, so I figured I probably shouldn't bring her to the sitters. I don't want her to get anyone else sick. BUT, now not only am I bummed I'm losing money from not going to work, that I can't get rid of these goodies (CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH SPRINKLES, OH MY!), but I don't know if I can hit the gym today cuz I don't want to drag a sick kid if she's not feeling it. Needless to say, today was my son's First B-Day. So, I'll do whatever they feel like doing, and if it has to be the one time I miss out on the gym... ok. But I don't want to.
Ash

TECHNICALLY, it's been 2 weeks. I'm one of those weird people that won't call it two weeks until tomorrow though. (If i start on a friday, my weeks are on fridays!) Anyway, today was GGGGRRRRREEEEAAAATTTTTTTTTT!!! If I could yell through a blog I WOULD. Okay, well putting things in capital letters is close. MY BIG NEWS???? Remember how I was gonna "train" to aim to run three miles by the time the hubby got back in Decemeber? In 6 weeks.... Well, I ran 3.25 today!!!! That's SO CRAZY TO ME! Sorry, I'm so excited, I just couldn't believe how easy it's become. I was on that freakin treadmill for 39 minutes! I had initially covered the display with a magazine and was going to stop when I felt like I'd run a mile. Some great songs were playing in my ear and by the time I felt a little winded I moved the magazine to see 2.70 miles!! Then, since I still felt pretty great, I knew that I'd see if I could go for 3. When I got to 3 miles, my calories burned weren't an even number, and you know I gotta get those even numbers.... so I kept going. I was literally grinning from ear-to-ear as I ran that last 3/4 miles! I was so ecstatic that I've ACTUALLY conditioned my body to have THAT much endurance. I NEVER in a million years would've thought I could run for almost 40 minutes. The only reason I DO believe it, is cuz I saw it myself. WOW. wow. Okay, enough about that. That was truly great for me though. THEN, I lost another pound. That kept me on my high cloud all day. So, I ate great calories, I have great energy, I CAN RUN, my butt is getting tight *smirk*, I'm losing weight, and I feel wonderful about my health. BAM, great day! .....now.... here comes temptation....tomorrow is my son's first b-day. I'm making chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate fudge frosting. Some people would have gotten a kind of cake they DIDN'T like, so they wouldn't be tempted.... but FOR ME, the more I overcome, the more I'm not threatened by other temptations. for example, me NOT eating any Halloween candy (i say bye to that all tomorrow anyway, when i bring it to work) let me know, I don't have to have a cupcake. I'll be fine. I won't even miss it! Today I went and got storage containers so I can give cupcakes away. Gonna give some to my work, some to my babysitter, and some to my daycare kid's mom.... ah, the joy of giving! Well, I had an exciting and action-packed day! Hope everyone else had a great day! love ya'll!

Weight: 162 lbs
Calories burned from exercise: 900
Calories eaten: 1160
Weight loss since Oct. 20, 2006: 11 lbs. (11 lbs in 2 weeks... doesn't that sound like some sort of infomercial? Strange. I lost more doing this than when I did Atkins, and I FEEL AMAZING!)

p.s. I have a profile on a site called "traineo" and this button is from that...

p.s.s. (i like to add pictures to my posts, because to me, it humanizes it. Does that make sense?) here are some pics of my kids, and the daycare kid, at what I call the "playgym"

OH MY! November!!! Wow. Today has been GREAT. I finally ate enough! So I didn't feel as sluggish as I was lately. I'd been putting off "going for a run" because of my lack of energy this week. I think I'll do it again tomorrow though. Today at the gym I was hopping on and off the elliptical cuz my baby wanted to cry, cry, cry, oh yeah, and cry some more. He was tired, but I wanted to get in cardio before I left. I can do strength stuff at home, but cardio is SO much easier on a machine. (for me anyway.) Let's see, what else?? It's a new month! I lost more weight! I'm in such a happy place. You know, some people think up all kinds of excuses to get themselves out of working out (that WAS me!) And there's something I tell myself that seems to help. "Self, you are tired, and you do want to go to bed, watch your show, clean your house, (insert thing to derail you from working out here), BUT in a week will I care if I did that INSTEAD of working out? Or will I WISH I'd of hit the gym???" That's one that helped me get up early to go the gym. Yeah, I might be tired THAT day, but I'll be SO HAPPY I did it next week when I don't care about how much I slept back then! Anyway, that's it for me today! I just want to send a shout-out to JOY. You are a sweetie, and your motivating words are nice to hear! Hope everyone is having a good week!
Weight: 163 lbs
Calories burned working out: 920
Calories eaten: 1300 (on the dot, and that was an accident. lol)
Weight loss since Oct. 20: 10 lbs. (I hit the big TEN!! Knowing I'm so close to the 150s is AMAZING!!!)

Hi everyone! So, today was the most tempting of ALL. So far... I got off work this morning about quarter after 8. (I work overnights) I went to K-mart to get my son a costume (woo-hoo batman!), then I had to hit the store (groceries, and such), get my daycare kid, then pick up my own kids from the sitter. By this time it was noon and time for the kids to eat. They were much crankier than usual, so I wanted to feed them and put them down for their naps earlier. They were out sometime after 1pm, and up about 3. Our "playgym" started a new thing where you can't have food or drink, so now it's gonna be harder to lug the kids with because I depend on snacks and sippies to keep them happy when they get antsy! My friend Nicole was coming over after she got off work for us to go trick-or-treating together. The whole time driving home, I was going through my daughter's candy to see what kind of goods she got. I'd unwrap a peanut butter cup (YUM!) and hand it to her in the back seat. I kept thinking about how good they would taste, and even about just coming home, bumming it, and ordering a pizza! Especially if you knew how many times I saw pizza delivery people drive by today! Then I could gorge on some candy. (they make it all individual and small, just so I can feel in control, eventhough I would end up eating ALL of it! lol) It was weighing on my mind. I thought about HOW HORRIBLE I would feel afterward, and how hard it would be to get to the gym the next day if I felt all bloated, full, and fat! I drove home putting the idea out of my mind more and more. After that, I got home at 8:55. Now I stopped and thought about it. I can go home, get the kids wound down and ready for bed soon, OR I can stick to my guns and hit the gym, since I didn't like the idea of missing it, since it was still open for an hour. I WENT!! YEA ME! Yeah, so I only worked out there for a half-hour, but that was 400 calories right there! Then my son had a fit, and I figured it was time to go. Since then I did some Tae Bo (legs) for 45 minutes and my normal leg/butt firming workouts. I was/am so proud! I didn't break. It's been almost 2 weeks, and I'm still all natural and working a sweat like crazy everyday! Know what the best part is?? Aside from feeling great and healthy, I've been getting comments like crazy from lots of people. (10 lbs in the last 2 weeks gets noticed I guess. :) ) So, here it is, the end of Halloween. In 20 minutes it will be November. I'm so thrilled to start another month and keep up with what I'm doing. I'm enclosing a picture of my little goblins and me. Hope everyone had a great Halloween and didn't gorge too much! (but a little is still okay!)

Weight: 164 lbs(I think, didn't weigh myself today... weird for me, but i was busy today)
Calories burned through exercise: 1100
Calories taken by food: 850 ( I know, TERRIBLE. I should have eaten more, but I was trying to avoid treats and it was easier for me to just be REALLY simple today. I'll do better tomorrow)
Weight loss since Oct. 20: 9 lbs

IT started snowing today!! One day before halloween. Stupid weather couldn't wait another 2 days? That sucks... Know what I'm gonna do about the gloominess of the snowy day? GO TO THE GYM!! I have 2 hours before I need to get ready for work.... Hotness... here I come!