I had a wonderful weekend!  We had a great time Saturday with Dan and Carla!  Sunday I visited Uncle Jerry and crew and saw Papa Joe.   Here is my weekend in Pictures!
 
This Saturday Tommy and I had our annual Halloween fun in Paducah.  We usally go alone but this year we had company.  We had a great time with Tommy's partner Dan and his wife Carla.   We enjoyed music, food, drink, and even dancing!!!!  I thought I would share a few before and after picture.   Below are some pictures of us last year and this year.  
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Before!
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After!
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Before!
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After!
 
-2lbs today!Total loss:  -65lbs! Wooohooo!
 
I failed this week.  There is no way around it, no denying it.  I did not exercise one day this week.  I am not sure that I have ever since I began exercising NOT exercised a single day.   I am not going to spend time making excuse after excuse about it being cold, raining, or a busy week.  There are no excuses.   I just kept hearing the line from that stupid Katy Perry song, "...such an epic fail."  When I was looking for a picture for this blog I found this quote.  It is true.  I will not let failure be my undertaker but my teacher and do better next week.  Because I know that I can.   I won't dwell on this week and I will focus on next week.  That is the beauty of my journey.  Every day is a new day, a new chance, NOT A DEAD END.  
 
Last night I had very odd dreams.  In one of the dreams I was at a party.  I was standing in the food line and I kept adding all this food.   There was so much food on my little plate I ended up dropping the plate.   I felt a sigh of relief that I didn't end up eating it.   This week I have been very tempted to just eat, eat, eat.    I really wanted to get something at Mcds for breakfast when I stopped to get something for Spicer but instead I had my vitamin water.   I really wanted to eat everything inside the choclate shop when I went to get a gift basket for a foster parent appreciation dinner but instead since Tommy knew I was craving sweets he made me a low fat crepe.   I really wanted to get something fried and nachos from taco johns but instead I had 3 grilled chicken crispy tacos with sour cream on the side.   It can be so hard to make good choices at times.   Sometimes I don't make good choices.  The other day at staffing I brought a bunch of little treats and we had pizza.  I snacked the whole meeting.  UGGGG!  So to punish myself I had a very low calorie meal for dinner.  Yesterday I wanted to inhale a big giant pumpkin sugar cookie.   This morning I wanted to tear into the goldfish.  What's the deal?  Tommy and I were talking about it this morning and he said he has had the same problem.   What do you do to curb all these temptations?
 
If somone told me a year ago that by Oct 2011 I would have lost 63lbs and would be 17lbs from my goal weight I would have laughed at them.   A year ago today I was picking out my costume, looking at size 20's and 22's!  Sunday I was trying on size 14 and 12 costumes!  What a difference a year makes.   I have less than 20lbs to go, only 17lbs to reach my goal.   Last night I was looking at some pictures of our trip that Tommy had taken.  In one of the pictures I didn't even realize it was me.  "Is that me?  It can't be?  I haven't lost that much weight have I? "  but it was me.   
 
My calves are sore!  Tommy and I may have overdid it Saturday.  We biked over 8 miles and did I did 40 mins on the steps and he did 50 mins on the steps.  I am in pain!   Tommy is the brave one and he is on his bike again today.  I hurt too bad.  So I am going to try to work out my upper body later tonight.  

Heres a little humor for your Monday......


 
When Tommy and I set out on our vacation we had no intention of losing weight.  I had resolved in my head that I would try to at least maintain my weight but that if I gained a few pounds I was not going to get bent out of shape over it.   Before I left my dad called me and said, "Elizabeth, I know you and Tommy are on a diet but you should just enjoy yourself in Europe.  I am not saying go hog wild but just don't miss this lifetime chance to sample some of the best food the world has to offer."   So I took my dad's words to heart and also kept in mind that I wasn't going to go nuts either.   I have been spot weighing all week and was very surprised to find that I lost weight in Europe.   I lost 4 pounds today at my weigh-in.  Here are a few tips to maintaining and maybe even losing weight on vacation. 

1.  Walk and/or bike when you can.   Tommy and I walked and biked all over Europe.  It is not only a healthy way of transportation but it is also cheap or in the case of walking free!!

2.  Split meals and desserts.  Tommy and I had several high calorie meals and desserts but we split them.  This really cut down on the calories and helped with the cost.

3.  Eat light when you can.   We opted for very light breakfasts and often lunches.  

4.  Make unhealthier meals lighter.  You can work to make things lighter by doing things like getting a sauce on the side and opt for the leaner meats (Lean beef, chicken).   We ate from the basket of bread but never asked for a re-fill. 

4.  Don't deny yourself.  I feel like Tommy and I enjoyed the food and Europe and we NEVER deprived ourselves. 

Here are a few pictures of some of our yummy dishes in Europe...
 
After a two week break on my weigh-ins due to travel, I lost 4lbs!!!  Total loss:  -63lbs!!!
 
Tommy and I got back on our bikes today!  I have really missed my bike.  I rode a bike while we were in London and we walked all over the rest of Europe but it was nice to bike for exercise.   It was nice to be on my bike.  It was a very crisp cool day.  I forgot how it feels to excersise in the cold.  It makes your lungs ache and you feel so chilled.  It is a different kind of impact on the body than heat.    We rode a little under our normal 10 miles but we rode over nine so it was a pretty good ride for the first day back. 

On another note I have been doing a few spot weigh-ins and appears I will be lossing weight this Saturday's weigh-in.  Not to toot my own horn but that is fricken awesome that I am going to lose weight after being on vacation.   I think the key is being careful about what you eat and then splitting the food you know is bad, I'm sure all the walking we did was very helpful too.   I hope I can do this well when I go to Florida in November.