I'm back in town after visiting family since Wednesday. I'm proud to say that I lost 3.6 lbs this week...yay!!! So, I am averaging 1.95 lbs lost per week since the surgery. I'm SO happy for that!

I thought being away from home would be more of a challenge, but it wasn't bad.

Wednesday, I flew into Indianapolis and then drove to Louisville. I had a smoothie before I left and ate about 2 oz of chicen and some cheese and pita chips on the plane. For dinner we had ham steak and potato casserole. I also worked about about 40 minutes on the Wii Fit. I enjoy the Wii a lot, but I don't get my heart rate up as high as when I work out in other ways. Still, exercise!!

Thursday, I woke up VERY late (yay, vacation!) and drank a smoothie. My SIL came home from work and we had some homemade chicken salad on crackers. Then we went the YMCA to work out. I did 25 minutes on the stairmaster, then 20 minutes on the treadmill. I would walk one song (3.0 mph) then jog one song (4.0 mph). Not too bad! Dinner was smoked sausage and leftover potato casserole. I also had some ice cream before I went to bed. :smile:

Friday, I had another smoothie when I got up. There is a really cool 2.0 mile outdoor trail near my brother's house, so I went there. I walked one song/jogged one song for 1.5 miles. Then I was pooped. I walked to the 1.8 mile marker and challenged myself to jog just one more tenth. I made it! Then walked the last tenth. Excellent! I had a Deli Creation Cracker Combination for lunch, then some ground beef & bean nachos for dinner.

Saturday was my grandmother's funeral. ALL of the family was there and she looked lovely. I'm sure she would have been quite pleased.

After the service, we gathered at a nearby hotel. The kids were playing in the pool and I notice an exercise room that overlooked the pool. I put on my workout clothes and did my first "Couch to 5K" podcast. I had tried it before a few weeks ago, but I just wasn't ready. I think I am now. My SIL challenged me to jog a 5K around Labor Day, so that is my new goal! That day my walking pace was 3.5 mph and my jogging pace was 4.6 mph. Hopefully I can increase those as I go forward. At the very beginning of my exercise commitment (almost 3 months ago), 3.0 mph WAS jogging!!

I love my family, but one thing I noticed this weekend is that we are a BIG family. My brother and one cousin are what I would call thin. Another girl cousin is "normal", but I know she REALLY has to work at it. A couple of my guy cousins are chubby. The rest (including me) of us are huge. it puts things into perspective for me. I believe that I was dealt these genes and it does make things more difficult. But I know that just means that I have to work that much harder. Did I want to eat a cream cheese danish for breakfast yesterday? Hell yes! But I know that I can't and so it made it easier.

I told most of my family about my surgery. I think that many of them could benefit from it themselves and I thought I could be proof. I hope that next time I see them, I will be one of the skinny cousins! :biggrin:

Have a great week, y'all!