Well, I am 7 weeks post-op as of today. I had my first fill yesterday. I was a little worried about it. We are leaving Saturday for a mission trip with the youth from our church. I was afraid that I would get too much and not be able to get it fixed. The nurse told me to come back Friday if I had any problems. So far everything seems OK. I'm not sure how much she put it. I am on liquids for a few days then I transition to pureed foods before moving on to solid food. I was really excited because I had lost 4 pounds since my last appointment which was 4 weeks ago. I though that was really good with no fluid in the band. It has been a long time since I have been able to stick to something consistently enough to see results like that. I hope that it will only get easier now.

I have been working really hard to establish some good healthy habits. I get up at 5:00 through the week and about 7:00 on the weekends to exercise. Most mornings I walk for 30 minutes, but 3 days a week I am following the couch to 5k program. I am on week 4 of that. I really feel like I am accomplishing something when I am finished with running even though it is only for a few minutes at a time right now. I hope to progress to running 2 or 3 miles at a time several days a week. I know I need to give my body a time to rest, so I just walk in between the days that I run. I have had problems being consistent with my exercise in the past, so now I don't let myself skip a day without doing something. I have only missed one day of exercise in 5 weeks . That was the 4th of July. My dog and I went out for a walk that morning and she got attacked by another dog. I never went ahead with my walk because I was taking care of her. She had one pretty bad bite that had to have stitches, but since it was a holiday the vet recommended that we wait until the next day if we could get the bleeding to stop. She is all better now, but I am still scared to carry her with me. That dog is back in its 6 foot fence, but I am worried that it will get out again.

I am really trying to eat right also. I keep up with everything on MyFitnessPal. Everyday is not perfect, but it is a lot closer than it used to be. Weekends are still a struggle because there is less of a routine to follow. Even those haven't been that bad though. I pray that these changes will be permanent and become a part of who I am. I need this struggle with my weight to be behind me. I have spent way too much of my life worrying about it. It is time to move on! God has other things for me to focus my attention on...things that serve a bigger and better purpose.