Kim's Utah Experience: Day 28 & The First 2 Weeks Home

Day 28: HOME SWEET HOME! I was so glad to be home. I have no regrets from my trip, but I sure did miss everyone! I left for the airport on the shuttle with Laila at 5:00 a.m. and flew out at 7:05 a.m. Laila and I had taken our breakfast to the airport from all our buffet provisions. Then I made sure to pack good snacks and a lunch too, so I wasn't tempted at the airport. My flight home from Atlanta arrived right on tme at 4:41 p.m. and my family was there waiting. It was so nice to hug everyone! Then we left for Red Lobster, my first solo meal out! I had one of the specials with seafood, corn and redskin potatoes. And I even resisted the cheddar biscuits! Wow, didn't even kill me to pass! And for the first time ever after a nice meal, I didn't crave a dessert! This feels awesome...

August 1-7, 2011: My first day home had me leaving for Richmond at 5:50 a.m., so thankfully Mom and Dad had gone to the grocery store for me with a list I sent them of all kinds of healthy fare for the week. I do have a good mommy and daddy! Anyway, I got up early enough to put the turkey chili recipe in the crock pot. Packed my lunch and snacks and hit the road. The hotel had a good lunch for us with chicken breast, white rice and veggies. So I snuck my whole wheat tortilla out and swapped that out for the white rice. Perfect! And of course passed on the apple pie. After getting home 12 hours later, I hit the bed to get ready for 3 more days of 10 hour work schedules! I decided that since eating the same thing multiple times in a week doesn't bother me, I would try to stick with simplicity for the first month or so. So each day that first week, I had oatmeal with almond milk instead of water, blueberries and a hard boiled egg for breakfast. For lunch I had peanut butter and bananas on whole wheat tortillas with carrots each day. And for dinner, the turkey chili withg a slice of whole wheat bread. Snacks consisted of Laughing Cow cheese wedge with fruit for morning one and 1/2 a protein bar with fruit for the afternoon one. And of course, big surprise, Pop Chips for the evening snack. Friday was wonderful. I slept till 8:40 and it felt great! Then went to Cracker Barrel for lunch with family. I had the grilled chicken salad and dipped in the ranch dressing on the side. Perfect! Slept in Saturday and Sunday too. Heaven... I tried some other places like Smoky Bones (had the BBQ chicken with sweet potato fries and broccoli. Also tried Logans and had the salad with grilled chicken. Very good too. As for exercise, I needed a break from the gym, so I did water aerobics in mom's pool 3 times that week in the evenings. Then on Saturday, I went to join Planet Fitness at Tower's Mall. It's only $10 a month! It has everything I need and is cheap. Love it.

August 8-14, 2011: During the 2nd week I switched up my lunch and dinner, but kept breakfast the same. Lunch switched to whole wheat tortillas with chicken and swiss cheese from the deli at Kroger and cucumbers. Dinner was stuffed peppers with turkey and veggies. Had a few different things at Mom's house 1 night: flank steak with veggies and my whole wheat tortilla. Olive Garden 1 night with the whole wheat pasta and marinara (Cappelini Pomodora), salad and NO breadstick! Famous Anthony's 1 night for the low-carb chicken with a baked potato and veggies. Had Harbor Inn 1 night with scallops and a salad with 1 of my whole wheat tortillas. Seems to be an eating out theme going on here... :) I know it's just b/c I am seeing everyone after my time away and naturally it's over dinner. Just need to keep on track and eating out won't throw me off. That is something I have learned over this past month too. You can eat anywhere you want, as long as you make healthy choices... Even went to friend's house 1 night and made turkey burgers on whole grain thin buns and veggies for everyone. I'm getting there! Kept snacks the same as last week. We had filet mignon, veggies and whole wheat bread for Dad's birthday Sunday. Yum!

So I weighed for the first time since I've been home Monday morning and I have lost another 6 1/2 pounds! Woo-Hoo! Didn't have my tape measure handy to check my inches, but I'm quite happy with this. Wish me luck!

Here are some other random pics that I took on the trip...