The problem with...

... a small weight gain after an epic holiday is that you get complacent. I skipped SW last week as I was stuck at work until late. That seemed to encourage an "I don't give a sh*t" attitude, which saw me banish all my SW ideals for the past week.

I've made myself so busy of late that I literally don't know whether I am coming or going. I've been out most nights, working long hours and out all weekend.

I was expecting a shock last night and I really needed one. I got away with a 2lb gain, which given I have consumed the following over the past 2 weeks, is pretty unbelievable:

1. Cider 
2. Subway sandwich (steak and cheese)
3. Pulled pork burger
4. Pork scratchings
5. Chinese take away
6. Fish and chips
7. Lebanese mezze
8. Sticky toffee pudding
9. Prosecco
10. Champagne tasting along with cheese and meat platter

All that aside, the meals I cooked at home were SW friendly (laughable really) but that is not the consumption of a woman wanting to shed a few more stone, is it?

So, the sum total of this year is that I have gained 9lbs. What was a shiny 2 stone 2lb loss, is now a slightly dull 1.5 stone loss. It's time to refocus!

In the spirit of reminding myself that I can eat really tasty food and stay on plan, here is some of the SW friendly stuff I have actually managed. Let's hope there is more of this over the next few weeks.

Overnight oats with strawberries & raspberries

Creamy bacon pasta

Shepherds Pie 

Breakfast muffins & fruit

Tomato & veg pasta

Chicken & leek risotto

Meatball pasta bake (using the SW frozen meatballs)

Slow cooked roast lamb

Fruit & peanut butter

Tuna pasta salad

Pork Chop

SW sausages, bubble & squeak & (overcooked) eggs

I'm back to writing it all down, weighing out my HE's and thinking about what I'm consuming (I'd originally written "what is going in my mouth" but I've just watched 50 Shades of Grey and my childish mind couldn't cope with the innuendo).

I'll be back... 

The wanderer returns

So I'm back and not at all happy about it. We had the most amazing 3 weeks in Australia and Hong Kong and I can't believe it's over already. There was so much we wanted to see and do and we probably didn't even manage half of it, but it was blooming brilliant and gives us an excuse to go back!

Now, I was mindful of weight gain given I have a pretty bad track record when it comes to holidays, but at the same time I didn't want to spend my holiday obsessing over every morsel that passed my lips. I ate what I wanted, but we made sure we only ate twice a day, sometimes only once and we walked a hell of lot more than I usually do. Probably around 5-6 miles a day on average - my feet certainly knew about it.

I wasn't too worried about weigh in on Monday as I knew I'd had the best 3 weeks ever and that is more important than a slight blip on the scales. Anyway, by some kind of miracle, I only put on 3 pounds. I am pretty over the moon with that.

So, Australia. I loved it. Sydney is pretty cool, Hamilton Island was heaven (I'd fly for 22 hours just to go back there) Melbourne has quite a European feel to it and Brisbane was pretty chilled (and very hot after the cyclone). Hong Kong is just crazy, but crazy good. We spent a lot of time exploring, researching (and eating at) the best restaurants (amazing food everywhere we ate), a bit of time lazing by pools or on beaches and did trips to the Great Ocean Road, Manly beach, Bondi, various Whitsunday Islands and the Gold Coast. Hong Kong was our stop over on the way home and as you can see from below, the weather was very overcast so I don't feel that we saw the place at it's best - we'll just have to go back....

Here's just a tiny selection of the million photos I took!

Sydney

 Sydney

Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island

Great Ocean Road

Brisbane

 Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Back to earth with a bang now. Work on Monday was pretty awful, over 24,000 emails to get through and a lot of catching up. I am struggling to motivate myself. Thankfully I've haven't really been hit by jetlag so I'm not feeling exhausted but I have a bit of a post holiday come down which I guess is understandable.

I was really looking forward to some home cooking so the past few days have been totally back on track. Hopefully I can get those 3 pounds back off this week and then continue with losing a few more pounds before the summer. Watch this space...