I've dried out

Well we're back and we had a great time. As all you Sydney siders know the weather last weekend was rather shocking but because our main aim was a family catchup it didn't really matter. I love taking photographs so luckily I had Saturday afternoon that was absolutely beautiful for a few hours and that got the picture taking out of the way. My SIL has a fantastic view from her apartment so that was pretty awesome.











She took me on a ferry into the city on Saturday afternoon and we had a good wander around for a few hours. I was surprised how warm it felt for 26 degrees - the humidity makes a huge difference. It's certainly a beautiful city but I don't think I would enjoy the hecticness(is that a word) of the lifestyle.
It's funny cos even though I had given myself permission to relax food wise it was hard to actually do it. We had an early tea B4 our flight on Friday night and I took a box of Snakata's to nibble on the plane with my wine. Saturday morning there were 2 cooked breakfasts to decline as my SIL cooked one lot earlier on and another mid morning when the rest of the family arrived. Can't say DH didn't enjoy both though - LOL!!! Cathy-SIL, my niece and I had lunch in a little cafe in the Rocks area and although my choice was reasonable it was certainly strange not being really sure of the points I was eating. The side of chips was requested in a separate bowl so my niece could have them and I wouldn't have to to touch them! Paranoid aren't I. Later in the day I was desperate for an icecream to cool me down but there were no familiar places around. I had never had Gelato before and thought it was healthy until I saw Fresh Cream as the main ingredient. I gave that a miss. Our last choice was the Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream Co in the ferry terminal. I was amazed as all these type of places usually have their low fat versions but not this one. Now the old me would have had the biggest one you could get with the richest flavours but the new me had a kiddy cone in what I hoped was not too sinful a flavour!!! The crazy thing is when I used to have the huge ones I'd always feel sick b4 I finished them and thought I'd never do that again but I always did. The kiddy size was so much more enjoyable.
The real relax bit came later after the drinking started - LOL. A couple of bundies and my will power just goes, that's why I generally avoid the stuff and of course the Bailey's I had later didn't help matters. We had a great night at a lovely Italian restaurant, oh and the Italian waiter was lovely too - wink!!! When we got back to SIL's there was a huge storm going on so I spent ages on the balcony trying to get the perfect lightning shot - didn't happen but I guess that helped me not drink as much. Anyhow here's the best one I got out of about 100!!!


I was really conscious on the Sunday that now I had broken out I could just keep going and while in reality I wasn't that bad I nibbled on things I would normally avoid. Later in the day when we were at a NZ Icecream shop that had the 99% stuff I almost caved in and ordered the "real" stuff again but I had a lightbulb moment and reeled myself in thank goodness. It really highlights to me why I am so careful most of the time. Some may think I'm too strict but is really is like any addiction, expose yourself to too much temptation and it's very easy to give in.
The scales showed a little gain but that has gone again now and I'm back to the round 20 down. Official weigh tomorrow so hopefully that will be sustained. I'm so pleased I took the pressure off and reduced my step target, It's certainly been one less thing to stress about and I'm back to enjoying my exercise again.
DH & I are both feeling very flat which always happens after we spend time with his family. We always enjoy it so much and it just highlights what we miss out on by living away from everyone.
Hope everyone is having a great week. Looking forward to catching up with some blogs tonight.