Down Time

This has been my first full weekend off for a good couple of weeks now, so I'm taking the chance to really relax and feel re-invigorated after all the busyness at work.  I've been sleeping in and chilling out, but never fear, I'm still rocking the careful eating.

Friday's challenge was to stick to 39 points for the day.  I'd given myself an extra 10 from my weekly flex, as I was going for drinks with my team after work.  As it turned out, last minute plans changed slightly, and I joined my team for a few drinks, and then went along with my friend Liz from work to help celebrate her birthday at the Bristol Comedy Garden.  So now not only was I drinking, but eating out too.  And I did great with the challenge.  I'd saved a few extra points during the day by being a bit more thoughtful about my eating, and I picked my drinks with care in the evening.  I had a voucher for a free cocktail at the first bar, so enjoyed a delicious Summer Breeze (gin, blackberry liqueur and elderflower cordial - yummy!), and then stuck to soft drinks for a bit, before indulging in a pear cider at the comedy festival.  Dinner was from the Suasage Festival Co who were at the Comedy Garden and was a lovely little box of 2 sausages and mash with onion gravy. 

The show itself was brilliant - the fantastic Stephen K Amos was headlining and he was hysterically funny.  So funny in fact, that between circuits during the day, and laughing too much in the evening, my abs were absolutely killing me yesterday and are still sore today!  A great evening all round.

I literally slept in until lunchtime yesterday, which I think I needed, and just had a relaxed afternoon wandering into town to return a few things at the shops (which is another story where I cleverly bought things last weekend on my credit card pre-pay-day, and then realised that they were completely unnecessary / impractical when I got them home, so I was being a good little girl and taking them back yesterday).  I also found a gorgeous bikini in the sale at Crew Clothing which I was really pleased with, because as anyone knows - swimwear buying is a trauma at the best of times. 

It's pretty but practical - since I'm the kind of girl that is running round when I do hit the beach (surfing, windsurfing, body-boarding, changing in and out of wetsuits, etc), I have to make sure that my bikinis actually stay put once they're on to avoid embarrassing moments.  Especially after the classic moment the first year we went windsurfing in Egypt, when I was talking to my instructor mid-lesson, and suddenly realised that my epic wipe-out 5 mins before had caused my tankini top to come undone at the neck and work its way down, and all that was protecting my modesty was my rash vest!  Errrrr - somewhat embarrassing! 

But I digress, the point was that both of my current "practical" bikinis are are too big on either the top or the bottom, and are showing the signs of repeated wear by fading or the colours running, so this is a timely replacement ahead of next month's surf trips.

Last night, I was meant to be attending a Supper Club being run by friends, and so I had allotted myself 20 extra points for the day.  An unknown 5 course menu, plus drinks, was going to be pretty tough, so I was also careful with my food yesterday, but then Supper Club was sadly cancelled (although is being rescheduled), so I resorted to my back-up plan of a night of Grey's Anatomy and takeaway.  I had a real hankering for a curry, and since I'd already allotted myself extra points, I indulged.  I actually ended up a few points over my points challenge, but partly because I was trying to be extra vigilant with my pointing.  I'm still inside my flex allowance for the week though, so I think one indulgent meal for the week shouldn't have any impact on the rest of what I'm doing.

On a positive note, I did much better this week than I did last week with what ended up being last Saturday's binge.  When I finished there was spare rice still in the carton, and gasp rice and sauce left on the plate.  That's right - I stopped before it was all gone!   HOOOORAAAAAH!  I probably still ate a little more than I truly needed, and in fact, I did stop earlier than that, but ended up picking until all the chicken was gone, but I stopped when I was merely full, rather than absolutely stuffed like last week.  Little tiny steps forward.

Today, I'm back on a 29 point challenge.  And if the weather will deign to stay dry-ish, I'm hoping to get my bike out and go for a little wander this afternoon, over to Portishead and the seaside.  It was meant to be gloriously sunny this afternoon, but what do you know, it's completely clouded over instead, and althought the weather forecast says it's meant to stay dry, it doesn't look that promising!