Back to earth

Back to Bristol last night after the usual Easyjet check-in hell. It's cold, it's grey and I have a mountain of post to get through not to mention a book and several articles to write. The wages of sin . . .

As usual when I come back from somewhere in Europe everything seems very expensive. I don't particularly want to plunge into Tesco but can't find anything I really fancy in the local shops. We made do with a frugal but hardly inspiring lunch of hard boiled eggs and sardines. At least it should boost the brain cells.

Amazingly after over two weeks in Italy I've actually lost weight. Only 500g, admittedly but I was expecting to have gained several kilos. My husband has put on just one. We've been trying to work out how and why. We ate two good meals a day. We drank wine with them (though Venetian table wine is much lighter than the wine we drink at home) We ate far more carbs than usual in the form of pasta, polenta and rice (but less bread, less cheese and less meat) And we didn't snack.

The biggest difference I think though was that we walked. And walked. After every meal. No slumping on the sofa watching telly. I'm sure that's the key.

Whether I'll be able to keep this up now we're back remains to be seen. Certainly not tonight when Liverpool are playing Chelsea . . .