Weight Watchers: the Twenty-fourth Week

9st 3lbs!  And VERY pleased about it - that's what I was at the start of December before my various festive holidays and celebrations started.  It's not taken long at all to get back on track after my indulgences (which I have to reiterate were absolutely wonderful and worth every point!).  I was helping out at Congregation on weigh-day, which was a very happy coincidence.  Congregation - graduation - is my favourite event of the academic year, not least because if you help out you get free food from the Cathedral Cafe.  I don't think there's anywhere else in Durham - apart from at home - where you can get such good, solid home-made food, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone visiting Durham, particularly on a cold Winter's day.  Having found out that I'd lost three pounds I promptly celebrated by treating myself to pork casserole with sage dumplings and chocolate and date cake.  And both were AMAZING.  The pork casserole was tasty and hearty and the dumplings were just unbelievable - slightly crunchy on top from being cooked in the oven, fluffy on the inside, as light as a feather and so, so tasty.  Words fail me.  The chocolate cake was very good too.  Chocolate cake in cafes can often be dry, even when it's homemade, and it can also be too sickly-sweet.  The dates and a taste of cinammon in this one gave it a lovely depth, and made the very sweet and very choclatey icing welcome rather than too much, and I suspect it was made with yoghurt as it was very moist.  Full marks!

I'm pleased with the exercise I've done this week too.  The first full week back at work has been really tiring - and we think there's something wrong with our lights, as a lot of us are getting bad headaches - so I've taken it a bit easy, but to say how tired I've been I've done a lot, if that makes sense.  I'm most pleased that I ran 5K on Sunday - I'm loving running at the moment.  I also went to one Body Tone class which was a real achievement (and I'm still stiff and sore so it must have been effective!).  Two a week is a bit ambitious at the moment but definitely something I'm going to work towards.  Onwards and upwards!

Picture is from here.