I'm Back

Wednesday morning, as I ran through the dark streets, I felt like I hit my stride again after a couple of weeks without running.
I didn't run while I was in France. Of course, we walked a lot. But we ate more.
In spite of that, when we returned from vacation, my weight hadn't changed at all. I didn't gain a pound eating those delicious, rich meals in France.

Even when I ate things like this black forest cake in Paris.

After a week at home though and some minimal running, my weight had climbed up two pounds.
I blame the muffins.
On Saturday, I found a recipe for blueberry yogurt muffins, like the kind they now serve at Starbucks. They were so delicious. I want to give you the recipe, like the person who is addicted to something and wants others to enjoy their pleasure/pain, but I urge you not to bake and eat these muffins.
The recipe is on Taste of Home website.
The recipe calls for vanilla yogurt, but I just used plain Greek yogurt, and they were plenty sweet. I also doubled the recipe to bake 12 rather than six. That might have been my downfall, but there were four of us home this weekend and I didn't think that six would be enough.
So, I ate three muffins...
Then on Sunday, I decided to make my children real Croque Monsieur sandwiches, like the kind I ate in France one day for lunch.

I thought it was just a glorified ham and cheese sandwich. Little did I realize that the recipe called for a bechamel sauce along with the ham and cheese. Those turned out quite well too.
And after a week of enjoying cafe creme or cafe au lait, as it is called in different areas of France, when I returned home I eased my way back into mochas.
So all of these things added up to a 2-pound weight gain and I want to avoid the slippery slope.
That's why Wednesday morning when rolled out of bed, later than I planned, I knew I needed to get back to running longer distances.
And I did. I ran five miles, faster than my winter runs, and I felt pretty phenomenal afterward. I hope that I can continue running long distances and indulge in some fabulous food without overdoing it.
I'll let you know how it goes.