I am home from my trip. The weight damage was bad – 6 lbs. I have never been anywhere that has so much heavy food as Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Frequently we went out for Italian food just to try to find something lighter. Fortunately, I’ve managed to lose about 4 lbs. since getting home. I always think that vacation weight gain is usually kind of transient. If you tackle it right away before it’s made its way solidly to your hips, you can lose it pretty quickly.

It was such a relief to come back to Chicken Monday. We had the standard meal with 3 ounces of meat, low calorie gravy from a packet with some sauteed mushrooms (sauteed in olive oil cooking spray), rutabagas made in the pressure cooker, and broccoli. After all the heavy food that I have eaten, this dinner seemed just right.

Chicken with mushroom gravy, rutabagas and broccoli