so all my pants are currently unwearable without at least the help of a belt. i'm wearing a size 14 that is getting very baggy. if i took the belt off, they would slide off with every few steps.

i need to head out and buy my first size 12 in years! but i'm nervous. what if i'm delusional? what if i try it on and they are too tight? ack! will i feel defeated? well, i don't plan on stopping with what i do. i promised myself that even if the weight is coming off slowly... even if over all, i do not lose as much as i want... my choice in this lifestyle is ultimately to make myself feel better and to have more energy. it's about improving my health and therefore, my life.

anyway, i will see if i can go shopping this weekend when i take chaeli to see santa while my MIL is in town. i need one new pair of jeans and one new pair of corduroy

i added more weights today in my bodypump class. just five pounds more for each exercise, except for the last two - lunges and shoulders. near the end, it's more about finishing and not giving up. plus with shoulders, i'm more worried about injuries - it's a small muscle group. you don't need a lot of weight to feel the burn. but over all, i felt really good about today's class. not just with what i achieved but my mental state throughout the entire time. i was able to focus only on what needed to be done in the present moment. sometimes, it's all about mind over matter.

and on a smaller milestone, i did treat myself to these mini-shortbread cookies. but instead of having the whole snack-pack of 8, i divided it up with my manager. hey - sometimes it's the smaller milestones that deserve some celebration too. :)

it's been awhile since i've updated here. not because i've strayed away from my mission to be healthy. on the contrary, i seem to have stayed on the path, with some minor bumps around thanksgiving and halloween time last month. but that only lasted a couple of weeks.

now with christmas coming up, i've added one more les mills bodypump class on saturday mornings, making it three times a week. and i'm still doing cardio on alternating days, which also adds up to three times a week. it works out so that my rest day falls on a sunday.

so my co-workers are starting to comment on my weight loss. which, really, is good news. i mean, if people are noticing, then what i'm doing must be working, right? but i don't know - call me superstitious. it's just that in the past, whenever i start to get people noticing, is when my progress starts to weaken. and i go back to my past, bad habits.

then again, what did i expect? did i think that i could lose a bunch of weight, get toned and then one day, come to work and THEN have everyone notice all at once?

i know, i know... i'm in control of my own destiny here. and it's up to me to keep moving forward with my healthy path. anyway - today i had greek yogurt with a tablespoon of yogurt, plus a granola and dried fruit mixed into it. i'm addicted to having this as my breakfast lately.  yum!

so today, while at my tuesday's strength circuit class from hell (SCCH), i learned that next week there will be a previwe of the next releast of SCCH.

exactly what does that mean? well, being new to this, i did not know that every couple of weeks, they modify the moves and/or add some completely new moves as a way to shock the muscles.

i was extremely happy to hear about this. the one thing a lot of group, exercise class routines lack is mixing it up a bit. rather, this class is making sure we continually progress throughout the season.

it's going to be painful.

but i love it! :)

i've started to really enjoy raw brocoli. i know most people don't like it, but i think it tastes better then when it's cooked.

what i really love is the broccoflower - a hybrid between broccoli and cauliflower. and i have to be honest, before i found out what it was called, i went around, calling it cauliccoli. only because it was fun to say.

anyway, i rarely see this hybrid but every now and then, our local supermarket sells them. and when they do, it's a must buy (and yes, it tastes amazing raw). just like wine grapes - one week they are there but for just that one week. it's sad, really.

here's what i googled up (from http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/restaurants/pantry/broccoflower.aspx):

Broccoflower

Broccoflower

What: A hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower (which are both quite closely related), Broccoflower has a lurid green hue and tastes, like a mix between the two. A great source of vitamin C, it can be interchanged with pretty much any recipe that calls for either vege. Just watch the water content - it holds a lot more than broccoli and not quite as much as cauliflower.

How: Boil it up and cook the hell out of it then add to olive oil, chilli and anchovies to accompany lamb or steak or add pasta and turn it Italian.

so i admit it. i'm starting to get bored of my daily logs that are just so fascinating to begin with (sarcasm applied there). and as noticed, it's not like my diet changes a whole lot from day to day which means that i've done something i wasn't suppose to do - ignore variety.

until i find variety, i'm not going to keep a log anymore.

hopefully, i'll actually start to put up some cool recipes here.

woke up this morning feeling a delicious soreness across my chest, triceps and biceps.

which means that the power-pump class i did yesterday did it's job.

i'm glad, though, that i'm feeling even close to the soreness i did last week in my glutes, quads and inner thights. sure, they feel a bit tired and worked on - but at least i can walk normally.

---

breakfast:

• starbucks' pumpkin spice latte (which was not good)
• croissant

lunch:

• baby cucumber
• red and yellow bell pepper
• grape tomatoes
• 1/2 whole wheat pita bread
• spicy hummous
• cubed goat feta

afternoon snack:

• protein shake
• tangello

exercise:

• session 1 - 50 min. cardio
• session 2 - 30 min. cardio

ahh... last night was a better night's sleep. so hopefully, i won't be doing the head-bobbin' thing at my desk today.

one question on my mind - i'm doing that class again that left me almost crippled last week. will i be in major pain tomorrow as well? yikes!

---

breakfast:

• spanish omelette
• croissant

lunch:

• baby cucumber
• red and yellow bell peppers
• grape tomatoes
• 1/2 whole wheat pita
• spicy hummus
• cubed goat feta

afternoon snack:

• 1/2 whole wheat pita
• spicy hummus
• tangello

exercise:

• 45 min. weight-circuit class (power pump)