Wow, thank you so much for the feedback on my post about the "Christmas Issue." To be honest, I was most worried about what my family would have to say about the reason why I don’t like Christmas. Moments after hitting "publish," my mother called and told me my feelings were 100% validated. It has indeed been a rough road, but we both agreed that we are better people now because of it. We were living in La-La Land before. Sounds nice, but really, it’s no way to live your life.

Also after blogging yesterday, I went to BodyFlow, the yoga class at my gym. It was aaawwesome. My favourite instructor was there, which I find is even more important with yoga. This particular release is being described as very “athletic” and I would have to agree. I worked up a good little sweat! Lots of lunges to downward dogs and back. Which is actually a really awkward movement for me because of my freakishly long legs.

Moving on to this morning’s gym visit! I was up hours before the crack of dawn for some weight lifting and HIIT.

Warm-up:
15 minutes on the elliptical (center-driven), increasing resistance every 2 minutes

A1 – One-arm dumbbell snatch:
3 sets @ 20 lbs x 8

B1 – Step-up:
3 sets @ 40 lbs x 8

B2 – Bent-over dumbbell row:
3 sets @ 40 lbs x 8

C1 – Single-leg squat:
3 sets @ 10 lbs x 8 (someday I’ll get to a pistol squat!)

C2 – Wide-grip lat pulldown:
3 sets @ 50 lbs x 8

D1 – Plank:
1 set @ 2 minutes

HIIT:
15 minutes on elliptical, 1 minute sprints, 2 minutes recovery

*All weights are total amounts used

Typing this out, I again realize how much strength I’ve lost since finishing the New Rules of Lifting for Women program last spring. I’m down 20 lbs on the step-ups. I can even tell my arms have lost muscle. Albeit, they’ll always be small and spindly, that’s just how I’m made, but I want to get some of it back! Perhaps I’ll have to figure out some winter weight lifting goals :)

Oddly, I was again craving savoury oats after this workout. Same exact thing happened after my last weight lifting session last week.

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 breakfast sausage (chopped and stirred into oats)
• pinch salt
• 1 soft fried egg
• salsa

I did something really rare for lunch today. Nothing in my fridge or cupboards sounded appealing to prepare for work, so I decided to buy my lunch. Shocking, I know.

Except, I kinda cheated. I went to the grocery store.

Freezer aisle:

Pre-weight loss days, it was quite common for me to have two Amy’s pocket sandwiches for lunch.

It wasn’t as good as I remember. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Amy’s products in general.

These days, I’m going for a more “balanced” approach, so I just grabbed one pocket and hit up the prepared foods aisle.

“Asian” salad. Don’t know what’s so “Asian” about it :P But I topped it with “Japanese” dressing, which was soy-sauce-y. It had mixed greens, carrots, mandarin, sliced almonds, chicken and mozzarella. 

My hunger has been off the charts today, and I aaalmost stopped by Pita Pit on my way home. Until I realized my freezer (as always) is stocked to the brim with pita bread. So I made one at home instead.

• 1 can sardines in a tomato basil sauce
• 1 laughing cow cheese wedge
• red onion
• mushrooms
• tomatoes
• bell pepper
• romaine

With a honeycrisp doused in cinnamon.

Take that Pita Pit.

Too bad I ate this at 4:45 pm. I might need another meal before bed! :P

I was toying with the idea of going to yoga again tonight, but I’ve been feeling really dizzy ever since my workout this morning. At first, I thought it was dehydration, but I’ve have tons of water and the room is still spinning. I’m not sure if my elevated hunger today has anything to do with it either. I kinda feel like my body is trying to tell me something, I just don’t know what! So I’m going to curl up and take it easy tonight. Last thing I need is the dreaded flu, which often starts as dizziness for me.

Question of the day: Where’s your favourite spot for takeout food? Pita Pit or the grocery store for me! (yes, I count the grocery store :P )