Anarchic Lady

Yes! It's still Chinese New Year, a pretty big celebration of 15 days in our culture. This is my favourite festival and I'm so glad Melbourne celebrates it too.

For me it is all about family togetherness and although I didn't get to go back home to be with my parents, I'm here with my own family, something I'm very grateful for. 

I love decorating the house with lots of red ornaments. Red is an auspicious colour for us Chinese and it is also believe to ward of evil.

The sweets and goodies I get to eat only during this time of the year. High calorie food but oh so yummy! Melbourne doesn't have all the ones I love but these are more than enough to satisfy the new year cravings. And of cos my home-made pineapple tarts are a must.

Another must have is Yu Sheng a.k.a Prosperity Toss. A symbol of prosperity, abundance and vigor. This is more my culture rather than Lammy, he has never had it before he met me. If you want to know what this it exactly - Google.

This is my ultimate love. I can't get enough and always wished the new year never ends so I can keep eating it. There are many versions of this but I will settle with what I can get here. Little Lam is getting in on some tossing action, gotta start them young.

What's new year without mandarin oranges and Nian Gao "New Year Cake" a sweet glutinous rice cake. 

Oranges are exchanged during new year greetings and Ang Baos "red packets" containing money for luck is given from elders and married couples to all children and singles. Lammy said he never used oranges and was quite surprised seeing them the first time. Well, he adapted and little Lam is also more than happy to be holding it.

His not letting them go.

I truly believe the year doesn't start until Chinese New Year and I hope this year of the Wood Goat will bring good fortune, good health and most importantly a wooded goat. HUAT!! HUAT AH!!

Woke up super early today and went for a morning jog.

Felt great to be out of the house this early which I never do except for work.

Leaving my sleeping baby behind was a little worrisome cause I don't know how Lammy is going to deal with him when he wakes. But good little Lam waited till I was back at the front door to get up. It's like he "knows".

My bonus snack for the day.

Alright you may nag a bit and tell me mangos has too much sugars for this whole RESET but if we didn't eat it, it's going to rot. So half for me, half for little Lam.

I can't tell you how great I felt after my morning workout. I really should do it more often and not be afraid to leave little Lam behind.

This peanut snack is really starting to grow on me now. Honestly, I didn't like it very much at first but now it might actually become a favourite. Reminds me of this peanut cookie I baked ages ago.

Wow! Is it the last day already?

Went out for a walk early just when the sun was rising and enjoyed the a little peace with the outdoors.

Also I started planking again. There are a lot of variations to this but I prefer the elbow plank. This really helps to strengthen the core muscles and tone the abs. I must warn you that after 1 minute you will really feel the burn and if you didn't do proper stretching it's going to hurt BAD the next day. I would do 3 sets of 1 minute sometimes while watching YouTube on my phone. ^.^

Sorry, I'm not going to show you my tummy although I can say it still looks alright even after child birth. Maybe next time? We shall see.

I didn't have my bonus snack today. But I did have to watch Lammy eat his dinner. He totally enjoyed eating loudly deliberately to entice me. Peezz.

I can't believe it's over. 5 days sure went on quickly.

I did this challenge to help me get back into the fitness routine. And as an added bonus I lost almost 2kg, I'm sure if I did exercise everyday like the program guide suggested I would lose more weight but that is not my goal.

I sure felt more energetic even though I was waking up earlier than normal. And since then, I've been up early to work out. This is a positive result. I have better portion control and my cravings for unhealthy snacks have reduced significantly. I'm not eating suppers and I haven't had any sweets since. I've totally RESET my routine which was what I set out to achieve.

The morning after I was a bit lost that I didn't have anymore shakes for breakfast. I wished I had more just for breakfast, just before my morning workout. Need to go order more now. Do you know: there are shakes in larger packs so you can enjoy it for a month.

If you are a calorie counter I found these on the packs useful.

All the shakes and snacks are gluten free. The shakes are also low Gi which keeps you going for longer.

Yes! If I went off track again or if I gain an insane amount of weight. 

Absolutely! I feel great, I lost some weight and I got back on track with my fitness routine. I set a goal and I achieved it within a short 5 days.

Definitely a must try at least once. You may struggle if you are not used to cutting back but you will gain something positive out of it. I think the whole concept of it can change a persons' mindset towards food and their body by stepping back and starting over. I feel that this is not a long term diet program but more of an attitude adjustment towards food and your habits.

Go ahead. Set yourself a goal. Make the change.