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'Scuse the couple of days absence! I have uni exams coming up. One next week and two the week after, also there has been a lot of thinking going on in my little head. I've been feeling a bit 'blah' for a while and over the last few days have really started to nail down what it's all about. I don't want this to be a whiney kind of blog, so I'll just summarise by saying that in the 'last few years' (say four or five!) I've had a series of things (and people) happen that have really clobbered my self-esteem and self-belief. It's time to get on top of things again and, finally, I feel like I can manage it. I've always believed in the fact that you pull toward yourself what you focus on, but somehow I forgot to put it into practice, slipping instead into the coma of thinking that my life was just about struggle and I'd might as well put up with it! So wrong.

Health and fitness-wise, I've had a rocky few days but not awful. Yesterday and today were *five star*. Yesterday I got myself to Zumba class which set me up for a great day. It's amazing what exercise, especially to Latin rhythms, can do for the mental outlook. Then I spent a brain-resting afternoon at a wildlife park, pulling out my lara bar when 4pm snack time came around and later had family around for dinner. I made a seafood/rice thing in the oven.

Todays eating was pretty much the expected routine. Smoothie for breakfast (with some Zilch low-carb ice cream in it - not my usual thing, but I'd forgotten to freeze my bananas and wanted something to frost it up a bit), seafood salad and linseed crackers for lunch, Lara bar and apple for afternoon tea. Dinner was half a glass of wine and the wondiferous creation pictured below:

It's a lamb salad with:

*pumpkin

*fava beans

*mushrooms

*onion

(the above all cooked in the oven with a little olive oil)

*broccoli

*mixed lettuce

*Arame (sea-vegetable)

*about 100g roast lamb

*pepitas (about 10g or half an espresso cup full)

*parmesan and olive oil dressing
It's pretty, and was very tasty, but it's not a lightweight. It's got about the same calories as a Big Mac, (just under 500 cals) but it was very filling and packed with nutrients.

Now I am heading to bed with books in hand. I like to study in bed and it doesn't seem to affect my sleep habits, which could hardly be held up as a model of consistency anyway. Perhaps I'll try the 'sleeping on it' approach and stash the papers under my pillow. Don't know 'till you try.