Embrace Change

It's snowing.... Again.... You're a mean one Mother Nature!

I spent all day trapped in my small, static filled office with my space heater on FULL blast. I swear that thing never gets turned off. It makes the air so stale and dry! It sucks the moisture right out of my eyes and makes them look deranged with a dash of rabid like essence. But wait, that's not all. Every time I get up to file something I get a violent shock from my metal filing cabinets. We're talking sparks here people. It's a very "soothing" and unavoidable occurrence. My clothes spent all day clinging to my lovely lady lumps and my wild hair was flying all over the place. MAN I LOVE Winter. At least I was warm today! ;)

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 9:00am.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• tons of cinnamon
• dash apple pie spice
• 1 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa
• dash sea salt
• Splenda to taste
• 1 tbs PB2 (I gave the other to Ann. I was her hero. She forgot hers at home.)
• 1 tbs sugar free cherry preserves

It tasted like a chocolate, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I love how healthy food can still taste this rich and decadent. Blows my mind when I think back to the way I used to eat in the past. We're talking "secret" trips to Burger King for 2 breakfast sandwiches and some hash browns. All eaten in the car before I even got to work. Yeah, it was THAT bad! I like the new me. I EMBRACE THE CHANGE!

LUNCH (meal #2) at 12:30pm.

I indulged in a delicious egg white wrap today. I used a honey wheat FlatOut and stuffed it with spinach, a wedge of light Laughing Cow swiss cheese and 4 egg whites (cooked last night with Pam and seasoned with S+P).


Accompanied by a handful of sugar snap peas and a sliced carrot. Something about these peas reminds me of being a kid. I remember digging around in our little family garden and stuffing them into my face. I just thought they were the best thing ever!


Since I discussed changes above, let's reflect on what I used to eat for lunch BEFORE I started eating clean and healthy. A typical lunch in the past would have been spent eating any one of the horrific things listed below.

• A GIGANTIC portion of something deep fried, on a big ass platter at a restaurant. Sometimes followed by desert! LIKE I NEEDED IT!
• A fast food burger meal. Sometimes with an extra burger or fries. O.M.G. I TELL NO LIES!!
• Horribly unhealthy Chinese food from the small place down the street.
• An entire foot long sub (not the healthy kind) from Subway. With chips and pop of course.
• A packed lunch of something along the lines of leftover pizza, carb loaded pasta or an unhealthy and non nutritious frozen meal.

My portions used to be massive, high calorie and high fat. We're talking lethargy and food coma inducing insanity!!

Holy crap, I was so out of control. I always overate! I never thought about what I was shoving into my mouth and as soon as I was done eating, I would spend hours HATING myself for it. The vicious cycle of "I'll start eating right tomorrow" took me a long time to get over. Why wait till tomorrow? Why even wait until 3:00pm? Start now. RIGHT NOW! One day I woke up and decided that today would be the day. I think it was a Wednesday. HA! Joining the gym soon followed and everything else just sort of fell into place. And might I add, the foods I now eat every day blow the junk I used to eat right out of the water! Go figure! ;)

We spent our break at Barnes & Nobles today. I sipped on green tea to properly fuel another INTENSE hairstyle hunt. I think I looked through at least 7 hair magazines. I'm out of control!


I still like the pictures I found online the best. However, we have a NEW contender! ADORABLE!


SNACK (meal #3) at 4:00pm.

I'm going to save my very last Oikos for a "special" day. (probably tomorrow, I can't stand it)

I opted for a strawberry Greek Dannon yogurt instead. I've tried the plain variety before and was hoping that the strawberry would be just as delicious. It didn't disappoint. It was thick and creamy with a nice layer of fruit on the bottom. YUM!


After work it was off to the gym for cardio day, which I hate deeply. Hey, I never said I LOVED cardio. I just like how it's melting the chub suit off of my body. I like strength training MUCH more. Sadly though, you need both.

WORKOUT!

Elliptical Cross Trainer, 42 minutes, 508 calories, 3.6 miles.
1-2 min., (level 5)
3-4 min., (level 6)
5-6 min., (level 7)
7-8 min., (level 8)
9-10 min., (level 9)
11-12 min., (level 10)
13-14 min., (level 11)
15-16 min., (level 12)
17-18 min., (level 13)
19-20 min., (level 10)
21-22 min., (level 11)
23-24 min., (level 10)
25-26 min., (level 11)
27-28 min., (level 10)
29-30 min., (level 11)
31-35 min., (level 9)
36-42 min., (level 8)

I was going to go for an hour but we decided to call it quits a bit earlier. White death was still falling outside and we wanted to get home before it got bad out. For those of you who don't know, I call snow "white death". Fitting no? HATE IT!

SNACK (meal #4) at 7:15pm.

Smoothie time yo...

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 packet Jay Robb Chocolate Rice Protein
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 small banana
• Handful of ice
• 1 packet Splenda

Uhm, not a fan of this one but I drank it all anyway. It tasted gritty instead of creamy and smooth. SO SAD! Not a fan of the Rice protein from Jay Robb. Their Whey protein is super delicious though!

It's NO CARB night in Babushka land again tonight. What to have... what to have...

DINNER (meal #5) at 9:00pm.

I decided Mahi-Mahi sounded good. I love seafood! I seasoned the fillets with the usual suspects. Dill, sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and cayenne. I popped them into a 400 degree oven and cooked them for just 20 minutes or so. I sprayed the pan with Pam first. I try NOT to use oil unless absolutely necessary!


I also roasted some brussel sprouts, mushrooms and broccoli to have on the side. Once again I sprayed the cookie sheet with Pam and tossed the veggies around in salt, pepper and a bit of spray butter. Couldn't be simpler.


And because I needed to feed my veggie addiction even FURTHER, I also boiled an entire bag of Edamame. This way I can pack leftovers for work tomorrow etc... I could just eat veggies all the live long day. ALL DAY!


I drizzled my beloved Sriracha over the fillets and devoured this tastiness. I think I always eat too fast. I need to work on that!


Time to unwind with my Mr. now. We have our choice of TV entertainment this evening. Dexter, Lost, and a DVR FULL of other delectable goodies. YEAH!

Have a great night beautiful people!
HUGS
Ildie