Jet Setters

Ohhh, so close to Friday that I can taste it but it's not quite here yet. Today started out a bit hectic. I was only working until 11:30 and work was craaaaaaazy busy. I could barely pull myself away long enough to make breakfast, which by the way was inhaled in a matter of minutes.

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs ground flax + 2 tbs sugar free strawberry preserves + 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter.)

Work. Work. Work. Weeeeeee...

I don't know how I managed to but I turned the computer off, pushed my chair in and slithered out of the office just a few minutes past 11:30 like originally planned. I do... I DO believe in miracles!

Ann and I drove to Mama and Papa Babushka's house to hang out with them for a bit. As you know, they're leaving for Hungary today. There's LOTS of excitement in the air!

LUNCH (meal #2) at 12:15pm.

While there, I whipped together a quick lunch. I was STARVING! I made a wrap with 4 egg whites + roasted garlic hummus + spinach + Sriracha.


I also had some red grapes on the side.


After eating, we made sure that they were all packed up and ready to go. They were so happy, nervous, fidgety and ready for their Jet Setting adventure. The original plan was to drive them to the airport and drop them off. However, they made a last minute decision to drive themselves. Those crazy critters. We hugged it out, said our goodbyes and they were off. :)

Afterwards, Ann and I went straight to the gym to get our sweat on.

WORKOUT!

Tricep Pushdown Machine (cable)
80lb x 15
80lb x 15
70lb x 15
Bicep Curls (barbell)
45lb x 12
40lb x 15
35lb x 15
Shoulder Front Raise (barbell)
30lb x 15
25lb x 15
20lb x 15
Skull Crushers (barbell)
30lb x 15
30lb x 15
30lb x 15
Hammer Curls (dumbbell)
20lb x 11 (whew)
15lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
Standing Military Press (barbell)
45lb x 15
40lb x 15
35lb x 15
21's (barbell)
30lb x 21
30lb x 21
30lb x 21
Elliptical Cross Trainer
30 minutes, 2.67 miles, 2 minute intervals at levels 6 & 8

Total time at the gym = 1:13
Max HR = 163
Average HR = 135
Total Calories Burned = 557

After the gym I came home and found a lovely box waiting for me from Sonia at Master Of Her Romaine. AWE SNAP. It's nutritional yeast party time. I finally get to try it. Of course that Miss Sonia went above and beyond and sent me more that agreed upon. Thanks so much Sonia. You're the sweetest! I got some of her favorite tea, a gorgeous little makeup bag, a packet of Jay Robb whey protein, the nutritional yeast (of course), a Kind Bar and a makeup sampler from Mary Kay. THANKS LADY! I love it all.


SNACK (meal #3) at 3:30pm.

I immediately put Mr. Jay Robb to work and made an amazing smoothie.

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 packet of Jay Robb Chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 tbs sugar free coconut Torani syrup
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1 frozen banana (frozen in chunks so as to not murder my blender)
• 1 cup ice

Oh man, this smoothie was a good one. Thick too. I was sipping on it for close to 45 minutes. While watching my last recorded episode of Millionaire Matchmaker.

I would like to declare something. Being at home with my remote and my smoothie with a workout already under my belt is so much better than still being at work. I wish I could leave work early every day!!

I grabbed a quick bath and cleaned my messy self up before Nick even got home from work. GLORIOUS! While waiting on him to come home, I contemplated hiding his Wii controllers or perhaps disconnecting something behind the TV to mess with him. In the end I decided that it was probably a bad idea and resisted. Though it would have been amusing to watch him flip out. :)

By the time I came down from my bath, Nick was already positioned on the couch, controller in hand and consumed with the television. HA! He was only going to be home for a bit though. He was meeting his dad and his two younger brothers for dinner to celebrate his brothers Birthdays. They were both born in April. I thought about going as well but in the end, decided against it. The bar food and beer was tempting but I need to be GOOD! Tomorrow is weigh in morning and vacation is right around the corner. Must.....Be.....Good.....

SNACK (meal #4) at 6:00pm.

I had a delicious Fuji apple...


And a cup of coconut mango oolong tea courtesy of the lovely Sonia. YUM! This tea is delicious and smells heavenly! It was so good in fact that I forgot to take a picture of my cup. I'll make up for that by showing you the wrapper. ;)


When Nick took off I dove deep into DVR recorded paradise. I curled up on the couch and watched two episodes of What Not To Wear. Love that show! Makes me cry every time. I'm such a wimp!

DINNER (meal #5) at 8:30pm.

I wanted roasted veggies so I sprayed my trusty cookie sheet with Pam and loaded her up with broccoli and white mushrooms.

At first I had no idea what to actually have with the veggies and then it came to me. I topped the roasted veggies with 1 tbs of nutritional yeast (thanks again and again Sonia), 1/4 cup of Bertoli Arrabiata sauce and a Morning Star Farms black bean burger.


Let me tell you what, this worked BEAUTIFULLY! I devoured my plate. YUM-YUMMERS!

Nick is still gone so I'm going to enjoy some more TV freedom while I still have a chance. I hope the folks are doing okay. They should be well above the Atlantic by now. :)

Have a great night! TOMORROW IS FRIDAY! YAY!

XOXO

Ildie

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

Turning Green

It FINALLY stopped snowing. I say, I say Hallelujah! (whilst dancing wildly with hands up in the air...)

I had crazy dreams last night. They involved lots of fuzzy, faceless people and numerous WILD and unrealistic situations. Don't worry, I wont bore you and elaborate. I'll simply label them as intensely confusing and ridiculous!

My dreams never make sense! I've been known to obsess about them in the past. Are they merely suppressed thoughts roaming my sleeping brain at night? Are they things I wish I could change or fix somehow? Are they the life my "other" self is living in a parallel universe? Whoah, that was deep. I think I spend WAY too much time watching British accented nuclear physicists on the Science channel.

How about we move on and discuss a more easily understandable topic? FOOD!

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 9:30am.

I ate later than usual today. I was bombarded with emails as soon as I sat down at work. I tried numerous times to walk away but in the end I decided to get them all done before giving in to my decadent oatmeal desires.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 tbs ground flax
• 2 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa (Hershey's)
• tons of cinnamon
• Splenda to taste
• 2 tbs PB2 (made extra creamy and runny today)

Yep, just as good as yesterday. I love this dark cocoa. It has rich chocolate flavor without any bitterness.

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

I was craving another salad. I'll be turning green soon. Between my salads, wraps and green smoothies, I must consume at least 6 cups of spinach a day! A DAY!

• Spinach
• Green bell pepper
• Black beans
• Fat free cottage cheese
• Bread & Butter pickles
• (no dressing was needed)

I love cottage cheese with spinach. It gives the salad great texture and moisture. Dressing isn't even necessary. I devoured this. LOVE!

We actually got to leave the office for a break today. The lack of fresh snow fall meant FREEDOM for us flake haters. YEAH! We went to Mustard Seed Market to roam around. Bad decision! I have officially decided that I DESPISE this store. Overpriced and stuffy with snobby shoppers. I'm done with it! After about 20 minutes of torture I pushed the cart aside and walked out. BLEK!

To cheer up and not make our break a complete fail, Ann and I ran to turn in some winning scratch off tickets. I got them as a Christmas present and I've been hauling them around for well over a month now. I decided to turn them in for more tickets instead of my $11 winnings. Maybe these new ones are worth even more! Maybe I'm rich without even knowing it!


scratch......scratch......scratch...... Nope, not rich yet. HA!

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

I missed not having my precious Greek yogurt mess yesterday. It's my crack and I needed it BAD! I fed my face full of this sweet addiction and instantly felt better!

• 1 4oz container of plain 0% Oikos
• Fuji apple, sliced
• 1 tbs of peach preserves
• a sprinkle of Back to Nature chocolate delight granola

After work we FINALLY made it to the gym. Weeeeeeeeeee! As you know, I went Sun. and Mon. but skipped Tues. and Wed. because of the snow. I exercised at home on both of those days but it's just not the same. I pushed my ass hard today and had a great workout. Sweat was dripping in my eyes people. IN MY EYES! AND IT BURNED! Tomorrow morning is weigh in day. There's no time to mess around! It's time to get down to business!

WORKOUT!

Elliptical Cross Trainer, 60 minutes, 729 calories burned, 5.1 miles
1-3 min., (level 5)
4-6 min., (level 6)
7-9 min., (level 7)
10-12 min., (level 8)
13-15 min., (level 9)
16-18 min., (level 10)
19-21 min., (level 11)
22-24 min., (level 12)
25-27 min., (level 13)
28-30 min., (level 14)
31-33 min., (level 13)
34-36 min., (level 12)
37-39 min., (level 11)
40-42 min., (level 10)
43-45 min., (level 9)
46-60 min., (level 8)
Sit ups

x60
Crunches

x60

I initially had intentions on doing much more with my abs but I was beat. I also felt quivery. Signs of a good workout I guess.

AWE SNAP! There were two lovely boxes waiting for me when I pulled into the driveway. It's always so exciting to get mail! The first was from Jay Robb. I received an awesome bag of goodies to review. I've heard wonderful things about their products and I can't wait to devour them. I received packets of whey, rice and egg protein, a few Jay Bars (protein bars) and an awesome bag.


Of course I dove RIGHT IN and used the strawberry whey protein powder to make tonights smoothie. They claim to be OUTRAGEOUSLY delicious! I just had to know if it was true!

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• Jay Robb strawberry whey protein powder packet
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup frozen strawberry
• small banana

Hold the phone. IT WAS DELICIOUS! So rich and creamy. The flavor was excellent. Jay Robb products contain no gluten, msg, casein, artificial colors or flavor and are sweetened with Stevia. SOLD! It gets a very easy 10 out 10. Thanks Jay Robb! I would totally have this again. The stats are awesome too!


The second box was from Naturally Nutty. I received three sexy little jars of DECADENCE!


Chocolate cherry peanut butter, vanilla almond butter and white chocolate coconut peanut butter. I'M SO EXCITED! Honestly, I don't eat a lot of nut butters because of the high calorie content but I doubt I can say no to these! They sound incredible! A tablespoon in my daily bowl of oatmeal should be very doable. I'll probably try one tomorrow. CAN'T WAIT! Thanks Naturally Nutty!

Nick was having a business meeting which involved dinner with an associate, his boss and another programmer. This meant just Moi for dinner tonight. What to have, what to have...???

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

After some fridge gawking and cabinet raiding, I decided to make spicy Tilapia fillets with fresh green beans and acorn squash. I seasoned the fillets with sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, dill and cayenne and popped them into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.


I tossed the acorn squash in along with the Tilapia. I just sliced it into wedges and seasoned the slices with Spray Butter, cinnamon, sea salt, black pepper and a dash of Splenda.


The green beans were sauteed in a covered pan with spray butter, more teriyaki and a bit of spicy Thai chili paste. What can I say, I like HEAT!


It was a hot, spicy, protein packed, low calorie, low carb and delicious dinner! I heart veggies!

Time for green tea and cuddle time with the Mr. He just got home.

Mr. Evil Scary Scale and I have our weekly date tomorrow morning. Will my good luck streak continue? Here's to hoping!

XOXO
Ildie