Rocky, you so Bossy

With a wicked smile
Sassy mad style
I stepped on Mr. Scale
I WILL PREVAIL
I lost the pound I gained
Reputation regained
I win again, call me Rocky
Ayeo Adrian, I'm feelin bossy!

HAHAHA! I little tribute to the ongoing scale wars that I'm winning. TAKE THAT!!! Current weight loss remains at 46.8 pounds total.

Friday is here. Finally!! I can't wait to get the weekend started!

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 9:15am.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp apple pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda to taste
• (Microwaved and topped with ground flax, 2 tbs sugar free cherry preserves, 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter and one headless sugar free Peeps chick)

Hello there little chicketty.


CHOMP!


Delicious!


And then it happened, one of my coworkers called me "thin". Though I HIGHLY prefer the word healthy, I gladly accepted her clearly brilliant and accurate assessment. HA! Feelin good, feelin good! I'm all sorts of smiles today.

LUNCH (meal #2) at 12:20pm.

I whipped up a quick egg white scramble last night and brought it to work today. I stuffed into a whole grain and flax FlatOut with some spinach, a wedge of light Swiss Laughing Cow Cheese and a drizzle of Sriracha. Delicious and jam packed with protein. Had me full for hours.


I managed to get all of my grocery shopping done on my lunch break today. Though sunny, it was still in the 30's which meant that I could keep all of the food in my trunk without having to worry about it until I got home. I usually spend a fortune on groceries. I guess I have exquisite taste? Last week I managed to buckle down and only spent $43. That is INSANE for me! Did I manage to pull it off again? NOPE! I spent $78. Trust me, this is still stellar for me! I was blowing $100 every single week without exception there for a while. I'm finally starting to pay more attention to what I've got at home, rotting in my cupboards and my freezer. I'm also making better choices at the store. HEY, I NEED VACATION MONEY!

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

I indulged in a sweet little treat today instead of my usual yogurt mess. First of all, I had a second cup of coffee. I'M SUCH A REBEL! Hey, it's Friday. I'm allowed a treat! I've been a GOOD GIRL (mostly)!!


I also devoured a tasty raw mint chip macaroon that I received from Emmy's Organics a few days ago to sample. Holy my goodness was this good! Minty, fresh, subtly sweet with great dense texture and coconut flavor. I love coconuts so much! This tasty little bite was vegan, raw and gluten free.

Thanks Emmy's! I loved it! This gets a 10 out of 10! :)

And finally to top it all off, I devoured (murdered) another little chick and took the rest of my supplements for the day. Quite the "fulfilling" line of goodies no? CLEARLY not as nutritious as my afternoon snacks usually are but I just felt like having a sweet little treat.


After work I braved the rush hour block party and snailed home. Put my groceries away and realized I had a lovely package waiting for me from Udi's. The lovely Heather sent me 4 bags of their fantastic granolas to sample.


I won't even lie, I was looking VERY forward to this package and I can't WAIT to dig in.

I received a bag of Vanilla granola,

Cranberry granola,

Original granola,

and Au Naturel granola.

They all sound delicious and are dairy, soy, gluten and egg free. All are made with thick-cut rolled oats and wild flower honey. Divine! Thanks Heather! ;)

As soon as I managed to finally sit and relax for a bit, Nick and I instantly started discussing vacation again. We've got one thing on the brain and one thing only. NO, not THAT you pervs!!! A BREAK AWAY FROM WORK AND LIFE! We both need it! I think I need it more than he does. I'm very delicate, you see. HA!

We're now pondering over Outer Banks, NC. You can rent a house at a reasonable rate ON the beach AND I would have access to a full kitchen all week. WIN-WIN! The final decision is still a work in progress though. I just like talking about it. CAN YOU TELL!?

DINNER (meal #4) at 9:00pm.

I picked up a head of cabbage at the store today and I just knew that I had to include it in tonight's dinner. I love cabbage! I decided to make a veggie loaded chicken stir fry.

• 1/2 head of cabbage, chopped fine
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
• Broccoli
• Green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 tbs hot Thai chili paste
• 2 tbs Teriyaki sauce
• 2 tbs Soy sauce
• 1 tbs Fish sauce
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter
• 5 ounce chicken breast cut into small strips

I sauteed the above in my biggest pan until everything got nice and tender. While the goodies were simmering away, I also cooked up some Thai Rice Noodles. Once everything was done I tossed it all together and topped it with a bit of teriyaki sunflower seeds for some crunch. I didn't have sesame seeds or regular nuts so I improvised. It was amazing!


Now it's time for a bit of a snack (AKA Meal #5) I'm feelin snacky!

some tea....


Some Newman's Own Organic salted pretzel sticks....


And rest and relaxation.... I got a LOT going on tomorrow.

1. Laundry
2. Clean house up a bit (it's not bad)
3. Gym
4. Help Ann organize and arrange items in her new apartment (I LOVE DECORATING)
5. Cooking something tasty for lunch
6. POSSIBLY some baking... NOT SURE YET! I ALWAYS BURN STUFF! (This might not happen till Sunday!!)
7. Dinner out for a friends "BIG 30th" Birthday (Middle Eastern food, I can't wait!)

Yep, that about wraps it up. WHEW, this has been a long post, no?

Questions:

1. Are you planning a trip anywhere this year? Do you go crazy with the planning and the details like I do?

2. Have any low calorie, healthy baking recipes to share? Be it cookies or granola bars. DO SHARE! SIMPLE BEING KEY HERE. I AM NOT A BAKER!

XOXO
Ildie

I LOVE FRIDAYS!

Calendar Coma

It's Friday haaaay! So exciting! I love Fridays! Well it's time to fess up and confess my sins for the week. Good thing I've been a good girl aye?

Here is the official weekly update of my 2010 goals for your reading pleasure. I'm only going to touch base on the IMPORTANT ones.

Weight loss - I only lost 1 pound this week. But I'll take it. I was initially angry but now that I've had time to reflect on it, any weight LOST is a step in the right direction. This brings my total weight loss to 34.1 pounds.

Water consumption - This is still going good. I average between 75oz - 100oz a day.

New Recipes - I tried one last night and it turned out great. I also dabbled with hummus earlier in the week. So yeah, this goal is going great. I plan to make some new delicious eats this weekend as well. YEAH!

More cardio and ab workouts - Going good. I try to do a bit of cardio with EACH workout and abs at least 2x a week. Not bad.. Not bad at all.

And there you have it. I think I'm doing pretty good! Wave your stupid stick of laziness and fatty food temptations in front of me all you want. I WILL NOT CAVE! NEVAH!


Now let's talk about some food! Breakfast was... Well you already know what it was don't you? :)

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 tbs PB2
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• dash salt
• Splenda to taste

This stuff just makes me smile! So good!

You know what else made me smile? My Lunch! HA! (I was bored)


It was leftovers from last nights dinner, sans the PB2 I stirred in at the end, rice noodles or chicken. It was just the cabbage and broccoli mixture which I sauteed in soy sauce, Thai chili paste and oyster sauce. On the side I had an "eye popping" hard boiled egg for some protein and a light FlatOut wrap sliced into wedges.

They made for the perfect scooper.

This stuff had me FULL FOR HOURS! So full in fact that I never had my scheduled afternoon snack. Which was to be a yogurt mess. There was no way I could eat it though. I was STUFFED!

For the first time in AGES I was able to drive straight home after work. Since I'm changing my regular grocery shopping day from Friday afternoons to Sunday mornings my afternoon was free. FREEDOM IS FANTASTIC! Sometimes I feel like a prisoner of my own set schedule. The same routine, week after week and it HARDLY ever changes! In a way I like the simplicity of knowing what's next but sometimes I just feel TRAPPED! Do you ever feel like that? Like you're in a calendar coma and you can't see past it? Wake up, work, workout, clean up, cook dinner, blog, sleep, repeat. That's my day 5 times a week. HA!


As soon as I got home I grabbed my new obsession (espresso maker) and brewed a nice cup of caramel flavored coffee. I am in LOVE with this amazing little $7 dollar find!


It makes the best coffee I swear!


Maybe I should get a French press next? You know, to cover all my coffee obsessed bases and compare the flavors. HA! As I said before, I have a coffee problem. It's my all time favorite drink. Followed by fine wine, of course!

I tossed in a load of laundry and then vegged out on the couch for a while while sipping my yummy beverage of choice. It was SO nice to relax.

When dinner time rolled around Nick and I started prep on the usual Friday SENSATION! Taco Salad. You can find the recipe I follow for my "no meat" version ***HERE***. I used cannellini beans in place of black beans this time though.


I enjoyed a few delicious Food Should Taste Good (The Works) chips with dinner as well. I stacked them all pretty like around the bowl. YUM!


After dinner I was gawking into my fridge to get an idea of what we needed from the store. Sadly I realized that I was almost out of Oikos again. OH THE TRAGEDY! I hope I find some at Trader Joe's tomorrow. Do they even carry it? I'm SO EXCITED to go. The plan for tomorrow is to get to the gym SUPER early, clean up at Ann's place, grab a late breakfast while there and hit the road by 11:30 at the latest. I bet I spend a small fortune when we get there! Scared... Maybe I should set myself a limit? NAH! ;)

Have a great night!