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

Because I love ya...

This morning started out like normal. I stumbled out of bed, shuffled downstairs, put on a pot of aromatic coffee and started on some exciting laundry. But then, THEN, I looked outside. IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT and was still snowing! Not bad or a lot, but enough to piss me off. BAH! Hate it! I immediately became tense. Don't worry, this is normal. HA! To try and calm my nerves, I decided to make a nice bowl of oats.

• 1/4 cup Irish oats
• 1/4 cup 5 grain cereal
• 1/2 cup vanilla Almond Breeze
• 3/4 cup water
• dash salt
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa
• dried cherries
• golden raisins
• 1 tbs sweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tbs of my pumpkin bite filling from the other day

Oh man, this was yummy! And filling. Almost too filling. I had to put my full tummy woes aside though and shortly after eating I got dressed to head to the gym. I met Ann for our workout at about 10:45. Later then we planned on meeting, that's for sure. We had a good sweat session though. Really good actually!

Seated Leg Curl
70lb x 20
75lb x 18
80lb x 15
Leg Extension
70lb x 20
75lb x 15
80lb x 12
Single Leg Press
80lb x 25
90lb x 20
100lb x 15
Stiff Leg Deadlift
35lb x 20
45lb x 18
55lb x 15
Elliptical
Interval training (Resistance 5 & 8)
35 minutes, 415 calories

I am in love with the elliptical. I want one!!! I DO!

When I got home I was sweaty, cold, worn out and oddly enough, hungry. Even though I had a late breakfast. Go figure. I decided to quickly whip up a breakfast sandwich. I toasted an Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted whole grain bun to start. I topped each half with the following. Pan seared, thick sliced turkey, egg whites (4 total) and fat free american cheese. Oh yes people, these hot little bad boys were DELISH! I also had a second cup of coffee to try and warm up... And because I love coffee. I realize I have a problem with caffeine. I just don't care.


After breakfast I played around with some more laundry, took a bath, made the bed, fed the cat (the list goes on and on and on)... I won't bore you anymore. Nick decided to venture out later in the afternoon to get some Christmas shopping done. He tried to talk me into going. NO! NOPE! I wasn't having it! I was finally nice and warm. I wanted NO part of venturing out into snow, wind, cold, and most importantly, crazy, rabid, foaming at the mouth shopping madness. While nick was gone I decided to get some wrapping done. I busted out my big box of ribbons, bows and wrapping paper. I grabbed some whip and cinnamon covered FUEL (more coffee.. again, I admit that I have a coffee problem.. help me) and went to work!!!


I did pretty good and wrapped everything that I could. I need to pick up a few more bags before I can finish. Dang it! I thought I had more at home. BAH!

Nick got home just in time for dinner, which was going to be SUPER simple tonight. I took the leftover pesto pasta/chicken dish from Thursday night and tossed in some fresh, sliced tomatoes, Parmesan and Feta. I poured the mix into my oven safe bowls and popped them in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Just enough time to heat them through and melt the cheese. I LOVE SIMPLICITY!


We curled up on the couch with our tasty, cheesy pasta bowls (newsflash, we never eat in the dining room.... I know, lame) and decided to watch 2012. Uhm.... Hmmm.... It was big ball of ridiculous, unrealistic, overdone, badly acted madness. COME ON! AND it was like 2:30 long. Oh I was so mad for sitting through the whole thing. I should have known better. HA!

We put the movie in so late that it's now nearing 1:00 am as I finish this post. Yeah, that's right, feel special. I made sure to post for you all before I went to bed because I love ya!

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT! ;)

Leftovers rock my world!

Do you know why I fear being off from work, even if just for one day.....? This! HA!


I guess 120 some emails isn't that bad considering that I missed a whole day. It was 12:30 by the time I was finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. WHEW! I did manage to sneak away form my desk at about 9:00 though. Just long enough to make this warm and cozy bowl of oats. I missed you so much oats!! I shan't ever go another weekend without you, my beloved!!

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup water
• pinch salt
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbs Trader Joe's unsweetened cocoa
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 tbs pumpkin butter

I felt better the second I took a bite. Oatmeal has such a comforting and calming effect on me. MM. I love it!

Lunch was just as delicious. I had another veggie sandwich. I can't get enough of this stuff!

• 2 sliced pumpernickel bread
• 1 wedge of lite Laughing Cow Cheese
• a few slices of green bell pepper
• a handful of spinach leaves
• 4 slices of tomato

I also enjoyed a delicious Honey Crisp Apple on the side. It was the perfect lunch!

For our break today I had to run to the bank. We also decided to run to the small grocery store halfway across town because Ann claimed they had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.69 a pound on Sunday. Yes, I WILL travel for a deal!! However, once we got there, we realized it must have been a one day sale because they were back up to $3.49 a pound. FAIL! However, when we turned the corner in the dairy isle, we came upon a glorious vision. It was Mama doing her grocery shopping. What are the odds right? HA! I ran up to her with my cart. Just like Ann, she has blinders on when in public and didn't see or acknowledge me till our carts were almost touching. HA! We wandered the store with her and helped her finish her shopping, then said our goodbyes and came back to work. So all in a all, a very enjoyable lunch.

For my afternoon snack, I enjoyed a plain Oikos Greek yogurt with a blueberry wheat muffin from Trader Joe's.


Oh man, this muffin is delicious! I've decided that we will HAVE to go back there one more time before the bad weather settles in. As you all know, I freak out when I have to drive in snow. I'll be lucky to make it to work, let alone drive to Cleveland for some muffins. HA!

I was not at all excited about the gym today. I think my body is still in its semi recuperating stage from Saturday night. And it was cardio day. UGH! However, I sucked it up and did what I had to do.

Treadmill
40 minutes - 2.2 miles - 3.2 speed (trust me, this is fast. I'm short).

Bike
15 minutes - Random setting, uphill - 5.4 miles - Level 5.

Oh yeah, my body hurts! I think I'm still a bit tender from this past Saturday. Good grief, my body must hate me right now! I crawled into my car, drove home and immediately dove into a nice hot bath. I instantly felt better!

After my bath Nick handed me a package. YAY, I got some goodies from Larabar. They sent me 4 of their bars to sample (peanut butter & jelly, tropical fruit tart, lemon bar and cashew cookie) . They all sound amazing and I can't wait to try them! They're a bit higher in calories and fat that I'm used to but not bad overall. I hear great things about them and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.


For dinner Nick was having leftover authentically Hungarian stuffed cabbage courtesy of my lovely Mama. She gave it to Ann on Sunday to bring to me at work today. I obviously did NOT visit the folks this past weekend due to my delicate state. Which I of course felt like crap about. But I did see my Mama today so score 1 for Ildie. :)

I decided to have the leftover chicken tenders from last night. I decided to go the Mexican route. You can never go wrong!!! I quickly cooked up some peppers, purple onions and mushrooms. I tossed them with the chicken and made a wrap using a Flat Out. I also added just a bit of fat free American cheese. One the side I enjoyed some fat free refried beans and the rest of the stuffing that I couldn't squeeze into the wrap. SO GOOD! And so easy! Sometimes I amaze even myself!


After we ate dinner we had planned to watch some House. However, a tragic occurrence took place. His Xbox 360 broke. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? No more House, no more games for Nick, no more movies watched directly through the computers. SIGH! Nick was so sad. He's going to mail it away and get it repaired for free. Thank goodness he has a warranty!! Unfortunately it will probably take a couple of weeks. SO SAD!

So instead we relaxed on the couch and did some good old fashioned channel flipping. We never watch TV. Almost everything we watch is recorded. It was like a whole new world.

And with that, I bid you goodnight.