Shocking Revelation...

Hello lovelies. I hope you're all having a fantastically mundane, repetitive, predictable and boring Monday. Oh wait, that's what my day was like..... I wish the exact opposite for the rest of you.

I feel like this day has slipped right through my clammy little fingers. It's 11:00pm and I just sat down to type out this post. I think we all know what that means. INCREDIBLY FAST RECAP POST! Can-she-do-it? Only time will tell. And heeeere we go!

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• Splenda
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter and a mix of golden and regular raisins.)

SHOCKING REVELATION: I didn'tt really enjoy my bowl of oats this morning. SAY WHAAA? You all know I'm an oatmeal fanatic. I couldn't believe my taste buds. How dare they! Maybe I eat oats too often? Maybe I'll love them again tomorrow? Just not sure! More research is necessary!!!

LUNCH (meal #2) at 12:00pm.

I had a large salad with spinach + cherry tomatoes + Morning Star Farms black bean burger + leftover sauteed veggies from yesterday's lunch + cannellini beans + spray butter.


After my salad feast, I got caught up on some more work and then Ann and I headed out to World Market on our break. I shouldn't be allowed in that store. I am physically incapable of leaving without purchasing something. Sometimes I contemplate leaving my wallet at work. Perhaps this should be mandatory. Ann, I know you're reading this. I put you in charge of this highly important assignment. WATCH ME CLOSE. I'M STEALTHY AND SNEAKY!

Today's purchases included a bottle of Dutch chocolate wine (YES, CHOCOLATE) and some Banana Bread Beer (YES, BANANA BREAD). I've been dying to try both and no time seemed more perfect than vacation. :)


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

Plain Dannon Greek yogurt with Udi's cranberry granola and fresh strawberries for dipping. I had about 5 more strawberries on the side which went unphotographed.


5:00 rolled around in the blink of an eye and we were off to the gym. I felt like I needed a good one. Something to sweat the weekend right out of me!

WORKOUT!

Tricep Pulldown (cable)
80lb x 15
70lb x 15
70lb x 15
Bicep Curls (barbell)
45lb x 15
40lb x 15
35lb x 15
Front Shoulder Raise (barbell)
30lb x 15
25lb x 15
20lb x 15
Hammer Curls (dumbbells)
15lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
Skull Crushers (barbell)
30lb x 15
30lb x 15
30lb x 15
Arnold Press (dumbbells)
15lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
21's (barbell)
30lb x 21
30lb x 21
30lb x 21
Elliptical Cross Trainer
30 minutes, 2.73 miles, levels 6-8

Total time at gym = 1:16
Max HR = 165
Average HR = 142
Total Calories Burned = 625

Afterwards we hustled to Mama and Papa Babushka's house and did the usual ditty. We fed the kitties, got the mail, cleaned up a bit, made sure everything was locked up at least 10x over (to be sure) and called it good.

SNACK (meal #4) at 7:30pm.

I had a Green Goddess Smoothie. Why do people call them monsters? I hardly find spinach to be horrifying. I doubt anyone does except maybe a 5 year old little boy staying with wicked veggie lovin grandma for the weekend. HA! Green Goddess sounds much more appealing to me. This had....

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 3 cups of spinach (not even kidding, I'm on spinach overload today...)
• a few pieces of frozen mango (maybe 1/2 cup)

Blended to pure perfection. YUM!

DINNER (meal #5) at 9:30pm.

After cleaning myself up Nick and I invaded the kitchen like famished, enraged maniacs. He decided on leftover spaghetti from Friday. I decided on leftover chicken breast from last night accompanied by a lovely pile of green beans and a teeny tiny spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and cannelloni beans. Yes, I just HAD to have more spinach.


Of course the chicken was smothered in Frank's hot sauce.


And there you have it my gorgeous friends. This concludes another magnificent tutorial of all my meals today. RIVETING wasn't it? HA! So how did I do? It's officially 11:38 and I am done typing. I kept getting distracted by the TV. I shouldn't write in the living room! However, I'm not done yet. Now I must retrieve the pictures from my camera, decide which ones I want to use and upload them to the post. Sometimes this step takes me for EVER! I try to be a picture perfectionist. Let's see how long it takes me. Be back in a flash!

Annnnnd I'm back. Official time is 11:59. Sleep beckons me. Goodnight!!

XOXO
Ildie

Chicken Hater

Slow, forever dragging, stupid Mondays. You bother bother me! This past weekend flew by way too fast and I was not ready to deal with grownup reality this morning. The office felt like a frozen morgue again. As is typical for Mondays in our building. I should bring a fluffy blanket or a robe to work and wrap myself up in it while I type away at my desk. I wonder if they would get the hint? Would they even notice?

Moving on.....

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

A steamy bowl of the good stuff, naturally.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cup water
• tons of cinnamon
• dash apple pie spice
• dash sea salt
• Splenda to taste
• 2 tbs PB2
• Navitas Naturals cacao sweet nibs

While enjoying this tastiness, I found myself browsing hairstyle pictures online. Ann and I have hair appointments on March 5th and I'm not quite sure (other than coloring it dark) what route to go with the cut. I'm thinking DRASTIC! Ann always says I'm the rebel of the family. Perhaps I should prove it! My hair is VERY long (too damn long) right now and I find myself leaning towards the styles below. IF I can manage to grow enough balls by then and actually go through with it.


So uhm yeah... I'm sort of freaking out about it.

Our IT department was ALL over my office today. They decided to rewire the entire building (it's a nightmare) to avoid future issues and crashes etc... I would love to know why they chose to do this on a Monday instead of the weekend. I'm just saying. They're cutting into precious "find hairstyle" time!! Clearly work was on the slow side today.

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

I made a delicious veggie wrap with green and yellow bell peppers, spinach, bread & butter pickles and a wedge of light Laughing Cow swiss cheese. All rolled up into a honey wheat FlatOut.


I also had a Tanjelo and some more veggies on the side. I'm having one of those HUNGRY days again! BEWARE!


We decided not to leave the building for a break today. I spent it sipping green tea in my office while reading blogs and searching for more haircut ideas. I'm clearly going to obsess about this deeply until our appointment. It's a little Birthday treat to myself. I'll be turning the big 3-3 the day after the SCISSOR MADNESS. EEEEK!

SNACK (meal #3) at 4:15pm.

I indulged in a protein and carb packed yogurt mess. I have one more container of my beloved Oikos left at home. I could just cry. CRY!

• 4oz container of plain, 0% Oikos
• 1 banana, sliced
• sprinkle of Navitas Naturals cacao sweet nibs
• 1 tbs of Back to Nature chocolate delight granola

I thought 5:00pm would never arrive today. By the time it did I was already changed for the gym and ready to GO. YAY! (I was excited about getting to leave, not the idea of sweating for the next hour and a half).

WORKOUT!

Seated Chest Press (plate loaded)

60lb x 15

60lb x 15

50lb x 15

High Row (plate loaded)

100lb x 15 (3 sets)

Inclined Chest Press (plate loaded)

30lb x 15

30lb x 15

20lb x 15

Lateral Pulldown with straight bar (cable)

60lb x 15 (3 sets)

Seated Chest Press (cable)

50lb x 15 (3 sets)

Row Machine (cable)

60lb x 15

50lb x 15

50lb x 15

Rotary Torso Machine (cable)

30lb x 15 - per side (2 sets)

Elliptical Cross Trainer, 20 minutes, 1.75 miles, 252 calories

1-2 min., (level 6)

3-4 min., (level 7)

5-6 min., (level 8)

7-8 min., (level 9)

9-10 min., (level 10)

11-12 min., (level 8)

13-14 min., (level 10)

15-16 min., (level 8)

17-18 min., (level 10)

19-20 min., (level 8)

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

I decided to try another one of the Jay Robb protein packets that I received last week. They haven't disappointed me yet.

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 Tropical Dreamsickle flavored Jay Robb protein packet
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 1 banana
• 1 packet Splenda

So good, so green, so pretty, so delicious!

Nick was already chilling on the couch waiting on me to get home so we could watch more Dexter. The show is like crack! We were up until 1:00am last night watching it with blood shot eyes. I'm not even sure if I blinked during the last 30 minutes. I was tired as heck but I didn't want to miss anything. HA!

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

I haven't cooked chicken in a few weeks. You see, Nick is a self declared chicken hater. I should clarify. He only hates it when it's not deep fried and dripping with grease. HOWEVER, I thought a chicken breast salad sounded really good tonight so he's just going to have to deal with it! ;)

I pan seared the chicken with Pam, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and Morrocan seasoning until golden and then popped them into the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 min! They came out juicy and perfect! I sliced the breasts into bite size pieces and lay them on a bed of spinach. I topped it all with cherry tomatoes, creamy avocado, sugar snap peas Kaia Foods sweet curry sunflower seeds and a drizzle of spray butter.


The salad was delicious! Nick enjoyed it too. Operation Chicken Hater, Annihilater is in full effect. The second phase shall commence sometime next week. Details to follow.

Alright my lovelies, time go hang with my other man (Dexter) now. Have a great night!

XO
Ildie

Snow hater

I am drowning in snow. PLEASE HELP ME! Perhaps I should start a "let's move to AZ" fund and add (magic) money to it every month? I can't stand this frozen whiteness anymore. Did you know that Cleveland, Ohio is #1 on the worst weather City list? That would be for the ENTIRE country, not just Ohio! Yeah, I found this out yesterday. I live just South of this curse! I find this to be highly disturbing!

I drove through the funk this morning and crawled my way slowly into work. I made a nice cup of coffee and soon as I arrived and started prepping some comfort food.

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

Dark Chocolate Cocoa Oats

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tbs ground flax
• 2 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa (Hershey's)
• tons of cinnamon
• dash salt
• 2 tbs PB2
• Splenda to taste
• Love

This was so incredible. The dark chocolate cocoa is SO much better than the regular variety. It looked like mud. Delicious, nutritious, decadent, rich, ooey-gooey mud. My coworkers think I'm crazy sometimes. They see my food and cringe in disgust. Go away, (vigorously flapping hands in their direction) you bother me!

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

I made the whole kitchen stink like hot spinach and eggs. Like I care. Twas delicious! It was a spinach and egg explosion on a plate. SO GOOD!

• 4 egg whites
• chopped spinach
• S+P

Cooked in a frying pan (sprayed with Pam) last night before I went to bed so I could enjoy it today. Eggy lunches make me feel special. I like feeling special. HA! To fuel my spinach addiction, I also tossed some fresh leaves into the Honey Wheat FlatOut wrap along with Sriracha and Trader Joe's cilantro and jalapeno hummus. I'VE DIED AND WENT TO SPICY HEAVEN.


That orange blob in the background is a Tanjelo, which I never ate. I got too full from the wrap.

One again our lameness and hatred of all things cold, wet, snowy and Winter-esque kept us confined to the office for our break today. I had no desire to venture outside. Instead I opted for green tea sippage while perusing blog land. This was the highlight of my day up to this point. Lame? HOW DARE YOU! It was magnificent. I love cathching up with all of you lovely ladies! ;)

The most glorious email was circulated at 4:00pm. The "big boys" said we could leave for the day if we wanted to since the roads were getting crappy. This made me both happy and nervous. EEEK! Of course I immediately put on my coat and got the hot heck out of there. Once second I was there, the next second I was goooooooooone! Swoooooosh!

The roads were crappy but only in certain areas. However, I still thought it best to skip the gym and drove straight home. This would make it two days in a row now that I didn't make it. UGH! Don't you worry though. I still got a workout in.

WORKOUT! (without a snack first, THE HORROR!)

1 SOLID pissed off hour spent shoveling my long driveway. We're talking 5-6 fresh inches out there just waiting on me. Seriously disgusting! I may or may not have been seen BEATING massively tall piles of snow with the shovel, while cursing, profusely!! I may or may not have thrown snowballs... at actual piles of snow. Ha! The hate runs deep. It was so windy, cold and miserable out!

After this freezing torture session I came in and warmed up with some green tea. CURSE YOU WINTER! Once I felt okay, I dug out the dumbbells and did the following exercises in living room. I didn't want to skip upper body day all together so I did what I could.

Superset #1 (3 full sets)

• Dumbbell Bicep Curls, 8lb x 15
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls, 8lb x 15
• Tricep Extension, 8lb x 15

Superset #2 (3 full sets)

• Two Handed Bent Over Tricep Extensions, 8lb x 15
• Dumbbell Lying Tricep Press (skull crushers??), 8lb (each hand) x 15
• Tricep Extensions, 8lb x 15

Concentration Curls (3 sets)

• 8lb x 15

Superset #3 (3 full sets)

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 8lb x 15
• Front Dumbbell Raise, 8lb x 15
• See-Saw Dumbell Raise, 8lb x 15

Upright Dumbbell Row (3 sets)

• 8lb x 15

Shoulder Shrugs (3 sets)

• 8lb x 15

It felt good to get a workout in, even it wasn't at the gym. It's like sweat therapy for the soul!

SNACK (meal #3) at 7:30pm.

You know the drill. As soon as I was done with my workout I made my new fave smoothie. The Mighty Green Goddess.

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 5 drops orange creamsickle Capella Flavor Drops
• 1 packet Splenda

Enjoyed on the couch with a quick episode of What Not To Wear. Nick was CLEARLY not at home!! He was visiting a friend after work for dinner and some MAN TIME (AKA video game session). As always, I took full advantage of the alone time. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Cheers!


After some serious girlie couch time, I was starting to get hungry. Super fast dinner to the rescue.

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

I decided to make a quick and fresh open faced veggie sandwich.

• Ezekiel wheat bun
• Wedge light laughing cow cheese
• Spinach
• 1/2 Avocado
• Green bell pepper slices
• Roasted red peppers
• Bread & Butter pickles

On the side I had the leftover veggies from last night's dinner. VEGGIE OVERLOAD! The sandwich was..... was..... amazing! Everything was good! I enjoyed this very much!


I think I'll call it a night now and curl up with another cup of tea and my DVR. Nick is home now and we have a new exciting Lost episode to watch! Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday night. The week is more than halfway over. YAY!

HUGS!!
Ildie

To be a kid again!

I want to be a kid again! I want to spend all day at home in my pajamas, drinking chocolate milk. I want to enjoy a full day of super sugary cereal highs fueled by the Cartoon Network! I want Barbie's outfit picking and coordinating for her "sink" pool party to be the most stressful part of my day. I want to stay in bed and draw with crayons and read Tiger Beat magazines all day long. I want to spend hours brushing the luscious tails of my awesome My Little Pony collection. WHY was I in such a hurry to grow up? WHY?


Sadly though, I had to deal with grown up reality and got ready for work. Nowhere near as much fun as a Tom & Jerry marathon!!!

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

The usual GROWNUP breakfast of sweet deliciousness.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tbs ground flax
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Splenda to taste
• 5 drops vanilla custard Capella Flavor Drops
• Tons of cinnamon
• Dash pumpkin pie spice
• Dash salt
• 2 tbs PB2
• 1 tbs sugar free peach preserves

Oh-So-Good! I gawked out my drafty office window while enjoying this warm bowl of goodness. I could smell the impending snow creeping closer and closer with each passing minute. Nothing was falling yet but I sensed that danger was near! An hour later my worst fears came true!


IT WAS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! It's like we're being punished for not having a lot of snow in Jan. Why do I live in Ohio again? Hmmmm.......

LUNCH (meal #2) at 12:00pm.

I brought in the leftover sauteed peppers and onion mix from last night and made a nice little wrap out of it. I used a honey wheat FlatOut.


Accompanied by a lovely blood orange and tanjello combo.


We did not leave the office for a break today. We decided it would be best to skip our break today and take off at 4:00 instead of 5:00. This way I can avoid the crazy rush hour traffic and have a safer drive home. I guess the roads were getting pretty slick out there.

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

I had my snack an hour earlier than usual. I was HUNGRY! Greek yogurt addiction attack averted! WHEW!

• 1 4oz cup plain 0% Oikos
• Red Bartlett pear, sliced & microwaved for 1 min.
• Dash cinnamon
• 1 packet Splenda
• Sprinkle of Back To Nature, chocolate delight granola

I can sum up my drive home for you in two words. IT SUCKED! It took me 40+ minutes to make it home and it usually takes me 15. BAH! I changed into my gym clothes and hopped on the bike to let some steam off.

WORKOUT!

1-5 min. (level 4)

6-10 min. (level 5)

11-15 min. (level 6)

16-20 min. (level 7)

21-25 min. (level 8)

26-30 min. (level 9)

31-35 min. (level 10)

36-40 min. (level 9)

41-45 min. (level 8)

46-50 min. (level 7)

51-60 min. (level 6)

Only a lousy 215 calories burned. WOW. (lame)

14 miles pedaled total.

I did what I could with what I had to work with at home and anything is better than nothing. I wish I could afford a NordicTrack Pathfinder. One day... One day... I would love a home gym!

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

I indulged in another Mighty Green Goddess Smoothie. This stuff is addictive!

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 2 cups baby spinach
• handful of ice
• 5 drops orange creamsickle Capella Flavor Drops
• 1 packet Splenda

Yep, this still my favorite combo to date. I guess being a grownup isn't so bad after all. I'll drink this over a regular, unhealthy, sugar loaded milkshake any day!

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And they're like
It's better than yours
Damn right, it's better than yours

Sorry, had a stupid moment with a song that is now stuck in my head (Milk Shake by Kelis)...


HA! Moving on.

DINNER (meal #5) at 8:00pm.

It was another No Carb evening in Babushka Land. Once again I found myself sauteing a huge pile of veggies for dinner. I used broccoli, sugar snap peas and carrots this time. I drizzled them with teriyaki, Thai hot chili paste and a bit of sugar free apricot preserves. I like the sweet-heat combo.

Then I decided to make a MASSIVE sunny side up egg. How did I do this? I whisked together 3 egg whites poured them into a frying pan (sprayed with Pam) and then added one whole egg to the middle.

I tossed the veggies on top of the egg (which covered the whole plate by the way) and left the yolk in the center open for dipping purposes.


Random I know but FREAKIN DELICIOUS! I'll be making this again for sure. I shall call it...... Eggie-Veggie.

A bit later I was having a snack attack. What the heck? haven't had one of these in WEEKS!

SNACK ATTACK SNACK (meal #6) at 10:00pm. OH MY!

I decided to make a quick yogurt treat. I added pineapple slices and sugar free peach preserves to a bowl with plain Oikos. Healthy and just the right amount of sweet to cure my craving.


I think I'll go curl up on the couch now and zone out with a bit of TV. Will the snow ever stop falling? BLEK! I sure hope I don't have problems with getting to work tomorrow morning!

Have a great night lovelies!
XO
Ildie