Cool as ice!

Well, I'm tired!!!! That's what I get for hanging out with the VERY SCARY GingerDEAD Man last night. I'm a fan of movies that are SO BAD they somehow magically become GOOD! This one is up there on the BAD/GOOD scale for sure! Imagine a pudgy, Barbie sized, evil, murdering and possessed gingerbread man with a knife and a BAD attitude. Brilliant right? HA! The original plan was to watch parts 1 & 2 but NO WAY was I capable of staying for the second one. The first one didn't end until midnight. EEK! I was so tired I passed out during the ride home. Good thing I didn't drive! I may just have to rent part 2 so I can finish the movie in ALL it's horrendous splendor!


I woke up late (shocker) and ran around the house like a maniac all morning. Of course, I ran a bit late for work. Nothing major. I quickly drank (if only I could inject directly into the vein) a huge cup of coffee and enjoyed a delicious bowl of PB2 oats.

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tbs ground flax
• 1 1/2 cups water
• tons of cinnamon
• Splenda to taste
• 2 tbs PB2 (love)

Oh my precious PB2. You give me all the joys of peanut butter with none of the caloric guilt. I wuv you!

Work was quiet today but it felt like something was a brewin. A storm of paperwork perhaps? An attack of emails? Endless phone calls? Whatever it was, I felt like I was in an old Western movie. Waiting, patiently for the posse to ride into town so I can take em down!


POW-POW!

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

Another salad concoction, minus the cottage cheese this time. I opted for my favorite (highly addictive) veggie burger instead.

• Sweet butter lettuce
• Baby spinach leaves
• Cannellini beans
• Cherry tomatoes
• Bread & butter pickles
• Spicy Black Bean Burger (Morning Star Farms brand)
• Spray butter drizzle

It took me a solid 30 minutes to finish this plate. I kept pausing to respond to emails and get some work done. POW-POW! TAKE THAT!

For our break today we raided Aldi and I loaded up on some fresh veggies. I love that place! I picked up like 6 pounds of broccoli, a head of cauliflower, 2 green peppers, cherry tomatoes, oats, 2 avocado, mushrooms, a bag of tangelos, a bag of red onions, a huge bag of spinach and some gum for $16. IN-SANE!

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

• 4oz cup of 0% plain Oikos
• TON of cinnamon
• 1 packet Splenda
• red Bartlett pear, diced
• handful of red grapes
• sprinkle of Kaia Foods cacao bliss granola

Combine thoroughly to make magic in a bowl! YUM!

After work we hustled to the gym for biceps, triceps, shoulder and cardio day. WHEW! Sounds like a lot right? IT WAS A LOT!

WORKOUT!

Arnold Press (dumbbell)
15lb x 15
15lb x 15
15lb x 15
Bicep Curls (barbells)
35lb x 15
35lb x 15
30lb x 15
Tricep Extension (dumbbell)
15lb x 20
15lb x 15
15lb x 15
Tricep Pushdown (cable)
80lb x 15
70lb x 15
70lb x 15
Hammer Curls (dumbbells)
15lb x 15
15lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
Seated Military Press (barbell)
35lb x 15
30lb x 15
25lb x 15
Bicep Curls (barbells)
25lb x 15
25lb x 15
25lb x 15
21's (barbell)
20lb x 1 set
20lb x 1 set
20lb x 1 set
Elliptical, 20 minutes total
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 11
13-14 min - level 12
15-16 min - level 13
17-18 min - level 14
19 min - level 15
20 min - level 10
251 calories total burned

After the gym I FLEW home. I was in a hurry. We never watched Lost last night since we spent the evening with a psychologically disturbed cookie man. I can't WAIT to see it. But first, it was smoothie time!

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

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• a dash of xanthan and guar gum
• 2 cups spinach
• drizzle of coconut flavored, sugar free Torani syrup

SO G-O-O-D! After my brain freeze inducing cocktail I took a quick bath, put my fuzzy pajama pants and rockin slipper socks on. I was still cold as ice. Or is it cool as ice? Perhaps both?! YES, BOTH! HAHAHAHAHAHA!


DINNER (meal #5) at 9:00pm

I was craving veggies! Again! Especially since I picked up so many at Aldi today! Into my largest covered pan went the following.

• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Red onion
• Cauliflower
• Teriyaki
• Sweet chili sauce
• S + P

While the veggies were sauteing away, I also popped some tofu in the oven (at 425 degrees) for maybe 20 minutes or so. I seasoned them with a bit of teriyaki, sweet chili sauce, cayenne and S + P.

Nutritious protein packed perfection on a plate! It was tasty as heck! Enjoyed with an Ezekiel whole wheat bun on the side, which I sprayed with a bit of butter. MMM!


Okay, time to watch LOST! I can't STAND it anymore. I have my blanket cocoon, DVR and cup of berry tea waiting for me. Have a great night!

XO
Ildie

Season spirits sprinkled with sickness

I would like to start today off with a little poem to get you into the SPIRIT of the season. I wrote it about two years ago and I think it's very fitting.

Santa's Bake Shop...

Candy coated confections and lollypops
Sugary smothered treats and gooey gumdrops
Chocolate syrup fountains drip-dripping, oh my
Caramel scented truffle trees bloom near by
The air is full of laughter as I skip
Beside the honey river, my hands I dip
In its rich currants, so smooth and sweet
Magic sprinkled pastries I begin to eat
Decadent coco lava dripping on my chin
Such joy filling my taste buds should be a sin
Ribbons of candy dance about like ruffled lace
Melting into golden wrappers with delicate grace
Fluffy marshmallow rain drops land at my feet
I begin swirl-a-swirling in this decadent treat
Peppermint candy cane arches begin to sprout
Creme covered cupcake mountains all about
I'm feeling all giddy, Fa, la, la, la laa I sing
My sugar mustache shines as I climb a twizler swing
Yummy gummy rope that tastes just like raspberry
Maybe it's cherry, who cares, I'm so MERRY!
Flying back and forth on my super sugar high
I'll never leave this place, where do I apply?

Breakfast was the usual ooey gooey hot mess of goodness.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• dash cinnamon
• dash salt
• 1 banana, sliced
• splenda to taste
• 2 tbs boysenberry preserves

I enjoyed this with a cup of coffee and an entire bottle of water. I CAN DO THIS GALLON ON WATER A DAY THING DANG IT! Once again I had a very productive morning at work and I got a lot of things done. I think the end of the year deadlines are pushing me to get things done and off of my desk faster than usual. I would hate to come back from my lovely 11 day break to piles of insanity! I'm on vacation from the 24th - 3rd. YEAH! OHHHHH I CAN'T WAIT! I'm just GIDDY with anticipation!! I'll just apologize now because my giddy level WILL intensify with each passing day. This is fact! :)

Lunch was awesome and super simple to throw together. I had a nice little salad with the following.

• Spring mix lettuce
• Cherry tomatoes
• Red bell pepper slices
• Morning Star Farms Black Bean Burger, crumbled
• Spray butter "dressing"

SO GOOOOOOOOD! I had to resist the urge to lick my plate clean! It got me super full too but not to that GROSS full level. Win-win! Tasty, good for you and filling!

At lunch Ann and I parted ways and I went shopping on my own. We wept a little and hugged a bit before we parted. Lunches spent apart TEAR at our souls I tell ya! HA. Just kidding. I had to get rid of her for a day so I could actually get some Christmas shopping done FOR her! Sort of hard to do when we spend every single lunch break together. Yes... We are IN FACT inseparable! DEAL WITH IT! This will be us when we are older. HAHAHAHA!!


I got her a LOT of nice things at great prices and I have yet to even reach half of our Christmas spending limit. Yeah, that's right, I'm an AMAZING, deal finding, thrifty little machine of a shopper! Hey Ann, only 17 more days until you can RIP into your packages. Can you handle it? I THINK NOT!

My afternoon snack was a VERY delicious peach Chobani yogurt cup. I STILL have like 4 more varieties left from my lovely package of samples that I received over a month ago form these fantastic folks. I better get on with eating them before they go bad because that would be a disaster!! So far my very favorite flavor has been the pineapple, HOWEVER, this is my second favorite! It was so fresh and peachy without being overly sweet or "fake" tasting. It was excellent. This gets a 10 out of 10!


After work it was off to the gym! We had a GREAT session of cardio today. I still can't get on any of the machines or handle any free weights. My arm needs more time to heal.

Elliptical
30 min., uphill challenge, 346 calories
Bike
15 min., random setting, Level 5, 5.2 miles, 100 calories
Treadmill
10 min., 3.2 speed,0.52 miles

And.....
5-10 minute stretching session (THIS FELT SO GOOD!)

When I got home I found poor Nick curled up on the couch in a comforter like a burrito. He actually left work an hour and a half early today because he's getting sick. He was already feeling it yesterday and was up most of the night because of it. Of course the lack of sleep only made the symptoms that much worse for him at work today. Poor guy looked so tired and miserable. :(

I let him sleep on the couch for a bit and took a nice little bubble bath to warm up. Then I started on dinner. I was craving roasted veggies. I cleaned up some brussel sprouts, mushrooms and carrots and tossed them on a cookie sheet. I sprayed them with Pam and seasoned them up with salt and pepper. I baked them at 425 for 40 minutes.


Nick had his with some pan seared smoked hot sausage. I had mine with a black bean burger from Morning Star Farms on an english muffin with a slice of fat free cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. I realize that this is my second black bean burger today but I don't care! I LOVE THESE THINGS!


For a bit of a snack later I decided to try one of the bars I received yesterday from 18Rabbits. Oh my damn!!! It was super YUMMY people. I had the Funky Figs and Cherries (LOVE the name) variety and knew that I would love it as soon as I opened the package. It was moist, dense, rich, bursting with figs, cherries, walnuts, hazelnuts, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, maple syrup and honey (& probably some other stuff I forgot).


This was seriously one of the best granolas I've ever had. I loved how moist and chewy it was!! This gets an 11+ out 10. :)

Well, I'm going to check on Nick now. Poor guy. Goodnight everyone!!