Random Rambles of beauty

Hello my gorgeous friends. I hope you're all having a wonderful Wednesday. Today was a bit busy and rough at work but I MADE IT! JUST BARELY I TELL YOU! The veins were a poppin and there was a lot of tongue biting goin on! ;)

Let's move right along into a random topic. I like to do this from time to time. Gotta keep it interesting right? SPICE THINGS UP A BIT!

I was checking myself out in the mirror this morning. Grabbing at my face and my neck. Inspecting my porous crevices. Yanking at my gut and arms and what not. You know what I'm talking about ladies. We ALL do it. I kept investigating my TINY yet visible eye wrinkles (EEK) and permanent laugh lines. Pinching my bits and pieces. I did this for a good 10 minutes before slathering on moisturizer, getting dressed and painting my face on. Why do we do this? This ritualistic, self worth evaluation? I get carded ALL the time. Clearly people think I'm way younger than I truly am. (LOVE IT) Please don't let me know if you disagree with their perception... HA! Sure, I could use to lose some more weight (which I'm obviously working on) but I think I look GOOD for someone who'll be 33 in less than two weeks! (OMG)

Sadly, a lot of women don't share my views and feel insufficient. I used to be that way but somehow grew to love and accept myself. I'm eating right and working out to be healthy and to feel good. It's not purely for the physical transformation. I won't lie though, having a smaller ass is nice too.

Where am I going with all of this? A blogger I read regularly, Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point has started the most brilliant movement. Operation Beautiful is so simple yet so amazing. Please check it out **HERE**. ;)

(Here is a snipped from her lovely site) - The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!

I just HAD to share all this with you. Random ramble session is now over. Thanks for listening.

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 tbs flax
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa
• 1 tbs Acai powder from Navitas Naturals
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• dash salt
• Splenda to taste
• 2 tbs PB2
• 1 tbs sugar free peach preserves

I swooned with my decadent bowl buddy for a solid 30 minutes. For reasons beyond me I ate it super slow today. I usually INHALE my food. This was a rarity!

I spent the rest of the morning working my tired brain to pieces. So many emails, so little time.

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

I don't know what I was thinking when I packed my lunch last night. The amount of food I had spread out before me was MASSIVE! I packed the last of the leftover sweet and sour veggies from the other day...


and a HUGE salad!

The salad contained the following.

• Romaine
• Sweet butter lettuce
• Green & Orange bell pepper
• Cherry tomatoes
• Asian veggie burger (Morning Star Farms)
• Drizzle of Spray Butter

I ate all of the veggies and maybe half of my salad (I picked the burger off the top of course!) and then sadly had to toss the rest. WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! :-O

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a hazy work coma. Before I knew it, my usual break time had come and gone and I never even left the building. This was probably wise because I would've ended up staying late to get everything done. Busy-Busy!

I was so busy that I almost worked through snack time. THE HORROR! Can you imagine missing snack time? So scary! I need to be more careful!

SNACK (meal #3) at 4:30pm.

The usual Mix of Oikos, Fuji apple and a drizzle of granola. It just never gets old!


I BARELY escaped the office on time today. Basically I forced myself to just walk away. The work will all be here tomorrow. No need to worry about that. It will be waiting for me.... silently.... lurking and slithering in the dark....

WORKOUT!

Bicep Curls (Barbell)
40lb x 12
35lb x 15 (2 sets)
Tricep Pulldown with Rope Grip (cable)
70lb x 15
70lb x 12
60lb x 14
See Saw Press (Dumbbell)
12.5lb x 15 (3 sets)
Hammer Curls (Dumbbell)
15lb x 15 (2 sets)
12.5lb x 15
Skull Crushers (Barbell)
20lb x 15 (3 sets)

Military Press (Barbell)
20lb x 15 (3 sets)
21's (Barbell)
20lb (3 sets)
Concentration Curls (Dumbell)
12.5 lb x 15
10lb x 15 (2 sets)
21's (Barbell)
25lb (2 sets)
Elliptical Cross Trainer, 30 minutes, 2.61 miles, 370 calories burned
1 min. - level 5
2 min. - level 6
3 min. - level 7
4 min. - level 8
5 min. - level 9
6 min. - level 10
7 min. - level 11
8 min. - level 12
9 min. - level 13
10 min. - level 14
_____________________
11 min. - level 5
12 min. - level 6
13 min. - level 7
14 min. - level 8
15 min. - level 9
16 min. - level 10
17 min. - level 11
18 min. - level 12
19 min. - level 13
20 min. - level 14
_____________________
21 min. - level 14
22 min. - level 13
23 min. - level 12
24 min. - level 11
25 min. - level 10
26 min. - level 9
27 min. - level 8
28 min. - level 7
29 min. - level 6
30 min. - level 5

Work stress fueled me through a GREAT workout. HA! I was feeling pumped and pushed it hard.

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

I recovered my tender little arms with a cool, protein packed smoothie.

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 banana
• 1/2 of frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1 tbs Acai powder from Navitas Naturals
• 1 packet Splenda
• Dash cinnamon (because WHY not?)

This was a tasty blend! The color was NOT appealing but the flavor was very good!

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

I have two words for you. Chocolate Pancakes! I was dreaming about them ALL day long today. It's been WEEKS (several long agonizing weeks) since I've indulged in their deliciousness and I could resist them no longer. Of course I made the healthy version! The best of both worlds!

Into my trusty little blender went the following.

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
• 1/4 unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 2 packets Splenda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Blended till smooth and creamy. This was enough to make 4 regular size pancakes. I heated up my largest frying pan, sprayed it with Pam and delicately poured my little round cakes of love. I cooked each side for about 2-3 minutes. I topped them with the last smidgen of PB2 that I had left (I WEEP OPENLY IN DESPAIR), Kaia Foods cocoa mole sunflower seeds, 1 tbs of coconut flakes and a drizzle of Smucker's sugar free blueberry syrup.

I took my first bite and gasped. Yeah, it was THAT good! Pat on the back Ildie. Pat on the back!

I think I'll end my night with a delicious cup of my new favorite coconut chai black tea (Zhena's Gypsy Tea) with a splash of sugar free cream. Divine!


Alright my lovelies. Time to unwind before I'm forced to return to florescent paradise (work) tomorrow. Have a great night!

HUGS!
-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

A momentous occasion!

Have Valentines Day my lovelies.

Double date Sushi last night was absolutely brilliant!


We don't go out to eat often so I savor these decadent little moments. The restaurant was overflowing with sushi loving dolled up couples! I'm so glad I made reservations! I ordered a green tea as soon as we sat down to warm up.


Nick and I went wild when ordering. We got their deluxe sushi dinner (5 rolls, 2 soups, 2 salads) AND ordered another "special" roll on top of that. SOOOO GOOD!


Spicy salmon...


Spicy crab...


Eel...


Philadelphia...


California...


Green hat... (deep fried salmon, white tuna, crab, cream cheese & avocado topped with tobiko, eel sauce and wasabi mayo)


I can't explain how it's even possible, but we finished every last bite. Oh Sushi, I adore you SO much! We let the food settle for a bit and spent a good hour chatting after dinner. Good times! ;)

After dinner we came home and cuddled on the couch while watching a "new to me show" (Dexter). I LOVE it!!! What a great premise and idea. I'm completely hooked! All in all it was a busy, long, fun, delicious and awesome day.

................

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

I was craving custard oats this morning. Naturally I went straight to work and made a creamy bowl of goodness.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1/2 cup water
• Tons of cinnamon
• Dash apple pie spice
• Dash sea salt
• Splenda to taste
• 2 whipped egg whites (stirred in at the end and cooked for maybe 1 min)

Topped with cacao sweet nibs from Navitas Naturals and a tablespoon of superfruit preserves. Enjoyed with a nice hazelnut espresso with cream.


Enjoyed in my Cutie Pie bowl in honor of V'day, of course! ;)


I received a lovely package from Navitas Naturals earlier in the week to review and I haven't had a chance to post on it yet. I was so excited to receive these goodies! They were nice enough to send me a bag of dried mulberries, wakame flakes, acai powder, cacao sweet nibs and an adorable baby water bottle.


Here is a little info off of their website. (Navitas Naturals is proud to be a green business, supporting fair-trade policies and sustainable agriculture. Our power foods are certified organic, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, raw, and certified kosher.)

The cacao nibs were crunchy with a mellow dark chocolate infused flavor and aroma. They paired perfectly with the hot oatmeal. I give them an 8 out of 10. I wish they melted more easily in the oatmeal though.


LUNCH (meal #2) at 1:00pm.

Lunch was spent at Mama and Papa Babushka's house this afternoon. I had a nice pile of sauteed veggies (broccoli, green beans, mushrooms & sugar snap peas), a Tilapia fillet and a small pile of spinach. All sprinkled with sprouted sweet curry sunflower seeds.


After lunch we partook in the usual battle of board games (we're all fiercely competitive!!) and chatted over coffee and green tea. Lovely.... Lovely....


We also discovered something AMAZING during our visit. Ann's very first little grey hair. HAHAHA! I told her I would post about this and she's going to kill me. I LOVE YOU ANN! Welcome to your 30's baby! ;)


My Mama yanked it right off her skull. While I was making sure to document this momentous occasion, she was making sure to make fun of my ONE wrinkle (next to my mouth due to my crooked smile, exactly where she is pointing on her face). HA! You little B$%#!


SNACK (meal #3) at 5:00pm.

When I got home I made a quick snack. A Fuji apple, two tablespoons of PB2 and a few pretzel rods.


Nick and I cozied up on the couch to watch more episodes of Dexter. I'm completely hooked on his sexy, crazy ass. LOVE! We watched three more episodes back to back. I swear it just keeps getting better and better.

DINNER (meal #4) at 8:00pm.

My Mama sent nick some deep fried chicken tenders and roasted potatoes for dinner. Naturally I was not interested in this grease laden goodness. I opted for a healthy burrito instead. I sauteed some green & yellow bell peppers and a small white onion in spray butter and taco seasoning. I loaded the veggies into a honey wheat FlatOut with a serving of Morning Star Farms grounds and a slice of provolone cheese. I seared the wrap for a few seconds on both sides to get it nice and toasty. Topped it with the rest of the pepper/onion mix, pineapple salsa, jalapeno slices and taco sauce.


Yeah, it tasted even better than it looked. SO GOOD! I estimate this at roughly 350 calories. Amazing right?

Well, I wont even lie about it. I'm going to wrap this up now I can watch even MORE Dexter. He's the most adorable murderer I've ever seen! I need more!!!

Enjoy the rest of your precious weekend hours.

HUGS!!
Ildie