Monday Voodoo

Something peculiar was going on today. Some sort of magical Monday voodoo. First of all, I woke up energized and happy. ON A MONDAY! It was mild out and raining instead of snowing and freezing. IN FEBRUARY! IN OHIO! Work was not a hectic, stressful or a panic fueled nightmare. DURING THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH!

I'm not sure what the hot heck is going on here but I'm just going to go with the flow. Shhhh. Pretend I never mentioned it. Don't want to ruin the good karma flow. Ohmmmmmmm........

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• cinnamon
• pumpkin pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda to taste
• 1 tbs flax
• 1 tbs sugar free peach preserves (Smucker's)
• 2 tbs PB2

My coworkers always drool over my oatmeal breakfasts. Calm down everyone! It's just a magnificent bowl of warm oats that took me 5 minutes to prep. Anyone can do this. All you have to do is put a bit more effort in. I quickly shimmied past the drooling onlookers, shut my door and hid in my office. This oatmeal is mine and you can't have it. MINE YOU HEAR?! I had my usual sexy food photo shoot behind closed doors and then slowly devoured every last bite.

RANDOM TOPIC TIME:

I'm having some closet woes. I'm well aware of the weight loss vs buying new clothes rules. I watch enough What Not To Wear to KNOW that I'm doing it wrong! Waiting until I reach my goal before purchasing new clothes is unnecessary torture. I KNOW that I should reward myself for what I've accomplished already. However, funds can't allow me to splurge on a new wardrobe every 2 months. DILEMMA! Here's what I'm currently struggling with.

• Most of my pants are either to big or still too small. (I never let go of my smaller sizes from when I first lost weight YEARS ago. I know. This is another NO NO!)
• I'm SWIMMING in all of my gym clothes.
• My boobs fall out of my LARGE bras every time I raise my arms. This also happened with a sports bra at the gym the other day. HA! NOT GOOD!
• I look sloppy most of the time because of this.
• Winter is almost over. I feel like waiting for Spring might be a good idea. Can I do it? Not sure at this point.
• My closet is a nightmare!! I've got sizes ranging from Small to X'large and I'm completely out of room! HELP!

Anyways, I just wanted to rant a bit. All done now. If you have suggestions PLEASE SHARE. Perhaps a raid of the local Thrift Stores is in order!

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

I had a nice salad today. I went a little wild in the produce department last Friday and my fridge is FULL of fresh veggies. MUST EAT THEM ALL before they go bad!

• Sweet butter lettuce
• Sugar snap peas
• Cherry tomatoes
• Orange bell pepper
• Black Bean Burger (from Morning Star Farm's)
• Drizzle of Spray Butter

We had the most exciting break away from the office today. WAIT FOR IT..... WAIT FOR IT..... I fueled up my car. Can you handle the excitement? Then we.....WAIT FOR IT..... WAIT FOR IT...... went to HomeGoods and roamed around aimlessly for about 30 minutes. We both left empty handed. WILD right?

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

My beloved Oikos and I were reunited once again. I think we both realized that we can't go more than a few days without each other. Why fight it? We're meant to be together. I diced up a sweet Bartlett pear and topped it with cinnamon infused Oikos and a sprinkle of Back To Nature chocolate delight granola.


WORKOUT!

After work it was off to the gym for back, chest and cardio day. Not one of my favorites but I rocked it. The leg still feels funky so I struggled on the Elliptical a bit but worked through it. I kept the resistance down. I hope it gets back to normal by Saturday so I can do my complete lower body workout. I only half assed it last Saturday! :(

Lateral Pulldown with V-bar (cable)

70lb x 15

60lb x 15 (2 sets)

Seated Chest Press (cable)

75lb x 15 (2 sets)

60lb x 15

High Row (plate loaded)

90lb x 15 (3 sets)

Seated Chest Press (plate loaded)

60lb x 15 (2 sets)

50lb x 15

Low Row (plate loaded)

50lb x 15 (3 sets)

Advanced Chest Press (plate loaded)

30lb x 15 (3 sets)

Elliptical Cross Trainer, 2.6 miles, 30 min.

Interval Training, levels 6-8, 356 calories

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

I made a delicious smoothie to refuel. It perked me right up. I was starving by the time I got home. Having another one of those BOTTOMLESS PIT DAYS today.

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/2 cup frozen banana
• 1/2 frozen mangoes
• 1/4 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/2 ice
• 1 cup Spinach

So SO good!

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

I decided to make another veggie loaded dinner. Are you at all shocked? Oh I bet not!

Cauliflower mock mashed potatoes

• 1 head of cauliflower, boiled, drained and mashed
• 2 tbs fat free sour cream
• 1 tbs Spray Butter
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• S+P to taste
• 2 tbs Parmesan cheese
• 1 serving Feta (28g)

Once the cauliflower is nice and tender, drain it and toss the florets into a big bowl. Mash them until desired texture is reached. Some people like them chunky. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and enjoy.


Sauteed sweet and sour vegetables

• 2 bunches of broccoli
• 1 zuchini, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup sugar snap peas
• 2 cups white mushrooms
• 2 tbs Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs teriyaki sauce
• splash lime juice
• 1 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 packet Splenda

Toss all of these ingredients into a large, deep frying pan (or Wok) with a lid and cook until all the veggies are tender on medium heat. Takes about 10-15 minutes. Couldn't be simpler.


Flax and wheat bran crusted Mahi-Mahi

• 2 fillets of Mahi-Mahi (roughly 4oz per fillet)
• 1 egg white
• S+P to taste
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 2 tbs flax

Pat the fillets dry. Make sure to remove as much moisture as possible. Whisk together the egg white, soy sauce and the salt & pepper in a shallow bowl. Blend the wheat bran and the flax together in a shallow bowl. Dip the fillets into the egg white mixture and then into the bran/flax mixture. Bake them in a preheated 400 degree oven for 13-15 minutes.


Diner was ridiculous! Seriously, seriously ridiculous!


Time to unwind with an episode of Dexter now. I didn't get to bond with him at all this weekend. I miss his blood lustful ways. Have a great night!

XOXOXOX
Ildie

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

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