Slow Running Machine

Hello my little bloggeties.

As I sit here right now, typing these very words, a calm sweeps over me. Or maybe that's a premature hot flash. HA! In any event, I feel at peace right now. Without dwelling too much on the details, lets just say that work was rough and mega stressful today. I'm SO HAPPY to be home and relaxing on the couch. Currently sipping on some honey green tea and all is well with the world. I'm also watching What Not To Wear and crying uncontrollably like a lunatic. :)

Reeeeeeeeeewind to this morning. Before my peaceful frame of mind was turned upside down.

BREAKFAST (meal #1)

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/8 cup wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa
• pinch salt
• Splenda
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs ground flax + 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter + 1 tbs sugar free strawberry preserves.)

work...drama...work....drama....work...

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

It was a vegetable EXPLOSION in my office today. I had a veggie wrap in a wheat FlatOut with bean sprouts, spinach, roasted red pepper hummus and kumato slices.


On the side I had more kumato wedges, baby bell peppers, leftover brussel sprouts and more hummus. Soooooo good!


Consumed in my office while I worked. Nothing exciting I know. I apologize. I didn't leave work for a break today either. There was NO way that I could allow it. I just had too much going on. :(

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

I'm still going through those protein muffins I baked on Saturday. I WILL EAT THEM ALL DAMN IT! I crumbled two of them into a cup of plain Dannon Greek yogurt and sprinkled cinnamon on top. LOVED it.


Somehow, by some miracle, the clouds parted, the sun came out, the emails stopped, the phone wasn't ringing and I was actually able to leave work on time. SAY WHAT?!?!

WORKOUT!

Lat Pulldown with rope grip (cable)
70lb x 15
70lb x 15
60lb x 15
Advanced Chest Press (plate loaded)
60lb x 15
50lb x 15
50lb x 12
Face Pull with rope grip (cable)
90lb x 15
80lb x 15
80lb x 15
Modular Chest Press (cable)
70lb x 15
60lb x 15
50lb x 15
Bent Over Barbell Row
40lb x 15
35lb x 15
35lb x 15
Dumbbell Fly
12.5lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
12.5lb x 15
Elliptical Cross Trainer
15 minutes, 1 minute intervals of levels 6, 8 & 10, 1.35 miles
Treadmill
15 minutes, 1 minute intervals of walking at 3.2 and running at 5.5, 1.07 miles

I uped the running speed to 5.5 today and did okay. Who knew? Still following the "steady as she goes" method. We'll see where it gets me. The leg has been feeling fine. YAY! Project "Running Machine" is in full "slow" effect. HA! ;)

Total time at gym = 1:13
Max HR = 182
Average HR = 136
Calories Burned = 566

After the gym we did the now daily ritualistic feeding of the beasts at Mama and Papa Babushkas house. I think the cats hate us. They hide as soon as we show up and refuse to show themselves. It's like they know that I just want to hold them and love on them. MY LITTLE FUR BABIES! DON'T HIDE FROM ME! MAMA LOVES YOU!

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

When I came home I whipped together a tasty little protein packed treat. I wasn't in the mood for a cold smoothie so I tried something new instead. I took one scoop of chocolate peanut butter whey protein powder and stirred in 4 tbs of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze. It turned into a nice little pasty, protein packed pudding. I had it with a 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese and topped it all with a sprinkle of Udi's original granola.


I loved it. It was sticky, ooey, gooey, creamy, crunchy and filling all at the same time. I'll be making this again for sure! :)

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

I was craving two things, roasted veggies and cheese. I can't explain it but I HAD to have it. I tossed some broccoli, mushrooms and asparagus (seasoned with pink sea salt, black pepper, rosemary and garlic powder) into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. When the veggies were nice and golden I tossed them into an oven safe bowl, topped them with a slice of Munster cheese, a sprinkle of Parmesan and a 1/4 cup of Bertolli Arrabiata sauce. To make it perfect, I popped the bowl under the broiler for 3 minutes until the cheese got all nice and melted.


I had it with a toasted Thomas's English muffin with spray butter.


SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! I could cry it was so good!

Time to say goodnight now. I think we're going to pick a movie to watch or something. Not sure I can make it through a movie though. Pretty sleepy!

XOXO
Ildie

Christmas in April!

HI! DID YOU MISS ME? You better have!!! :)

First of all, I would like to start today off with a mini celebratory hip-hopin-Ildie-style-smooth-jerk-your-shoulder-infused-jive. We'll call it the Ildie-Hop for short. I'm not sore today from running yesterday and this makes me SO happy! In fact, even though I felt like my leg was going to explode and fall off during my pathetic 15 minute mile yesterday, today I feel great. I've discovered that I'm a HEAVY runner. I land hard and in no way shape or form look attractive. There will be NO slow motion Baywatch beach running in my near future that's for sure.

HA! :-O

I'm actually swaying back and forth as I type these words while humming some random tune that's stuck in my head? Why? NO idea. Maybe it's the sunshine! Maybe it's the fact that this week is halfway over! Maybe it just because I'm crazy! In the wise words of Papa Babushka, I'll lovingly blame it on my "European Design"!

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

It rocked as usual. Nothing new to report. Same old bowl of creamy perfection. Why mess with a good thing?

• 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1/12 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs ground flax + 2 tbs sugar free strawberry jam (which I also microwaved and poured on, MM) + 2 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter.)

For those of you who asked, I microwave the above mixture for 2 minutes, stir and then microwave again for another 30 seconds to 1 min. KEEP AN EYE ON IT! I've had explosions at work before and they are not fun to clean up. And yes, this is long enough to cook the oats thoroughly.

We had an office meeting at 11:00am today to discuss how last quarter was and to discuss the outlook for the rest of the year. In other words Blah Blah Blah, we can still do better (amazing isn't it?), let's keep it up, Blah Blah Blah, push for perfection, Blah Blah Blah, give me your souls MUWAHAHAHA, Blah Blah!

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

Lunchtime, crunchtime, munchtime. YEAH! I refueled my will to smile after said meeting with an awesome wrap. Wheat FlatOut + turkey lunch eat + spinach + homemade onion hummus + tomato.


Enjoyed with a few more slices of tomato and some Saaaaxy Waaaaxy beans, sprayed with Spray Butter of course.


Lunch was Duh-Li-Ci-Oh-Soooo-Good!

Ann and I busted out of work for some fresh air on our break today and accidentally ended up at Old Navy. Someone please explain to me what has happened to that store! I used to adore their clothes. Today I wandered aimlessly trying to find at least one thing I liked. Everything looked poorly made, homely, wrinkled and ragged. ???? I don't get it. Naturally I still managed to find ONE $6 clearance item and bought it. Yes, I admit that I have a problem and NO I'm not seeking help for it. It was the one cute thing they had, I swear it. I just HAD to rescue it from that zoo of horribly sad clothing.

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

I had "The Stuff" again. The blueberry Dannon Greek crack variety this time. Sprinkled with Udi's cranberry granola for some crunch.


The last hour whizzed by at work and then we were off to the gym. I was feeling it today and had a great workout. I can tell because it looked like I took a bath by the time I left. Gross? Sorry. I speak the truth! :)

WORKOUT!

Leg Extensions (cable)
100lb x 15
90lb x 15
90lb x 15
Seated Leg Curls (cable)
100lb x 15
90lb x 15
80lb x 15
Outer Thigh Machine (cable)
85lb x 15
85lb x 15
85lb x 15
Inner Thigh Machine (cable)
75lb x 15
75lb x 15
75lb x 15
Squats
Body Weight x 15 (3 sets)
Squats With Straight Bar
45lb x 15
45lb x 15
45lb x 15
Conventional Deadlifts With Straight Bar
45lb x 15
65lb x 15
65lb x 15
Treadmill
10 minutes, 1 min. intervals of walking at 3.2 & running at 5.0, .65 miles
(BAH! My leg started hurting 8 minutes in so I walked the last two. BAH! The pain was pretty rough. Here I was bragging earlier about not being sore. I bet I'm singing another song tomorrow.)
Elliptical Cross Trainer
20 minutes, 2 min. intervals of levels 6 & 8. 1.75 miles.
(Yes, I ellipticaled like a fool after the treadmill. I felt okay. Not great but not bad enough that I couldn't do it. Please don't follow my lead on this one. If you feel pain. STOP. I'm known for being stubborn!)

Total Time at gym = 1:17
Max HR = 177
Average HR = 137
Total Calories Burned = 604

WOOOOOOOT! Feeling energized. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

I ran to Mama and Papa Babushka's house after the gym to hang out for a bit. They leave for Hungary tomorrow so I just felt like visiting for a bit. We helped them wrap up some last minute details and then I rushed home. Nick was already hunting in the living room. Joy of all joyous joys!! I bit my tongue, kissed him on the cheek and went to soak in a nice hot bath. As with all things "Man Toy", this too shall pass. One thing's for sure, we better watch the recorded episode of Lost later if he knows what's good for him!!!!!

I skipped the protein shake tonight. It was nearing 8:00pm by the time I got home and I just wasn't feeling it.

After my bath, Nick presented me with a box that arrived for me today. I LOVE MAIL! It was from Bonnie at SweetlifeBake. I won her giveaway a few days ago and I've been looking very forward to this little box of wonder. And full of wonder it was. Lady, you're crazy sweet.


She lovingly wrapped each and every single thing in the box and tied it with a ribbon and even added cute little notes. I felt so special. Like it was Christmas in April. LOVED IT!


Oliver loved it too. Well the empty box anyways. OHH, AN ADVENTURE!


My wild little hands tore (delicately) at the packages and I was amazed at all of the thoughtful goodies.


I received some wonderful teas.


Organic, whole bean coffee, local wildflower honey and this adorable mug. I LOVE MUGS! It's an obsession really.


A tart pan, small loaf pan and two wooden spoons. How did you know I cook with wooden spoons? :)


A bag of pumpkin seeds, dried ancho chiles, Canel's gum and measuring spoons. The measuring spoons say pinch, dash and smidgen. OMG. Adorable!


A SWEET ice tray to properly represent Texas. YEE-HAW!


A pear scented outlet air freshener. It's already plugged in and I love it!

Thanks again! I LOVED EVERYTHING! :)

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

I raided my kitchen and came up with a tasty and quick little dinner, done lazy style because I didn't feel like cooking.

I made a small salad with spinach + radishes + bread & butter pickles + pumpkin seeds + spray butter.


I also toasted a Thomas's everything bagel thin and topped it with more spinach + a Morning Star Farms black bean burger + swiss cheese + low car ketchup.


And last but certainly NOT least, I microwaved a tiny little sweet potato, which I sprayed with spray butter and sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice.


SO GOOD!

Alright, it appears as though I won tonight's battle. We're about to watch Lost.

Have a great night! :)
XOXO

Ildie