Charcoal and Couscous...

Severe thunderstorms all day today aye? Where are they at already? Those perky little liars on the weather channel are full of poop man. POOP! It's barely drizzled all day. I was looking forward to a good, gloomy, grey, rain scented downpour. I love the smell of a good storm. And yes, sometimes I crave bad weather when I'm at home in the cozy comfort of my house. It's soothing.

Soooooooo, I woke up SUPER thirsty with a slight headache this morning. BAD ILDIE! BAD! I immediately chugged a 24 oz bottle of water. I was like a sponge. I also woke up starving. Why is it that when you have a few drinks the day before you wake up starving? Does that happen to everyone or am I just special?

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

I immediately started prepping a warm bowl of heart healthy goodness.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
• 1/2 water
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana, torn into chunks (manhandled)
• (Cooked on low heat for about 15-20 minutes and topped with 1tbs Better N' Peanut Butter and a few raisins.)

I was completely out of sugar free coffee creamer. THE HORROR! I'm not one of those people that can substitute milk for creamer. I NEED ME SOME CREAM! I opted to skip coffee instead of drinking something I didn't like. I was sad. So, so very sad.

After breakfast I forcefully changed for the gym (all I wanted to do was get back in bed and do nothing) and met Ann for a workout at 10:30. I was hoping to sweat the "Friday night induced funk" right out of me.

WORKOUT!

Leg Extensions (cable)
100lb x 15
100lb x 15
90lb x 15
80lb x 15
Seated Leg Curls (cable)
100lb x 15
90lb x 15
80lb x 15
80lb x 15
Outer Thigh Machine (cable)
85lb x 20
85lb x 20
85lb x 20
85lb x 20
Inner Thigh Machine (cable)
75lb x 20
75lb x 20
75lb x 20
75lb x 20
Conventional Deadlift (with straight bar)
65lb x 15
65lb x 15
65lb x 15
Hack Squat Machine (plate loaded)
60lb x 15
60lb x 15
60lb x 15
Free Weight Squat (with straight bar)
45lb x 15
45lb x 15
45lb x 15
Treadmill (13 min. 1 mile)
I did 1 min. intervals of 3.2 walking and anywhere from 5.5-7.0 sprints. I thought I was going to fly off and die at the 7.0 speed. HOW DO YOU RUNNERS DO IT!? Good grief. I bow to you all. I'm going to keep pushing though. As long as my right leg can keep up.
Elliptical (10 min.)
Resistance level 6. I was going to go for 20 minutes but got a cramp in my left side. I took that as a sign and called it quits.

Total time at gym = 1:25
Max HR = 188
Average HR = 138
Total Calories Burned = 683

I can officially report that working out did NOT sweat the Friday night shenanigans out of me. BAH! And I was still soaking up all the water that I was drinking like a sponge. Scary!!

After the gym, Ann and I ran to feed Mama and Papa Babushkas kitties. The folks are doing great by the way and having a blast with all of our family in Hungary. :) I miss them already!! HI PAPA!!!!!!

After the feeding frenzy, I ran to the grocery store with Ann (both of us looking like sweaty, red faced beasts) to pick up some sugar free coffee creamer, Greek yogurt and a head of Cauliflower. Such random purchases. HA! I plan to attempt "pizza crust" made with cauliflower tomorrow. CAN'T WAIT! Another amazing recipe found in BlogLand. I LOVE YOU BLOGLAND!

When I got home, I did two things immediately. Chugged another bottle of water and made a pot of French Press coffee. I NEEDED my caffeine (with cream of course) ASAP! I found some Archer Farms brand Coconut Macaroon ground coffee at Target yesterday. GO GET SOME! It's absolutely delicious!


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

I prepped an acorn squash and a small eggplant for baking. I seasoned both with salt and pepper. I also added a bit of cinnamon to the squash. I baked them in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes (flipping once halfway through). I sipped on my delicious coffee while they were perfecting their tenderness and got caught up on some blog reading. I was SUPER excited to hear the timer go off though. I was RAVENOUS! This called for a mega salad!

• Spinach
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Yellow Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Baked Acorn Squash
• Baked Eggplant
• Sprouts
• Hummus

TO DIE FOR! I was going to eat these two Wheat Thin Flatbreads with the salad but after placing them next to me, I forgot about them. No matter, the salad was perfect without them.

We watched a recorded episode of The Office while I ate. Will poor, pathetic Michael ever find love? That crazy little man. LOVE that show!

I spent the next few hours drawing. It's something I love doing but never seem to have any time for. Sad really. I set up in the dinning room and had a blast. I even blogged a bit and listened to music. It was such a perfect afternoon.


Charcoal is SO messy. I love drawing with it though.


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

I also snacked (while drawing) on a 0% Fage yogurt, an apple and the wheat thin flatbreads that I forgot about earlier. I had one flatbread with apricot jam and the other with raspberry. :)


After a few artsy projects, I cleaned up the mess I made and started prepping dinner. I completely lost track of the time and I was starving. I was drawing for like 4 hours. :-O

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

I wanted try Couscous. Can you believe I've NEVER had it? Insanity! I made a box of Basil & Herb large pearl Couscous as directed. To go with the Couscous, I sauteed some broccoli, portobello mushrooms and leeks. I seasoned the veggies with salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. And finally for a bit of protein, I baked nick a Polska Kielbasa sausage and I had a smoke turkey sausage instead.


I would like to officially declare that I am in love with this Couscous. The flavor of the basil and herb sauce was incredible! This dinner was absolute perfection. Nick loved it too. Win-win.

I think we're about to watch a movie so I'm going to call it a night. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

HUGS!!!!

Ildie

Nearing 100%

Friday, hay haaaaay! You're finally here. I love you and I want to stay with you for ever and ever and ever until the end of all time. Never leave me again!

I woke up feeling "funky" yet again. I wish I knew what this was so I could make it go away. Sigh...

I shuffled slowly (while rubbing my belly) into the evil room where Mr. Scale was hiding. We tangoed, we swooned, we danced and we battled. I WON! I'm down 2.1 pounds from last Friday. That would basically mean only a 1.1 pound loss since I gained 1 last week but still, very good! I've felt bloated and horrible all weak. I was sure the news wouldn't be good. YAY! Total weight loss to date is 51.1.

I threw some clothes on, pigtailed it (Friday is casual day right?) and drove my accomplished a$$ to work.

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

I was sitting in my office sweating for no reason. Joy. I got nauseous and hot and was having all sorts of problems. I was hopeful that a bowl of sweet oatmeal magic would cure my woes. Look, I even made it smile (sort of).

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda
• (Microwaved & topped with 1 tbs ground flax, 2 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter & 2 tbs sugar free strawberry preserves.)

After eating I felt even worse. Stomach flu maybe? Who knows. I suffered through the discomfort for maybe another hour and then it started to get better. By lunchtime I was feeling like myself again. Not 100% but close to 80%. At this point, I'll happily take 80!!

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

You can call this a lazy attempt at nourishment. As luck would have it, it actually turned out to be quite delicious! I stuffed a wheat FlatOut with 1/4 cup fat free refried beans + 2 slices of fat free cheddar cheese + a drizzle of Sriracha hot sauce. I cut it into three wedges and microwaved them for 30 seconds. Just long enough to melt the cheese.


I also had a Fuji apple on the side sprinkled with cinnamon. Twas delicious!


I knew a thunderstorm was coming later this afternoon so I decided to do all of my grocery shopping during my break. It's sort of annoying because I have to haul all of the perishables into the office and find magical space for them in the fridge. However, I LOVE being able to go home straight after work on Fridays. No gym, no groceries, no errands, no plans. I just get the unwind and relax. I NEEDED IT!

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

I tried one of the Nature's Path organic granola bars I was sent a while ago to sample. It was the Mmmaple flavor. Seriously! It was ridiculous. Amazing! Sweet (if you don't like sweet, don't get it), maple-y, moist and decadent. SO, so good. It made me think of Janetha because I know she loves anything maple flavored. I give it a 10 out 10. No doubt!


When I got home from work I found the Mr. in the living room screaming at the TV. He was at WAR again. Hahahaha! To deal with this RAW, AGGRESSIVE and MANLY extracurricular activity, I did the only thing that made sense. I changed into my pajamas, poured myself a glass of wine and curled up with my laptop. I was focusing on tuning it out but it was hard. Just look at him. He was so into it. INTENSE! HAHA! :)


A coworker gave me this little bag of roasted peas to try. (Rockin the fuzzy polka dot pajama pants, YEAH)


I have no idea of the nutritional stats because they weren't written in English. However, the bag was super tiny so I'm sure it wasn't anything crazy. They were delicious. Salty, crunchy with a great flavor. YUM! I wish the bag was bigger. I guess you can call this and the glass of wine I had Snack #4? Yeah, sure, why not. I also snuck in some pretzel sticks which went un-photographed. :-O

I forgot to mention this earlier. On the way home from work I was chatting with Mama and Papa Babushka about my upset stomach and overall funky feeling. They blamed it on stress and we came to the conclusion that maybe it was/is an ulcer. The symptoms fit perfectly! I hope our assessment is wrong because that would be horrible. I'll admit it, I stress out easily and work has been tough lately. I wish I wouldn't and I know I need to work on it. It's in my genes though. I'm a MAD Hungarian crazy lady. Sometimes I have to remind myself to just BREATHE Ildie! JUST BREATHE! (made me think of this song...) :)


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

I was craving roasted veggies. SHOCKER right? I could live off the stuff I swear. I baked up some brussel sprouts along with sweet potatoes for me and red skinned potatoes for Nick.


I also baked a smoke turkey sausage for myself and a smoked bratwurst for Nick.


Dinner was absolutely without a doubt fabulous. Probably because I was finally feeling good (nearing 100%), because it was Friday, and because wine makes me HUNGRY (and happy). Weeeeeeeeee...

Time to go cuddle with my Mr. and the remote. I'm feeling super sleepy right now. It's been a long week so I'm not at all surprised. I bet I pass out within the next hour and start drooling on myself on the couch. HA!

Have a great night my lovelies.
XOXO

Ildie