Steady

Aaaaaaaaaaand I made it! Sweet, delectable, beautiful, glorious Friday, you're finally mine. I've missed you SO much!

I think we all know how hectic this week has been for me. Saying that I'm glad it's over is an extreme understatement. My brain is tired and I was in desperate need of a break. I plan to spend this weekend focusing on mental recovery and well being. HA! The main goal will be RELAXATION!

Lets talk weight. I'm only down 0.8. Steady as she goes sure has gotten STEADY! Oh well, such is life. Next week is another week. I'm just going to keep going because that's what I do. I go-go-go. Official total weight loss to date is 53.7. ;)

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter, golden/regular raisins and a drizzle of Wildflower honey.)

Uhm, the honey in this was incredible! Sweet, gooey goodness.

Work was busy. Nothing new and exciting to report on that front. I never left for a break. I worked clear through the day to try and get things done. I did manage to stop for lunch though.

:)

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

I had a salad with Spinach + Black Bean Burger + Corn + Sprouts + 1 egg white + Hummus + another drizzle of honey. I know what you're thinking... Honey? YES! It was delicious!

Workety-----workety-----worky-----work-----work........

Guess what! My afternoon got so crazy again that I forgot to eat my snack at 4:00. That's two days in a row now. NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS! By the time I looked up it was past 5:00 and time to leave work. Sigh.

I got my grocery shopping done and out of the way with right after work. By the time I was done with shopping, driving home, putting things away, emptying dishwasher, reloading dishwasher (exciting) and a few other chores, it was nearing 9:00pm. I STILL HADN'T EATEN! Where DID this day go? I swear it was over in the blink of an eye.

DINNER (meal #3) at 9:30. I only had 3 meals again today. I'm not liking this new pattern of mine! Sigh!!

I was DYING for pasta. I boiled a box of spaghetti (Smart Choice) as instructed.

While the pasta was cooking I sauteed some mushrooms until they got nice, soft and tender. I tossed in a can of Mids (basil, mushroom, garlic) sauce and some precooked turkey meatballs. Yeah, I sort of took the easy way out. So sue me. Long week = EASY Friday night dinner.

Oh yeah, this was amazing. Mids sauce is so amazing. If you can find it. BUY IT!

Yep, that wraps up my MEGA exciting day. I'll give you a minute to recover from how AWESOME it was and how EXCITING this post has been.

There is a crazy thunderstorm outside right now. I think I'll crack a window in the bedroom so I can enjoy the sound of rain and get to bed early tonight. I'm feeling exhausted.

Be back with a more chipp-chippery-chippery-doo-dah post tomorrow. I promise. ;)

XOXO

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

VICTORIOUS!

It's been such gorgeous day today! It's warm, sunny and breezy. Oh, and it's FRIDAY! WIN-WIN! As predicted, I had an uneasy nights sleep but woke up feeling much better. I can't let some stupid random encounter with a shady stranger dampen my spirit. Not all things are in our control. In a way you just have to accept that and live your life. I like to think that most people are good. You can't let paranoia run your life!! (I say that now because the sun is shining. Ask me about this again at midnight when I think I "hear" something outside...HA!)

****Drum roll please**** I WON the scale battle this morning. Sweet victory was mine! I lost another 3.4 pounds. This officially puts me over the 50lb mark. To be exact, I've lost 50.2. GO ME!

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

To celebrate, I had a tasty bowl of chocolate PB&J oatmeal, with a special little addition. I crumbled half of a Nature's Path Chococonut bar into the mix as well. It was like a sweet decadent breakfast concoction of LOVE! So good!

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash apple pie spice
• pinch salt
• Splenda to taste
• (Microwaved and topped with 1 tbs ground flax, 2 tbs sugar free cherry preserves, 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter, 1/2 Chococonut bar.)

Pure bowl bliss my friends! BLISS!

My day was a little different today. Breakfast had me so full that I decided to take a break first and then come back and have my lunch later. I just wasn't hungry at 12:30. I ran around and got all of my grocery shopping done first instead. I loaded up on all of the ususals (veggies, fruit, lean meat, low fat dairy etc...) and then headed back to work. Weeeeeeeeeeeee! I got back to work at about 1:30 and decided to have my lunch!

LUNCH (meal #2) at 1:45pm.

I had the best salad today. Simple yet flavorful. I love non fussy meals!

• Spinach
• Tomato
• Leftover roasted brussel sprouts
• Morning Star Farms black bean burger
• Garlic favored sunflower seeds (Kaia Foods brand..YUM)
• Spray butter

I inhaled this. It was magnificent!

While I was devouring my lunch, I came across the sexiest little email ever. It was the "big guys" letting us know that we can leave at 3:00 today. SWEET! It was already 2:00. :)

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

To celebrate our early freedom, Ann and I indulged a bit. I busted out the second sample that I received from Emmy's Organics. Dark Cacao Macaroon's. OMG! I shouldn't have shared with Ann! THEY ARE THAT GOOD! They remind me of a Mounds bar (everything reminds me of a Mounds bar lol) if it were made with dark chocolate! TO DIE FOR! GO GET SOME NOW!!!!!!!! I am in LOVE with them. Not sure I can share the last one with Nick like I did with the Chip Mint flavor. MUWAHAHAHA! It gets an 1365 out of 10. I actually moaned while I ate it. Baby bites at a time to savor the decadence!


DROOL!

I left work in a fury of excitement at 3:00 and hustled home. The air was whizzing through the sunroof and the sun was shinning. I LOVE FRIDAY'S SO MUCH! I got home, put the groceries away, opened some windows and started some early prep work on dinner. I was attempting stuffed pork loin for the first time.

I butterflied the loin and seasoned it with sea salt & black pepper. I then mashed some light swiss Laughing Cow cheese, dried dill, dried rosemary, golden raisins, regular raisins, dried apricots and black pepper in a bowl. I smeared it over the loin and then topped that with chopped fresh spinach. THIS IS WHEN I REALIZED THAT I HAD NO TWINE! BAH! I remedied the situation with roughly 20 toothpicks and some strategically placed foil. :)


I celebrated my brilliance with a lovely glass of wine. Again, I LOVE FRIDAYS!


With dinner basically good to go, I decided to unwind in a hot bath before Nick got home from work. I'm loving this day so far.

SNACK (meal #4) at 6:30.

Nick and I decided to play some board games tonight. We haven't done that in quite some time.


I poured myself another glass of wine (naturally!!) and made a quick snack of fresh strawberries, butter pretzels and a second decadent dark cocoa macaroon from Emmy's Organics. YEP, that's right. Nick didn't want it. I gladly "took care" of the problem by devouring the second piece. LOVE IT!


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

After 3 grueling hours of strategic moves and conniving backstabbing, the game was over and we were both ready to feast. I actually popped the loin into the oven at 9:00 so it would be done by the time we were done playing. Perfect timing. We enjoyed the pork with a side of green beans (seasoned with S+P, spray butter and garlic sunflower seeds). I thought it turned out REALLY GOOD! The pork was moist and tender and the filing was a mix of creamy melty goodness. ;)

Of course I also had some magical Sriracha on the side. I love HEAT!


Time for round two of game wars! I SHALL BE VICTORIOUS!

XOXO
Ildie

Me time

It's Friday, YAAAAY! My day started off in typical Friday fashion. Here is a step my step snippet of my morning.

1. I rolled out of bed, tired, and stumbled around upstairs in my usual morning fog.
2. Damn near tripped over the cat. He was spread out and whoring himself outside the door as usual.
3. I had a little pep talk with myself and walked into Mr. Scary Scale room. I swear the air feelt cooler in there. Evil lives within these walls!
4. Mr. Scale and I stared at each other, intensely, for a solid 30 seconds. There is much tension between us.
5. I took a deep breath and cautiously slithered closer.
6. I removed all unnecessary clothing (every little bit counts) and stepped on.
7. I exhaled every single breath left in me, just in case it adds weight. (I'm quite crazy you see...)
8. I closed my eyes, said a little ditty and looked down. SWEET succulent victory you are mine again!

After realizing I lost another 2.3 pounds I couldn't stop smiling. I finally broke the 40+ pounds lost mark and I couldn't be happier. It feels DAMN GOOD to set a goal and reach it, stick with it, and proactively better myself.

Here's how I look at it. You only get this one body, this one chance, this one opportunity to make it the best and healthiest it can be. WHY in the world would you waste it? Live healthy, live strong, live happy. ;)

Okay, moving on. I think that's a sufficient amount of self patting on the back for one day.

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

I wanted to try the Capella Flavor Drops in my oatmeal this morning. I was very intrigued by the vanilla custard drops and thought it would pair well with warm oats. I was right. YUM!

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 tbs ground flax
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Lots of cinnamon
• Splenda to taste
• 5 drops of Capella vanilla custard flavor drops
• Splenda to taste
• 2 tbs PB2

Om my damn, DELICIOUS! The combination of the hot oats, the melted, rich PB2 and the flavor and aroma of the Capella drops mixed with cinnamon was brilliant. SO GOOD! Now I'm not sure which one I like better, the chocolate fudge brownie flavor drops or the vanilla custard one. The vanilla gets a 10 out of 10. I love officially love this product.

A bit later I enjoyed a chocolate treat and had a square of Newman's Own Organics espresso dark chocolate. I nibbled on this for ever. I would nobble, walk away, come back, nibble, walk away and so forth. I don't have chocolate often. Any moment spent together with it is precious and must be enjoyed slowly, lovingly, delicately.


Work was quiet today so I decided to clean and reorganize my office. Yes, I clean EVEN AT WORK. I just can't help it. I like all things clean. Not in a scary, I wash my hands 50+ a day clean. Just organized, dusted and clutter free. It makes me happy and puts me at ease.

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

I've been craving my beloved breakfast burrito. I had to feed this uncontrollable desire so I cooked the eggs up last night and packed them for lunch today. Addicted!

• 4 egg whites, seasoned with S + P
• 2 tbs Trader Joe's cilantro and jalapeno hummus
• Spinach leaves
• Drizzle of Sriracha sauce

Lovingly wrapped in a light FlatOut wrap and devoured in seconds.


I also had 2 small Kiwis on the side. Gotta get my fruits in.


On our break today I went to the grocery store and got all of the necessities for next week. Rumor has it that a huge snow storm is headed this way from the South so I thought I better get it done while I still can.

I left work at 4:00 instead of 5:00. It proved to be a good decision. The storm hit about an hour before I left and WHITE DEATH was smothering everything outside by the time I got home. Nauseating!

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

I never had my snack at work because I left early and by the time I got home I was STARVING! Yogi mess to the rescue!

• 4oz plain 0% Oikos
• 1 banana, sliced
• a few red grapes
• cinnamon
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Kaia Foods cocoa sunflower seeds

Nick was home for no more than 2 hours and was already getting ready to leave again. He was invited to his Aunts house to celebrate his cousins B'day with some cake. No dinner, just cake. I couldn't believe he was heading back out in this CRAP! LOOK AT IT! UGH!


However, after he left, I took FULL advantage of some ME time.

Photographic Evidence #1.... (nail polish, magazine, wine, candlelight etc... And you can't see it but I was watching Say Yes To The Dress.)


Do I spy some peeps? Oh my! (This with the wine was SNACK #4). OH SNAP!


Photographic Evidence #2.... (Bubbles & more candles.)


Photographic Evidence #3.... (Cheers)


I waited for Nick to get back before making Dinner. He was DYING for Taco Salad (the usual Friday fare) but had to go on his Winter Wonderland Adventure for some cake B'day celebrating first. So I waited... And waited... (SO HUNGRY)... And waited... FINALLY he got home at almost 10:00. GOOD GRIEF I WAS STARVING! He got delayed because of the bad road conditions. DUH! I told him not to leave.

DINNER (meal #5) at 10:15pm!!!!

I worked at the speed of light. You couldn't touch me I was SO FAST. Dinner was done in less than 15 minutes. That's right my friends, I've got SERIOUS skillz. You can find the recipe for the usual Friday Taco Salad on my Recipes Blog ***HERE***. I did add jalapenos this time. My tummy is now happy and full.


Time to unwind with some mind numbing TV now. Have a great night. I wonder if the snow will stop in time for me to make it to the gym tomorrow morning? SIGH!

XOXO
Ildie