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

Shine on baby!

There was a certain spring in my step today. Get it? "Spring"! It was 60+ degrees and the sun was shinning all over my smiling face. AHHHHHH! Sweet ray therapy! Shine on baby, shine on! I blissfully pranced and dilly dallied around all day without a coat and loved every single second of it.

I'm clearly in a better place today. Work is less crazy and I feel this calm peace around me right now.

The always fabulous, brilliant (clearly smart, she gave me an award....) and gorgeous Karin from Give Me Bananas gave me an award. Thanks lady! ;)


The rules:

• Thank & link to the person who gave this to you.
• Copy the logo and place on your blog.
• Tell SIX outrageous lies about yourself and ONE outrageous truth.
• Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who you know will come up with some great lies.
• Post links to the seven nominees and let them know you nominated them.

OH how fun! Can you guess which of the below is true? HA!

1. I'm involved with the Hungarian Mafia.
2. I once ate a pound of tree bark to be one with nature.
3. I have a severe fear of earthworms.
4. My full name is Ildikoshococo.
5. I once did a tightrope tango in the nude for charity.
6. I can roll my R's like a roaring kitten. ROAR!
7. My goal in life is to become a crazy cat lady.

HAHAHA! That was great! Thanks Karin! Okay, moving on to FOOD!

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

The usual hip hoppin bowl of oats. Eat your oats ladies. Make your Mama proud!

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

I microwaved this as usual and then topped it with...

• 1 tbs flax
• 2 tbs sugar free apricot preserves (Smucker's)
• 1 tbs Better N' Peanut Butter
• dash of cinnamony love

I inhaled this like nobodies business. Whiles gawking at the beautiful sun through my office (prison) window.

Today was so much less hectic at work. I was actually able to take several bathroom, water, stretch and bloggie brakes. Ahhhhhh!

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

Another epic wrap. A few simple and clean ingredients make the best wraps I swear.

• 1 whole wheat and flax FatOut
• 1 wedge light Laughing Cow Cheese (swiss)
• Baby spinach
• Red bell pepper

Rolled into perfection and devoured with 2 crunchy carrots for an extra veggie kick.


We hit the mall on our break today. Me? At the mall? Willingly? I know! WEIRD! I hate malls! However, I was on the hunt for the perfect Birthday card for Nick and another little "cheesy" present. I found them both! YAY! He's all done!

Somehow, in the process of wrapping Nick up, I also "accidentally" picked myself up some new hair clips, a funky hair bow, a pair of earrings and a necklace. It happened so fast. I HAVE NO CONTROL I SWEAR!!


Oh, and check these out. They look like little Babushka Ladies! I gave one to Ann. I LOVE EM! HA!


SNACK (meal #3) at 3:45pm.

I had my snack a bit earlier than usual today. I tried that off brand banana cream pie yogurt I picked up the other day, sprinkled with pomegranate and flax granola. It was pretty good. I wish it had more protein though. This baby only packs 5g.


I left work at 4:30 today instead of 5:00 because I NEEDED to get a workout in and I also NEEDED to be at Nick's Mama's house by 8:00 for the family Birthday "gift giving" celebration. His Birthday isn't until tomorrow (the 12th) but they decided to get together tonight instead. I refuse to give my presents to him tonight though! NOPE! He has to SUFFER AND WAIT. MUWAHAHAHAHA!

WORKOUT!

Since falling madly in love with my Polar heart rate monitor watch, I've decided to once again REVAMP the workouts a bit. I've been doing the same thing for over a month now and I'm ready to switch it up a tad. I've decided to do the following. NO MORE HOUR LONG CARDIO SESSIONS 2x a week. NO NEED!! According to my sexy pink watch, I burn just as much OR MORE doing both weights and cardio together. Who knew? I'm also going to work my arms and shoulders 2x a week. I want to tone them up and it's not happening quickly enough for my liking. :)

Mon - Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders + 30 min. cardio.
Tues - Chest, Back + 30 min cardio.
Wed - Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders + 30 min. cardio.
Thurs - 45 min. cardio + 15 min. abs
Fri - OFF
Sat - Legs, Glutes + 30 min. cardio
Sun - 15-20 min. of abs at home

So anyways, that's the new plan. We'll see how she goes. Here is what I did today.

Elliptical Cross Trainer
45 minutes, 3.9 miles

min 1-2 (level 5)

min 3-4 (level 6)

min 5-6 (level 7)

min 7-8 (level 8)

min 9-10 (level 9)

min 11-12 (level 10)

min 13-14 (level 11)

min 15-16 (level 12)

min 17-18 (level 13)

min 19-20 (level 5)

min 21-22 (level 6)

min 23-24 (level 7)

min 25-26 (level 8)

min 27-28 (level 9)

min 29-30 (level 10)

min 31-32 (level 11)

min 33-34 (level 12)

min 35-36 (level 13)

min 37-38 (level 8)

min 39-40 (level 9)

min 42-42 (level 10)

min 43-45 (level 5)

Ab workout

Crunches x20 (3 sets)

Situps x20 (3 sets)

Leg Raise crunches x20 (2 sets)

Torso Twist crunches X20 (2 sets)

Crunches x50

Total Calories Burned - 597
Max heart rate - 177
Average heart rate - 149

Total time - 1:05

SNACK (meal #4) at 6:30pm.

I FLEW HOME and made a quick protein shake. No time for a blended smoothie. I was in a RUSH! I just put a cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze in my shaker cup and added a scoop of peanut butter chocolate whey protein powder. Shook it like a MAD DOG and chugged it. GO GO GO!


I took the fastest bath in history! Dried the hair, put the face on and dove head first into dinner making. I was keeping it quick and simple tonight.

DINNER (meal #5) at 7:20pm.

I decided to whip together a SUPER FAST (yet oddly delicious) Egg white omelet.

• 4 egg whites
• 1 wedge of light, swiss Laughing Cow Cheese
• 1 tomato, diced
• a bit of green bell pepper

I also enjoyed the leftover green beans from last night on the side. And naturally, I smothered everything in Sriracha because I am addicted to HEAT!


I quickly ate my dinner and then drove to the Birthday gathering. I got there right on time. AND I WAS GREETED BY A SLICE OF COCONUT CREAM PIE! OMG! (crappy picture, sorry) I had the thinest slice possible. I indulged but not too much. I also had 3 (yes 3) cups of decaf. YUM!


I was also greeted by a belated present from Nick's mom. Crazy sweet lady!


LOOK AT THIS SWEET HAT!! She made it! I AM IN LOVE WITH IT!


We hung out with his family till roughly 10:00 and then made our way home. This left me just enough time to blog for you fabulous people! Hope you enjoyed it. It was sort of a long one!! ;)

XOXOXOX
Ildie

Suburban Gangsta!

It's Friday and I couldn't be more exited. It's been a long and difficult week and I'm super glad that it's over!

Today was such a good day. The sun was frolicking in a brilliant blue sky and shining brightly with all it's magnificence. My beloved, glowing, fiery star, you warm my soul. I've missed you so!! NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!

Drum roll please..... I lost another 1.4 pounds. To be honest with you, I was shocked. After the Triple Birthday Party Beer Fest last Friday and my Sushi Filled Saturday, I was expecting no loss. I'm so, SO happy with my accomplishments up to this point. This puts my total weight loss at 43.5 pounds. When I first started eating right and working out, I found it HARD not to obsess with the task and goals ahead of me. They just seemed so FAR away and unobtainable. I wanted to lose 75-80 pounds total and I'm more than halfway there already. I'm enjoying this journey very much and I'm glad to be sharing it with all of you wonderful people. LOVE YOU!

Now let's talk about breakfast so I can distract you with YUMMY pictures before I update you on the rest of my goals. Gotta keep you WANTING MORE!

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

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 wheat bran
• 1 1/2 cups water
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• dash sea salt
• Splenda to taste
• 1 tbs flax
• 1 tbs sugar free cherry preserves (Smucker's)
• 1 tbs Naturally Nutty Chocolate Cherry peanut butter

I wanted to give this brand of peanut butter a solid review because I think it's just perfect.


Thick yet creamy, not too sweet, great texture, fabulous flavor and great consistency. I just love everything about it. I've already tried and rated their vanilla coconut peanut butter and I must say that both are delicious! I can't wait to try the vanilla almond butter. The chocolate cherry variety gets a brilliant 10 out of 10. I LOVE it!

Okay, now for the update on how my goals are going. Weeeeeeeeeeeell, not all of them are going great.

• Water consumption - I've been doing "okay" on this. I've not reached my gallon goal at all this week. It's been closer to 100oz a day. Still great!
• 2 green teas a day - Doing okay on this one. I think I skipped one day completely and had two days where I only drank 1. No big deal.
• 1 coffee only a day - TACKLED!
• Doing more ab workouts - complete FAIL. I hope to step this up next week. Gotta work on my human fanny pack. MUST get rid of it. ;)
• New recipes - Again, a complete FAIL. I've been sticking to the "safe" recipes and eats this week. I hope to try something new next week. Or maybe tonight!
• No carbs for dinner 3x a week - TACKLED! Yeah!
• Protein smoothies 5x-6x a week - TACKLED!
• Two 1 hour sessions and three 30 min. sessions of cardio a week - I only did so-so on this one. On one of the 1 hour days I only did 42 minutes due to the weather and on two of my 30 min. days I only did 20 min. Still great though.

Well, there you have it. All in all not a bad week. I'm feeling good about it.

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

I packed leftover veggies from dinner last night along with edamame, a red bell pepper, a wedge of light Swiss Laughing Cow cheese and a whole grain & flax FlatOut. I did a little voodoo and turned it into an incredible veggie wrap with more veggies on the side. Twas DELISH!


I got all of my grocery shopping done on my break today. I love doing this. It saves me so much time after work. I can only do this while it's still freezing out. It turns my trunk into the perfect freezer/refrigerator while I'm at work. Once my beloved heat returns, I'll have to resort to going after work again.

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

The most AWESOME sister in the WORLD gave me one of her Oikos today. I DEVOURED IT. I was all out of Greek yogurt at home and NOT happy about it. The grocery store was also completely sold out! DAMN IT! THANKS ANN!


I jazzed up the yogurt with a sprinkle of Back to Nature chocolate delight granola and a single sugar free heart Peeps, which I violently tore into sticky little decadent pieces. SO GOOD!

I hustled home after work to put the groceries away, tidy up the house and get started on two different types of chili. We're having friends over for dinner and games tonight. A glass or two of wine MAY sneak in there as well. Hard to say for sure. ;)

DINNER (meal #4) at 7:30pm. (only had 4 meals today, saving room for vino and possibly some dessert....)

To start, I made a quick and delicious bowl of guacamole. I tossed the following together and it turned out delicious.

• 2 very ripe avocado
• 2 tbs finely diced red pepper
• 2 tbs finely diced red onion
• dash dried cilantro
• S+P
• dash cayenne
• 2 tbs fat free sour cream
• 1 tbs lime juice

The chili recipes turned out great! I can't confirm which of the two won the chili battle though. I didn't want to indulge in the beefy, greasy Man's version and ruin my delicate palate. I can assure you that the Ladies version was delicious though. I think the secret ingredients really added a nice burst of flavor without being overwhelming. It was subtle layer of flavors. Both recipes are below.

MAN'S CHILI RECIPE

• 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 large onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• Can black beans
• Can pinto beans
• Can diced Mexican style tomatoes
• Can stewed tomatoes
• Can tomato sauce
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 1 packet Hot McCormicks Chili seasoning
• S+P to taste

LADIES CHILI RECIPE (meat free)

• 2 servings (110g) Morning Star Farms grounds
• 1 large onion
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• Can black beans
• Can pinto beans
• Can diced Mexican style tomatoes
• Can stewed tomatoes
• Can tomato sauce
• 1 packet Hot McCormicks Chili seasoning
• S+P to taste
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 2 tbs unsweetened dark cocoa (secret #1)
• dash nutmeg (secret #2)
• 1/2 roasted acorn squash, cut into bite size pieces (secret #3)

I cracked open this wine for us to enjoy....


Sadly though, we hated it. So much so that after dinner my friends offered to make a beer and wine run. Yay! While they were gone I quickly finished this post. I'm so sneaky.

They just got back so I have to run. Delicious wine, friends and competitive games beckon me. I don't like to lose. Neither do they. Should be fun! LIVIN WILD ON A FRIDAY NIGHT! Yeah, that's how we roll. SUBURBAN GANGSTA!

Have a great Friday evening!

HUGS!!!
Ildie

Mediocre Monday

Happy Monday. Wait, are Monday's ever truly happy? Let me rephrase. A very Mediocre Monday to you all. Yeah, that makes more sense! I miss my precious weekend already. I want to live in Forever and Ever Weekend Land. Will you please take me there? I guess I could always wait for retirement. That doesn't quite sound as appealing though. Not to mention I have 30+ years before I qualify. THE HORROR! HA!

BREAKFAST (meal #1)

To try and slap myself awake this morning I had a huge cup of coffee and a fully loaded bowl of oats.

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1 tbs flax
• 1 1/2 cup water
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• dash unsweetened cocoa
• sprinkle of sugar free french vanilla pudding mix
• 1 tbs sugar free strawberry preserves
• 1 tbs sugar free peach preserves
• Splenda to taste

This fiber packed mega bowl kept me full for hours. I'm loving the addition of the wheat bran and flax. They add a lot of volume, texture and good nutrition for hardly any calories at all. LOVE IT!

LUNCH (meal #2)

My body wanted one thing for lunch today and one thing only. VEGGIES! To give into my feverishly ferocious craving I had an amazing veggie wrap. Into a whole wheat and flax FlatOut went the following.

• light Laughing Cow Cheese (swiss)
• baby spinach
• cucumber
• tomato
• bread & butter pickle rounds
• red bell pepper

I had the rest of the veggies with a handful of baby carrots on the side. It was so fresh and yummy. It shut my veggie craving right up!

Our break away from the office was SUPER LAME today. It involved getting gas for Ann's car, driving around, bickering with the sis over stupid things, getting over it and talking about food and workouts all the way back to the office. Exciting right? PLEASE! Try and hold back your enthusiasm!

When we got back I warmed up with a nice cup of green tea. I never though I would like green tea as much as I clearly do. I have 2-3 cups every single day.

SNACK (meal #3)

• 4oz plain 0% Oikos
• cinnamon
• 1 packet Splenda
• 1 Fuji apple, diced
• handful of red grapes
• small sprinkle of Kaia Foods cocoa granola

Pre mix


Post mix


Good grief I love Oikos! I can't believe I only discovered this creamy little gem six months ago. Who knows what else is out there that I have yet to discover. HA!

After work it was off to the gym. The plan was to work the back and chest today and to also incorporate some cardio. Here we go!

WORKOUT!

Horizontal Tru Chest Press (plate loaded)
20lb x 15
20lb x 14
15lb x 10
Lat Pulldown with straight bar (cable)
70lb x 15
60lb x 15
60lb x 15
Seated Chest Press (cable)
60lb x 15
60lb x 15
60lb x 15
High Row (plate loaded)
90lb x 15
90lb x 15
90lb x 15
Inclined Chest Press (plate loaded)
30lb x 15
30lb x 14
25lb x 10
Low Row (plate loaded)
50lb x 15
50lb x 15
50lb x 15
Elliptical - Interval Training - 30 minutes
Resistance 6-8
2.57 miles
375 calories burned

I don't think I was completely into it today. Long day I guess. I was just glad that I managed to get a workout in. I was sweaty and freezing when I left the gym. COME ON SPRING! I MISS YOU!

SNACK (meal #4)

When I got home I decided to play around with a NEW recipe I've been seeing in Blog Land. I was still frozen to the core so it seemed like the perfect time to experiment with this hot concoction. Ladies, I give you the infamous Hot Chocolate Smoothie. Or should I call it a Hot Procolate? Maybe Hot Proco? ;)

• 1 cup HOT unsweetened vanilla almond breeze (microwaved)
• 1/2 cup HOT water (microwaved again)
• 1 small banana
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tbs sugar free Torani Irish Cream syrup (NOT needed)
• sprinkle of xanthan and guar gums

Blend in a blender on low/medium heat WITH THE TOP VENT HOLE REMOVED or with a slight air gap left to let the steam escape. THIS IS IMPORTANT so you don't let the pressure build up and burn yourself when you take the lid off.

OMG! I LOVED IT!!!! It was rich, super frothy, creamy and delicious!


Not quite like hot chocolate because it was even thicker, richer and frothier. SO decadent! It will be nice to switch up from cold smoothies to this when I want something warm and different. It's a keeper! By the way, you can skip the banana. It was NOT necessary. It left little chunks here and there and I would much rather enjoy it as a smooth and velvety hot beverage without the chunks.

DINNER (meal #5)

I decided to make Tilapia tonight since I never got around to making it last night. I love baking fish. It's so easy. I seasoned the fillets with dill, cayenne, black pepper and sea salt and popped them into a 400 degree oven for roughly 20 minutes. That's all they need! They came out perfectly flaky and tender.

I also made pan seared green beans and carrots in teriyaki and sweet chili sauce. LOVE EM!


I stuffed the fish into a whole wheat and flax pita with shredded cabbage. Of course Sriracha was involved. You didn't think I would forget did you? As if! Everything was delicious!


I made it through Monday. JUST BARELY I TELL YOU! I welcome Tuesday with open arms.

Be back tomorrow! ;)
Ildie