Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday - By celebrating the "Sunday Funday" you can extend your weekend festivities just a little longer before hanging up your party pants. This day typically starts out with mimosas or bloody marys aka hair of the dog. It then typically continues through out the day until you find yourself wasted by about 6:30ish. Since the "Funday" ends early enough, you can rest assured that you will go to bed aka pass out early enough to be perfectly refreshed for work on Monday morning (thanks Urban Dictionary).

For me, Sunday Funday usually consists of getting prepared for the week ahead, grocery shopping, expense reports, laundry, packing for the week ahead as well as some yard work.  Today I added food preparation, in the form of home made salsa, caveman style. 

• 6 plum tomato's chopped up
• A bunch of cilantro
• 1/2 an onion, maybe more
• A hot pepper, today it was a ghost pepper
• A few spoonfuls of garlic
• Pepper
• Cumin

Throw this in a food processor and pulse a few times..........instant salsa. For whatever reason we have a rule in the house, and right now a very unpopular rule, if you use the food processor you have to clean it.

I'll take the cleaning bullet, since the freezer is filled with stuff that sits nicely under fresh salsa.
Tomorrow yet another food adventure begins, 30 days at a minimum, but I will survive.

10 Things About Going Primal, Again

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/#axzz40jLbhAhX

I'm a fan of body hacking, is it shaving years off my life, who knows. The body is an amazing organism, able to heal itself in many situations as well as benefit from outside stimuli. 

Recently I've, once again, decided to change up the diet, and this time I'm going back to primal, in part thanks to a recent Joe Rogan podcast. 

I've gone primal in the past, the first week or two is a giant cup of suck, but 20+ days later it does produce results.

A bullet point outline of the basic concept.

1. Eat lots of animals, insects and plants.
2. Move around a lot at a slow pace.
3. Lift heavy things.
4. Run really fast every once in a while.
5. Get lots of sleep.
6. Play.
7. Get some sunlight every day.
8. Avoid trauma.
9. Avoid poisonous things.
10. Use your mind.

Not rocket science, but it does require discipline. I'm like Mark Sisson, and his Daily Apple site. He offers plenty of free information as well as an online store.  If you're completely new to this concept it might be worth throwing down a few dollars, if you've been around a bit you can download enough free stuff (yes you'll need to give them an e-mail address) to guide you through. 

Bring on Monday!

Lots of miles and lots of meals.......

According to my FourSquare account this is my 7th week in airports...Ughhhhh.......but I'm so lucky to have a job that I love.
I'm doing a North Carolina tour this week and found myself in Charlotte for the evening. Urbanspoon pointed me to a neighboring British Pub. Down a long set of cement stairs I found myself entering a dark but cozy pub. The menu was very extensive focusing on standard British fare but also adding something as exotic a Jamaican Chicken Nachos. The "on tap" beer selection offered a few nice surprises. One of my dining partners went for the Ostrich Meatloaf and the other gobbled down Fish & Chips. Monday just so happens to be trivia night, I'm not a big trivia guy but the evening was fun.

Road Food

After what seems to be several months of constant road travel, more like 10 days...I did manage to find some great places to eat. From Orlando to Virginia below are 3 of the best. I have manged 4 solid cardio, 1 swim and 3 resistance sessions to stave off any food damage and I think it worked the scale is still showing me between 207 and 210...I can't complain.



Another Pad Thai Night.....Two nights in a row....not the healthiest of food choices.....but this place is amazing! It's small but packed with great service and even better food.
I started with the Chicken Satay, the peanut sauce was spot on. the Chicken Pad Thai was some of the best I've ever tasted, the sauce was light and stuck to the noodles like a dog to it's bone. The were out of sticky rice for desert. Listen to what others are saying...eat a meal here...you won't be disappointed.

 

Saisaki was located right across from the hotel and the front desk recommended it, so despite the mixed reviews below we gave it a shot. They were serving booze, which I passed on. The menu covered a bit of everything. I started with the Hot & Sour Soup (what else is new) and went with Pad Thai Chicken. Both arrived quick and hot. The soup was thick and tasty and the serving of Pad Thai was huge and delivered with a nice presentation. We didn't have much interaction with the wait staff but they were attentive and kept our drinks full. Total $15.00  

 

After a long 8 hour car ride this was a welcome stop. Kevin took excellent care of us. I went with the chicken nacho's and Kevin had them layer and bake which made the cheese melt perfectly, my dining partner went with the baled potato soup, since none was left I'm going to say she enjoyed it. . A couple of beers and a couple of vodka/diet cokes and the meal was complete. $40.38 well spent.  

Bachelor Night

This evening my wife had plans so it was bachelor time I got in an evening run, did laundry, hung a couple of pictures. I had plans of eating my leftover grilled chicken from last night for dinner.  When I opened the fridge....sad face... my chicken was gone...but the flip side is that someone else in the house is eating leftovers and making better food choices.
Now back to me and my hunger pangs what else but time for chicken wing. Off to the store for a package of wings and some kind of coating. I found a zero carb and zero sugar wings sauce, perfect! A 400 degree oven and 40 minutes later I'm full...I only ate half and put the rest of them in the fridge for tomorrow....in the back of the fridge.

New Place In Town

Believe it or not our local Long Horn Restaurant closed...who would've ever thunk that. It's been replaced by a Salt Life Food Shack. I'm a big fan of the Salt Life brand so we had to give the place a chance.
We started with the Black Bean Hummus very tasty. My dining partner ordered the Shack Burger well done and it showed up with pink in the middle..not exactly well done, but it looked perfect for my dysfunctional food cravings.
I went for the Tuna Burger....for some reason I was under the impression it was tuna steak but when it arrived it was chopped tuna formed into a patty..delicious never the less..and oh yeah I had it without the bun. The sandwich's come without fries, which is OK with me. The bill came to $31.00 without booze, a bit pricy but sometimes that's what you pay for brand participation.
Oysters were $7.00 per dozen, I passed, and the tap beer selection went very deep which I also passed on.

 

Dinner Dinner Dinner

After a long day of set-up it was time for dinner and with this group there's two things that we will always eat....Wings & Asian, hands down no argument...between the smartphones, tablets, Urbanspoon & Zagat we usually end with a restaurant that doesn't disappoint.

Last night it was House of Chan...wow..in all my years of traveling up and down Cobb Parkway I never knew tucked away in this strip mall was Chan's. The place is small and seats maybe 30 but the food was amazing. The hot and sour soup was delicious, the BBQ ribs we had for an appetizer hit the spot. The double cooked chicken had a light plum sauce on it. Someone ordered the Egg Foo Young (I hadn't even thought of Egg Foo Young since my Mom made it in the 70's) and they were monstrous patties. The wait staff was spot on with refills of water and tea.
The bill for 5 of us was $92.00.

Caveman Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 2 lb ground beef (you may substitute with ground pork);
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt;
• 1 tsp ground black pepper;
• 1 egg;
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped;
• 2 cups white button mushrooms, finely chopped;
• 1 tsp chili pepper flakes;
• 3 tsp fresh thyme, minced;
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, minced;
• 3 cloves garlic, minced;
• ½ cup homemade ketchup;
• 1 tbsp honey, optional;
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce, optional;
• 1 tbsp paleo cooking fat;

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium sized skillet placed over a medium heat, melt the cooking fat, add the mushrooms and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until soft.
3. In a large bowl, combine the meat, salt, pepper, egg, onion, mushrooms, chili pepper, thyme, oregano and garlic. Mix well, makng sure to break-up the meat. Add the cooked mushrooms as well. It’s very important that the mushrooms are evenly distributed to ensure the loaf bonds well.
4. Lightly grease loaf pan with additional cooking fat and fill it with the meat mixture. Place in the oven and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine ketchup, honey and Worcestershire sauce to make the sauce for the top of the meatloaf.
6. After cooking for 15 minutes, gently spread the sauce on the top of the loaf.
7. Continue cooking for another 40 minutes.

Caveman

I've decided to go Paleo...caveman style.....lost 6 pounds this week....

WOD

An on the road work out this evening..the hotels fitness room sucked so it was back to the room for a workout before dinner

3 Rounds
Jumping Jacks
Burpees
Mountain Climbers
Planks
Thrusters
High Kicks

3 Rounds
Push Up
Air Squats
Planks
Bridges

As I mentioned above there was dinner involved at the end of a long travel day.

Stopped in Columbia, SC for the night, my usual stop is the Carolina Wing house but this evening I tried something a bit different. I love "Pub" food and this place had the dark look as if you were in the U.K.....The beer selection is well rounded even though they were out of the Sam Adams Double Bock. Our waitress was a bit scattered but her service was excellent...Started with an order of Thai Curry Egg Rolls, different but very good and the main course was Turkey Green Apple & Brie sandwich with a side of Pub Chips. Well worth the trip and worth going back to. 

How To Wreck A Weeks Worth Of Work

After a weeks worth of training I found a really good way to wreck it......

It's called "Slutty Brownies" .....Don't shoot the messenger!

Here's all you need

• Roll of chocolate chip cookie dough
• Bag of Oreos
• Box of brownie mix and the ingredients needed to make it.
• Greased 9x13 pan

Grease a 9x13 pan and spread the cookie dough out in the bottom of the pan

Arrange the Oreos in nice neat rows on top of the cookie dough...I used 20 so there were still some left in the bag to snack on.

Mix the brownies as directed and add an extra Tablespoon of oil.

Bake for 350 for 45 minutes, let cool and then enjoy...throw a scoop of ice cream on top because it's the weekend.

I didn't totally wreak the weekend.....I cut these into bite size pieces, wrapped them in Aluminum foil and put my initials on each package.....I'm not sharing.

Wordless Wednesday

Mugshots Grill On A Rainy Mississippi Night

Stumbled across Mugshots Grill and Bar this evening, better yet the 5 of us did. Since I'm still in Tri-Training mode I passed on the bar part of the evening but I did manage to find some food to consume.
We started with an order of "Mild" wangs....(the Mild was closer to Medium but still very flavorful) with a side of Chips & Salsa, which I passed on.
My order was the Peanut Butter (with Bacon) Hamburger, yes it sounds odd and looks worse but after I tossed the enormous bun out was actually very tasty.  If you're ever in Flowood MS grab a burger here and yes they do sell Budweiser Platinum I just didn't drink any of it on this visit.

 

Eating My Way Across The Top Of The Gulf

Took a 6:00 AM flight out the other morning heading for Panama City, FL.....no not "Spring Break 2012" but for business in Mobile, AL. A road trip with a couple of colleagues and that means one thing and one thing only.....a Gulf Coast food tour.

By Tuesday evening we were all suffering from our early flight so when the subject of food came up it had to be something quick and some place that served beer. The decision reached was hot dogs (rock, paper, scissors can solve most any major decision). We asked "Siri" where we could find hotdogs and she found us a place just a few miles away, halfway to paradise, now for the beer part. A phone call to the restaurant and the question asked..."Do you serve beer?" "No"..Sad Face...then we heard these magical words...."but feel free to bring your own!"....what, seriously...I love Alabama!....We wheeled into Mike's Smokehouse Market six pack in hand with our focus set on hotdogs and beer, but the focus quickly changed when we were greeted with samples of pulled pork and smoked chicken (marketing 101)...so two meats, coleslaw and "Mac-N-Cheese" (a vegetable) and out on the patio for a BBQ feast. We were served a selection of sauces, mustard based, vinegar based, ketchup based... you name it, it was there. Mike even came out to visit us while we ate, we offered him a beer but he turned us down saying something along the lines of "If I start now I'll never make it back into the kitchen", Mike I appreciate your honestly and it left us with one extra beer. Meal 1 complete......

 

The next day for lunch we headed out for Firehouse Subs but we ended up at Cheryl's Cafe & Market and good thing we did. As soon as we opened the door we could smell all of the home cooking and see all of the homemade deserts.
I settled on the Reuben (hold the dressing) with a side of fresh fruit...amazing and one of the best sandwich's I've ever eaten and I'm a "sandwich guy" (225lb 5'8" do the math). If you are ever in Spanish Fort, AL it's worth the stop....Meal 2 complete.

 

 

The last stop  Original Oyster House.....when we pulled in I was thinking to myself "I wonder how many Original Oyster House's there are n the world?" because I bet I've eaten at three of them. The meal started with a large Yuengling, fried green tomato's with a side of fried pickles.....I never said it was a healthy trip. My dinner choice none other than Shrimp and Grits...wow as my taste buds delighted....the grits were not to cheesy and the shrimp not to blackened......The portion was just right we all left full but not suffering with that "I'm stuffed" feeling......Meal 3 complete.

You don't get great road trips every week, hell my arteries couldn't handle it, but when you do it's nice.....and yes I ran a 5k one morning and hit the gym the other so at least in my mind those two events erased all the fine Southern food.

Win a Lobster In a Claw Machine

So the other night I'm out with friends at Andretti Karting....lots of neon, music, video games, indoor go-karts and booze..the perfect environment for a bald late 40's adult just looking to relive his teenage years.

Even with all of those distractions I was enthralled by the Lobster Claw Machine LINK   
For $2.00 you can drop the claw of death and (hopefully) yank a lobster from it's salty home..then they cook it for you and even include a free side item........Just think for the low, low investment of $4.00 you and your lady (or man) can possibly dine on fresh from the tank lobster and a couple of sides.

Since all the lobster seems sedated and huddled in the corners of the tank I had to ask the "Lobster Boss" aka the worker standing closest to the tank..."Does anyone ever catch one of these beasts?" he replied that they fill up the tank with fresh lobsters a couple of times a week....my guess is that there's a bunch more $20.00 lobsters pulled from that tank than there are $2.00 lobsters...that's just my hunch.

A Salsa Saturday Night

Grilled chicken and homemade salsa is on the menu this evening.....Ahhhh and some Michelob Ultra Light.

The salsa recipe is as follows.....

-1 can Ro-Tel
-1 can tomatoes (either whole or diced!)
-half an onion, chopped
-1 can black beans (drained)
-1 can whole corn (drained)
-1 clove garlic
-cilantro (again, depending on taste)
-salt
-the juice of half a lime

Pulse in a food processor or blender...then chill and add chips.....I guess no clean eat this evening.

The window cleaner is not for seasoning but for cleaning up my mess.

Three Amigos Chili

It's Fall here in Florida, which in a nutshell means that at some point during the 24 hours that make up the day the temperature drops below 80 degrees.
Fall season is chili season and here's a very easy, very quick and healthy (until you add the shredded cheese and sour cream). The cinnamon adds a nice twist to the flavor and you can swap out the ground turkey for ground chicken. Look 11 grams of fiber (thank you Mr Beans...) and 31 grams of muscle building protein...what's not to like?



Three Amigos Chili  (LINK)
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapeño peppers
1 can (10 1/2 oz) each chickpeas, black beans, and kidney beans, drained
1 can (14 oz) low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp each salt and cumin
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Hot sauce to taste

PREPARATION
In a pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the onion and sauté until soft (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add the turkey, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with juice, chickpeas, beans, broth, and spices. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (Freeze the leftovers and save $5 by eating them for lunch.)

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Calories:     293 calories
Carbs:        32 g
Sodium:     788 mg
Fat:           5 g
Protein:     31 g
Fiber:        11 mg

Lost A Clean Eat This Evening......

Even though we're between challenges I still try to adhere to a clean eating plan....try is probably the key word in that sentence.
It seems as if the "Food Channel" is on an awful lot in this house and one show that's in heavy rotation is Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. For someone that eats a bunch of meals on the road and for someone that wishes to eat as healthy as possible...this is the last show that I need to be watching.
Well it turns out that one of Guy's stops was just a few miles South of the house, Sonny's Famous Steak Hogies was where Friday night "Date Night" was planned.
They say that TV tends to put 10lbs on you, well I think it also adds a few hundred square feet to a restaurant, because Sonny's looked a whole lot bigger on TV than it did in person. The place had maybe 7 booths and 3 tables......but what it lacked in size it made up for in taste. I ordered a #95 with a side of hot peppers,  the bread is baked daily on site and it was soft, fresh and light.......so all in all it was worth losing a Clean Eat as well as making a second trip on another evening......and the prices were very reasonable, the four us ate for less than $40.00.

Accomplishments week of 4/2

This past week
I replaced roadwork cardio with DVD cardio, not a bad choice
Got in 4 resistance training sessions
Lost 1.6 pounds
I managed to drop my carbs to under 80 grams per day



The scale showed 212.6 this morning, not a bad way to start the weekend. I'm going to chalk it up to the Cardio DVD's and the drop in carb consumption. I should be below 210 by the end of the challenge.



I dug out my old GymBoss timer the other day and began using it for intervals, planks and rest times between sets....I forgot how handy this thing can be.




The food of the week Gardein Beefless Tips Package. They were 2 for 1 at Publix....yes I'm a bargain shopper. I cooked them in garlic and low sodium Soy Sauce, not bad tasting. 150 calories, 8 grams of carbs & 18 grams of protein all in 3/4 of a cup and yes I ate the whole bag.

On a lighter note I managed to snag my wife with a great Aprils Fools prank. I made a fake hollow roll of toilet paper. When she went to pull the toilet paper off of the roll she was greeted with a nice April Fools message. It worked like a champ.....

No One Wants To Eat What I Eat

This morning I drank my normal morning morning shake while I made breakfast for everyone, I got cleaned up stepped on the scale and........I lost a few oz's.....Food was within 10 or 15 calories of the day before no there was no major calorie deficiency so how could I have possibly lost weight? Note the sarcasm in that sentence, could it be the types of food that I'm eating instead of solely that number of calories...Hmmmm



Breakfast consisted of one whole egg, 1/2 cup of egg whites, peppers, frozen spinach and some leftover ground beef....so how come no one wants to partake in that for breakfast? I think I lose them at the ground beef with the eggs.
Roughly 300 calories, 6.5 grams of carbs and somewhere around 30 grams of protein, not a bad way to get the morning going. Tonight chicken on the grill some lentils and a salad....salad, really what's the use?


I've been enjoying this latest workout template, mostly from the book Power Training, it's a book I've had for years and so many of Coach Dos's workouts seem to help me shed
weight.


I bought a Bob Harper DVD at Sam's a few weeks ago and had never taken the time to run through it...damn 40 minutes into the 60 minute workout I was done....I even did it without weights. I must have something to do with weighing 160lbs and not 213.6.