Day 29: A New Workout

One of the main reasons that people give up on working out is that it's boring.  You get into a rut, do the same thing over and over again, and don't see results.  After the initial two weeks, we've been doing the same workouts over and over again, and for the first time, we got a new workout tonight, Core Synergistics.  It was a challenge, not so much in the degree of tiredness afterward, but since we have new moves to do, it takes a bit to get into the proper form, so I feel like I didn't get a very good workout tonight, but it was fun rolling around on the floor like I saw in the infomercial.

One thing I've noticed though, is the amount of equipment you really need to get the workout done right.  I went with bands since that appeared to be the only thing beyond the chin-up bar that I needed, but you really do need some free weights to maintain good form on some of the exercises.  I'll have to keep an eye out on craigslist for a set, as I looked at the cool adjustable dumbells at Sports Authority, and they're like 400 bones, a bit pricey for my taste.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Orzo with sun dried tomatoes and kale
Salad with tomato and avacado

Snack:
1/4 cup cashews

Dinner:
Field Roast Italian sausage X2
Spaghetti with red sauce
side salad

I have to say, I am totally in love with these Field Roast sausages.  They are flat out the best vegan meat replacement I have had.  They have a wonderful flavor, and are juicy and moist.  On top of that, they're chock full of protein with very little fat.  If you eat veggie dogs or Boca burgers, just throw them out and get some of these Field Roast sausages.  I'm going to have to get some of their other products too.  I've got a celebration roast in my fridge  right now just begging to be eaten, and that Hazelnut en Croute looks very tasty.

Day 28: Yoga

The first activity in our "rest" week was an hour and a half of yoga.  You know, before ever doing yoga, I just thought of it as standing around and breathing, not something that could actually get you a workout.  Yoga X has completely changed my mind.  The balancing and the standing may look easy, but I was deceived in the same way that Albert Pujols makes hitting a home run look easy.  Just holding these poses is a challenge that gets my whole body working and the sweat flowing like a river.

It is also a calming experience as well.  After the cool-down period, I generally feel pretty mellow, which is a lot different than after I finish something like plyometrics and am still a bit amped up.  It's good that it calms me, since by the time we were done working out, it was all but time for bed.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Soy scramble with chorizo style seitan (over 50g protein in this meal!)

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Tofurkey wrap with mustard, tomato and arugala on wheat pita
orzo with sun-dried tomatoes and kale

Snack:
1/2 cup cashews

Dinner:
Mexican-style field roast sausage (spicy and yummy!)
Grilled peppers and mushrooms
Roasted red potatoes with rosemary

I went a little crazy with the carbs today (pita, pasta and potatoes all in one day), but I think I'll survive.  The orzo I used actually had 6g of protein in it, so I'm sneaking in the protein wherever I can.

Day 27: Is This Ever Going to End?

Monday had a whole host of issues.  We had to pick up the car from the shop before work, I had a volleyball game and a board meeting after work, and didn't get home till 9 that night and Stephanie was trying to get some work done.  It was another day of a missed workout, and I'm beginning to think that this 90 day program is going to be more like 120 days.  With what we have been doing, we should be on day 22, so we're way behind, but that's ok.  I think that the results are already beginning to manifest.  I checked myself on the scale last night before bed and I'm down to 158.2 lbs with 10% body fat.  I can definitely notice a change in both muscle definition and with strength, so I'm guessing that this is working out so far.  Now we just have to stick with it for a couple more months.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Chef salad
Stir fried vegetables

Snack:
1/2 cup cashews and peanuts

Dinner:
Guacamole salad

Snack:
Cole slaw
Bread with margarine
handful of olives

I had a light dinner, as the board ordered in some Mexican food, but I'm still leaving beans out as much as I can until next week, so I opted for a salad.  I was a little light on my carb intake and calories, so I decided to have a little snack when I got home with some of my wife's awesome home made bread.

Yum

Day 26: Meet the Neighbors

Sunday is the day we like to either have people over for dinner, or go over to other's houses for dinner.  Without family in Austin, it's nice to have friends to break bread with on a regular basis, and Sunday is always a good day to spend cooking and hanging out with those that you love.

I ran into our neighbor on Saturday while he was walking his dog and it was the perfect opportunity to invite him and his wife over for dinner on Sunday.  We always seem to see them when we are out gardening and we've talked to them a few times at our property owner's association meetings, but we wanted to get to know them a little better.  After all, we're going to be living next to them for a while, so we should probably get to know, and hopefully like each other.

Unfortunately for my wife, this added a little stress to our evening, as we want to make a good impression, so the house needed to be clean and we needed to make some extra special goodies for dinner.  To add to that stress, I went golfing on Sunday morning with Steve, so I didn't get back home till after 2.  Even worse, the roast that we picked up at the farmer's market was still frozen and needed so long to cook that we wouldn't be eating till Monday morning.  Oops.

She called me after my round of golf and asked me to drop by the store to get basically a whole new menu for dinner.  Needless to say, it's a bit nerve racking to not have a menu for dinner at noon when you have people coming over.  I think it all turned out well though.  Of course, she's the one that did pretty much everything, I got home after dropping by the store and mowed and trimmed the lawn.

I think it all turned out well though.  Casey found it amusing that he'd never grilled ribs before, and here was the vegan out there with three huge slabs of meat, grilling it up.  I found that even with the meal we were making, it was pretty easy to substitute things for myself.  Bruschetta was made with vegan mozzarella, cole slaw with veganaise, margarine on my corn, and my favorite apple sage sausage instead of ribs.

Of course, with new people always comes the question of why I'm a vegan.  I think every time I answer that, I get just a little more clear.  When first asked, I had thought about it a lot, but never had to articulate it in a short period of time.  Now it's getting easier to boil it down to 3 points: animal welfare, the environment, and the moral implications of excess.  Basically, I don't eat meat because animals are treated poorly in the process, CAFOs are basically toxic wastelands which pollute the water supply and lay waste to air quality, and if we instead ate vegetables, we would have enough food to end world hunger tomorrow.  I of course, wasn't that succinct, but with time maybe I'll be able to transmit this message more clearly.



I think they understood though, and Lauren and Kevin are really nice people.  It was great having them over and I hope that they enjoyed themselves.  I felt a little bad about dinner being so late.  We had appetizers at 6, but didn't get everything on the table till 8.  I felt bad, because Kevin needed to walk Walter after dinner, and it was getting pretty late.  It was good getting to know them a little better.  I just hope that we didn't scare them off.  Though who can resist a neighbor with a keggerator in their garage?

Menu:

Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar
Protip: Don't leave these in a golf bag, they get uber melty.

Lunch:
"Bologna" sandwich
cashews

Appetizer:
Bruschetta

So simple, just dice tomatoes, toss in balsamic vinagrette and olive oil, lay over sliced bread with a slice of vegan mozzarella and broil till the cheese melts.  So tasty though.  We made ours with yellow, orange and red tomatoes to add color.

Dinner:
Field roast apple sage sausage with sauerkraut
Corn on the cob
Cole Slaw
Baked beans
2 pints German Mai-bock

Desert:
Indian mango

Found this a Central Market over the weekend.  They suckered us in by giving us samples, which were so freaking good.  This was the best mango I've ever had.  It was perfectly ripe, juicy and full of flavor.  If only they weren't so expensive.  This is a rare treat if you can get it.

Day 25: Rest Day

Saturday was our rest day, which couldn't have come at a better time, since we, as usual, had a lot to do.  Mostly errands and such, but some fun stuff as well.  We went to the Austin farmer's market down at 4th and Guadalupe in the morning.  We've started making this a bit of a ritual each week, because they have such good produce and a lot of really good artisan food as well.  It is totally worth the effort to make it down there.

Beyond that, it was running to Central Market to get some of the stuff they don't have at the farmer's market like setian and tofu, getting some golf supplies, and returning a bunch of stuff that we found out that we don't need.  Once we got back to the house, we were dog tired, but pushed through to plant the flowers in the back since we were done repairing the sprinkler system.  By the time we were done, it was almost 7:30, which is a shame, because we were planning on doing dinner and a movie that night, but it wasn't to be.

Instead we just did dinner.  Stephanie was nice enough to indulge me in one of my favorites, Kerby Lane Cafe.  I have to say though, their vegetarian selection is out of this world, and with a few substitutions, a lot can be made vegan, and their vegan pancakes are amazing.  So I had some brinner and we headed back home to pass out.  For a rest day, I felt surprisingly tired.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Panera Black Bean Soup
Apple

Dinner (@ Kerby Lane Cafe):
Tofu scramble with soysage and blueberry pancakes
Some of my wife's French fries
Dark chocolate tofu cheesecake

Restaurants: Kerby Lane Cafe

I'll be honest, I am a little biased toward Kerby Lane.  As a big lover of brinner, I love a place where you can get pancakes and home fries any time they are open.  They have several different locations in Austin, each with a bit of a different feel to them.  The one I usually go to off of 183 is newer, and has a less worn in feel to it than the original, but it still captures the vibe well, with an expanded seating section and a nice outdoor area.  

The menu has a little something for all types of eaters, from queso and migas, to burgers, to hummus and tabbouleh.  It covers all the bases with the constant menu, with an addition of a seasonal menu that keeps you coming back to try their new flavors.  On right now is a portabello fried steak, which sounds amazing.  I didn't ask if the gravy was vegan, but it's soysage gravy, so it might be, but the guy behind me at dinner was vegan and he ordered it with a change of sides, so maybe it is meat free.

If you are vegetarian, everything is clearly marked on the menu, and unlike many places where this is maybe a couple salads and a veggie burger, they have a wide selection.  Even if you are vegan, there is a good selection, from basil pecan pesto pasta to the always popular vegan pancakes, there will be something for you.  Any of the scrambles like migas can also be done with their tofu and nutritional yeast, which is really good if you have never had scrambled tofu before.

My favorite dish is the vegan platter, which comes with their fluffy, moist, delicious pancakes, tofu scramble, and house made soysage.  Everything here is made from scratch each day so it's fresh and delicious.  Pair this with a glass of OJ and you have yourself one great breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or fourth meal).  They also serve my favorite desert here, which is a dark chocolate tofu cheesecake.  It is simply to die for, with a graham cracker crust and smooth, chocolaty center, you can't go wrong with this one.  It's one of the best deserts that I've had, vegan or not.

Sorry, I couldn't wait to dig in, so the picture is of the half-eaten cheesecake.

I can't give this place anything less than a perfect score.  Like I said, I'm biased and it's in my top 10 restaurants list.  It is quite simply the perfect place for people who love breakfast anytime of the day, with a well-rounded and unique menu and one of the best deserts in Austin.

Score: 4/4

Location: 4 locations in Austin, TX

Day 24: Early Morning Routine

So Friday was going to be a crazy day.  I had accounts to balance at 8, then work, then we were off to the Texas Stars game.  Looking at our schedule, we decided that we had to get in our workout before my 8AM meeting.  So we got up super early for us, and worked out at 6.  It was strange, but nice.  We are so used to doing our workout at the end of the day that it was nice to get it done and out of the way early so that it's not hanging over us.  I don't think it's a trend we are likely to continue, as we are definitely not morning people, but it was a refreshing change of pace.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack: 
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Vegan lasagna
salad

Snack:
30 pistachios

Dinner:
Stir fry

Stars Game:
20 oz Bud Light