Announcement: Fewer Posts

So recently I have become pretty slammed with other responsibilities, so I've been unable to maintain an everyday log of my activities.  Sorry, but I may have to tone down the frequency of posts to about one or two a week, giving a general picture of where I'm at.  With everything between work, the library, working out, learning a new language, and various other side projects, I fear that I won't be able to maintain daily updates.  I am working on doing an update on where I am from the start, new measurements, pictures, etc soon, so watch for that.   Thanks for reading.

Day 42: Yoga Time

I finally got back to working out on Tuesday with yoga, which felt so good.  I know it's weird, but if I don't work out, I feel really crappy and tired.  Plus I am seeing good progress, so I don't want to mess it up.  Though we did bake cookies, so that might be a roadblock.

Yes, cookies.  They are definitely not on the diet, as cookies are basically butter and sugar i.e. fat and carbs.  I couldn't wait to try out some recipes from my joy of vegan cooking book, so I decided to do a trial run, with the hopes of making some for Lisa's going away on Friday.

I don't know what happened to them, but with every cookie I bake, they all seem to turn out thin and dense.  This applies to non-vegan cookies that I would make.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but they did not turn out nearly as good as the ones in the picture.  Maybe the next batch will be better.

Menu:


Breakfast:
protein shake

I realized that I have bought more fruit than one human being could consume in a week, so I may need to start drinking two a day before all these berries and peaches go bad.

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar (what else?)

Lunch:
Vegetable soup
"bologna" sandwich

Snack:
1/4 cup cashews

Dinner:
Homemade black bean burgers
baked beans
grilled corn

My sister-in-law gave us this recipe, which I'll have to put up later, but these burgers were super tasty.  We made and froze them the night before, and they held together very well.  It's always tricky to get a veggie patty to hold it's shape, but the trick is to throw them on frozen, and don't touch them for at least 5 minutes. Let one side get nice and toasty, then flip them.  If you move it before you get some good browning, it will crumble.

Day 41: Volleyball Night

Mondays are volleyball night for me.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of also volunteering at the library on Monday nights, leaving me with a packed afternoon.  The game went horribly, with our team losing both games and being down 16-1 at one point.  I also tweaked my back a bit going up for a block, so I was feeling super tired that night.

I went to the library afterward to sort books and whatnot, and it was some nice downtime in comparison.  I was hoping that this rest would leave me with enough in the tank to get back on the workout horse, but I was due for yoga, which is an hour and a half of pain, and I had nothing in the tank.  I bagged it and just ate dinner and went to bed.

Menu:


Breakfast:
protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Salad
leftover stir fry

Snack2:
1/4 cup cashews

Dinner:
Grilled zucchini and squash
couscous
mushroom and pepper kabobs

Day 40: The Morning After

So after the beerfest on Saturday, I had a slight headache the next morning.  It's funny that that only happens after I drink.

I finally rolled out of bed at 10:30 and spent most of the morning making and eating breakfast, and the afternoon on the couch watching soccer.  A disappointing appearance from our neighbors to the south left me feeling a little sad though.  Once I pried myself off the couch, we only had time to get to the grocery store and then over to Brierty's for dinner, so no workout tonight.  Though, I'm learning how nice my friends are about my whole vegan diet.  They went so far as to get me some Field Roast sausages for dinner, along with some guac.  Very kind of them to do, as I might have gone hungry if it was just brisket and chili dip.  Plus I now have almost a whole tub of baked beans that they sent me home with.  I guess no one else shares my love of the magical fruit.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Stuffed french toast

This was fabulous.  Banana and peanut butter filled french toast.  So easy to do as well.  Instead of egg, we just used soy milk, a little flour, and some vanilla extract to coat the bread, and the filling was basically peanut butter, banana, and brown sugar.  Not the healthiest start to the day, but perfect when you're feeling a bit "under the weather".

Lunch:
Honestly, I don't remember if I peeled myself off the couch for lunch. I may have had a sandwich before leaving for the market, but I'm not sure.

Dinner:
chips and guacamole
field roast sausage
vegetarian baked beans

Day 39: Beerfest

Saturday was beerfest for me and a couple of friends.  We went to the Great Austin Beer Festival to sample the finest brews from all around.  Of course, we had so sample the best beer ever beforehand, which was my home brewed German Maibock.  We polished off a couple of pitchers while watching the World Cup match, which was entirely disappointing.

So we're already 3 beers deep by the time that we got to the festival.  Needless to say, it was a fun day and I think that Steph enjoyed laughing at our escapades afterward.  I was not the worst off by a long shot, as Barrett kept wandering off at the festival, and at dinner, meandered down to the dock to sit by himself.  I think he enjoyed himself though, and apparently I'm his new best friend.

I fortunately did get in a quick workout before the game and after brunch, even though it was a busy day.  After beerfest and dinner, Stephanie and I made it out to a friend's housewarming party.  Luckily I took the safe route of chugging water through dinner instead of one of the Hula Hut's delicious concoctions, but you know what they say, beer before liquor...

Menu:


Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Brunch:
Tofu migas at Snack Bar

Lunch:
Grilled veggies
baked beans
Field Roast sausage

Snack2:
Many, many beers

Dinner:
Veggie enchiladas with no cheese at The Hula Hut.

Their pickings were pretty slim for dinner, so I went with the basics, just some grilled veggies with tomatillo sauce.

Fourthmeal:
2 bean burritos minus cheese from Taco Bell

After a few adult beverages, Taco Bell was always my stop of choice.  I was psyched to hear that their beans and burritos have no lard in them, so as long as you stay away from the cheese, these burritos are 100% vegetable.  http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/OtherInfo/Taco-Bell.htm

Day 38: Out To Eat

For Friday, we were both feeling a little tired from a long week, so we decided to go out yet again.  We tried a new greek place up north that was pretty tasty.  Zorba Greek Restaurant was the name.  I had the usual fare, hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, etc.  Nothing to write home about, but it was close to home and satisfying.

We also had another task, which was to pick out a fan and lights for our back yard.  So we headed up to Home Depot to pick out both.  It was fairly successful, and we're definitely looking forward to having a nice cool patio this summer.

Steph was feeling a little under the weather that night, so it was just me.  It is so much tougher to work out by yourself than it is with someone else.  With another person, you have to push yourself, since you don't want to be the first one to stop or let up, so I just had to push through by myself.

Menu:


Breakfast:
Protein shake

Snack:
Cliff Builder's Bar

Lunch:
Vegetable soup
"bologna" sandwith

Snack:
1/4 cup mixed nuts

Dinner:
Vegetarian platter including dinner salad, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, dolmathes, and stewed eggplant.

Day 37: ?

I honestly can't remember what I did on Thursday.  It's hell getting old.