Day 9

Breakfast:
Sirloin
Peppers
Onion
Eggs
Refried beans
Pico

Snack 1:
1 can of Tuna + 1/4 Avocado with salt and lime (DELICIOUS)

Lunch 1:
Salad of Arugula, Bibb, Avocado, and Lemon juice

Lunch 2:
Pork loin with BBQ sauce - I know the sauce has some sugar, but I'm dying to keep it fresh!
Another batch of Kale chips - By now, I've consumed an entire bunch of kale (sans stems) in 2 days.
1 single Starburst Watermelon candy - I feel a binge coming on. This should curb it. Or spark it. We'll see.

At work:
More almonds.....ugh

Late night snack:
Too tired to cook so I had a big ol scoop of all-natural peanut butter (just peanuts)

**EDIT** I wrote this blog up before heading to work. I had that Starburst in my pocket. I carried it there all night, then handed it to a bartender. Thanks to Elliott for the pep talk.

Day 8

First this:

It's a....... from Luke Shaffer on Vimeo.

Now the food.

Breakfast:
2 eggs
Mixed peppers (from the farmers market)
Refried beans
Salsa

Lunch(ish):
I grazed on a half pound of turkey all through lunch service. New menu items make it tough to break for a snack.

Snack:
Kale chips
-kale pulled off the stem, tossed with lemon pepper and olive oil with touch of salt, baked at 350º for 12 minutes

Dinner:
Chik-fil-a Chargrilled Salad
No croutons, no cheese, edamame jalapeño dressing

Super calorie deficient today, it was a long, busy day. I will probably even reward myself (for the long day, not the deficiency) with a single Oreo. Also, I dropped 3 pounds this last week. No real visible changes, but that's coming. Tomorrow is back to it for realsies.

Day 7

Not gonna lie. Getting up today was rough. Not that I was hungover from drinking - I was hungover from food. It was a task getting back into the swing after yesterday, but overall I was successful.

Breakfast:
Celery
All natural peanut butter

Lunch:
Chipotle burrito bowl-
Steak, black beans, corn salsa, lettuce, pico, lime juice, guac

Snacks:
Sliced turkey
Pickles
Popcorn

Dinner:
Chicken breast
Spring mix + spinach
Broccoli
Tomato
Edamame jalapeño dressing

Yes. I made the dressing. I put away a good bit of water today too, but I was probably a little calorie deficient. I'll be back in full swing tomorrow. See ya then!

Day 6 - Feast Day #1

First, the food, then some commentary:

Bacon & Egg Taco
Potato, Egg & Cheese Taco
Bean & Cheese Taco
Coke
Krispy Kreme Glazed Donut
Krispy Kreme Strawberry Iced with Creme Filling
Iced Mocha
Slice of Homeslice Pepperoni
Garlic Knot
House Salad
*2 pieces of each:
  Cherry Sour
  Hot Tamale
  Sour Cherry Strips
  Haribo Bears
  Small Pez Pack
*Back to full food:
P Terry's Cheeseburger
Fries
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie
*Wedding reception dinner:
  Beef Tenderloin Slider
  Pecan Crusted Chicken
  Mac N Cheese
  Grilled Veggies
  Chocolate Cake
  White Cake
  Bourbon
  Lone Star

That is how you do a Feast Day. Granted, I went little overboard with sweets and junk, but I'm told this is the case with your first cheat day. According to the My Plate Livestrong app I used to count calories (based on approximations) I topped 6,000 calories.

Today, it's back to the diet, but I'm moving a little slower ;) so we'll see how it goes. I will get plenty of water today, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @LonghornLukeTX to see pictures of some of my food as it happens and also to see my temptations.

Day 5

Today was tough. I had a wedding rehearsal this afternoon, followed by a rehearsal dinner. This was all preceded by attending a volunteer event for Summer's work. Here are today's foods coupled with today's challenges:

Breakfast 1 (no problem here):
3 whites + 2 yolks
Leftover fajita beef, beans, and onions
Pico

Breakfast 2 (at the volunteer event):
Eggs, bacon, pico
These were actually the insides of two breakfast tacos. I sadly discarded the tortillas they came in :(


Lunch-ish (still at the event):
A whole bag of beef jerky (totalling 45g protein)
I know jerky has some sugar in it, but I passed on pizza, popcorn, doritos, and sno cones to get here, so BACK OFF I'M STARVING!

Dinner (rehearsal dinner):
At this juncture, I'm starving. They served barbecue:
Sausage
Brisket
Chicken
Beans
I passed on potato salad, bread, cole slaw and sauce (there was minimal sauce served on the meat plates)


I did have two gin and sodas at the after party which I don't think is TOO far off the diet. Tomorrow is FEAST DAY, as it shall henceforth be known. I plan to hit up some serious Austin institutions (Torchy's, Homeslice, P Terrys) in addition to attending a wedding. The bride herself has requested that I aid in ridding them of extra cake. Yes please! Tomorrow's blog my not hit news stands until Sunday morning. It just depends on how many times they play "SHOUT!" at the reception. Stay tuned!

EDIT:
On a more gastronomical note, as an usher at said wedding, I received a gift from the groom:

Yup. That's what you think it is. THE MODERNIST CUISINE full set. It is the ultimate collection of culinary knowledge to date. It's like owning an entire set of Encyclopedia Britannicas, but all about food. Everything from the history of food, to ingredients, to equipment, to technique, to recipes. Y'all better watch out, cause I'm about to be a bad mamma jamma!! (well, even moreso than I already am)

Day 4

No pics here, more of the same.

Breakfast 1:
2 over easy eggs
Refried black beans
Pico

Lunch 1:
1/2 chicken breast
Spring mix and arugula salad
Lemon juice

Work snack:
Coliman put together a little salad for us with bibb lettuce, avocado, shallots, and some other tasty stuff

Dinner:
*WAIT* here is where I explain to you the nightmare that is going to a Mexican food joint on this diet. We were out registering for baby stuff and decided to grab dinner out. Serrano's was right there and I figured, "Why not? I can sub-out the illegal stuff!" Oh the humanity! I ended up with chicken and beef combo fajitas - NO rice, NO torts, NO cheese, NO chips. Only meat, beans, guac, pico, and some grilled onions. Oh the humanity! <-- I know that's a repeat, but wow. I can't tell you what torture this was. Thanks to encouragement from Elliott, and a subtle reminder that in less than 36 hours, I can have anything. The tension mounts.

Late Snack:
All natural peanut butter
Celery

Tomorrow will be interesting I've got rehearsal dinner at a barbecue joint. Challenge accepted.

Day 2

Still going strong on day two.....it's an accomplishment for me so shut it!

Breakfast (repeat of yesterday):
3 whites and 2 yolks
Handful of spinach
Refried black beans
Pico
Coffee

Lunch 1 (cut short w busy lunch):
Tuna w 1t Dijon, pickle, 1/2t mayo
Broccoli slaw w vinaigrette

Lunch 2:
Salmon (leftover from last night)
Pinto beans
Brussels sprouts - about 1 cup shaved, sauteed in a touch of bacon fat and clarified butter
PS. It turns out that consuming a large amount of cruciferous vegetables right before serving food to people is not a swell idea, FYI.

Work snack:
Handful of raw almonds

Late dinner:

2 eggs over easy
Half of a chicken breast
Half of a Roma tomato
Sriracha

In addition to all of this delicious food, I consumed well over a gallon of water today. This is definitely difficult, but not impossible. I do miss grabbing cookies here and there and bread. Sweet, sweet bread. Saturday can't come quick enough. I just may embarrass myself. Stay tuned!

Day 1

So it begins.

Breakfast 1:
3 egg whites + 2 yolks
Handful of spinach
1/2 cup refried black beans
Pico
Giant glass of water
Coffee

Breakfast 2:
Lentils (cooked with andouille and chicken stock) + 2 eggs
Broccoli slaw with arugula and vinaigrette

Carrots and celery until...

Lunch:
Same lentils but no eggs
Same broccoli slaw but no arugula

Dinner:
Salmon with Dijon and dill
Pinto beans (mashed to basically refried beans)
Big ol spring mix salad w brocolli slaw, celery leaves, cilantro, tomato vinaigrette
Unsweetened decaf iced tea

Gonna try to make tomorrow more interesting, but my Breakfast 2 and Lunch are consumed at the restaurant, so they need to be quick.

4 Hour Body? We'll see.

So this blog is about to get weird. *Flashback to July 4th* We head over to Melody and Saul's for a little get-together with them and Natalie and Elliott and their respective offspring, Jonas and Olivia. As per "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" protocol, the fellas meandered out by the grill. Elliott starts talking about this book he's been reading (The 4-Hour Body) and the accompanying diet he and Natalie had just begun, the Slow-Carb Diet.

He regales the tale of the author, whose done some pretty incredible stuff, and I'm intrigued and ask him to send me a copy of the book. He does and I start reading. I smell the Kool-Aid. I sip the Kool-Aid. I'm now covered in Kool-Aid.

So for the next 30 days, I will be on this Slow-Carb Diet and will share it in it's gory detail with you, here. "What is this "Slow-Carb Diet", Luke?". Well, it's not exactly a NO carb diet, but it's pretty low. The meals are comprised largely of Greens, Beans, and Lean Proteins - it helps that it rhymes. I'll basically eat every 4 hours meals that include proteins: meat, eggs, fish; legumes: lentils or beans; and vegetables: duh. The basic 5 rules of the diet:

1) Avoid "white" carbs (all grains, pastas, sugar, etc)
2) Eat the same meals over and over again - repetition prevents stray
3) Don't drink calories - no milk, cokes, or fruit juice
4) No fruit - fruit = fructose = sugar
5) Take one day off per week and go nuts.

Yup. You read rule 5 correctly, and this was the one that really intrigued me to this program. Once a week, LITERALLY eat WHATEVER YOU WANT. This dude in the book says he'll consume as much as 5000 calories on his off day. Sometimes he'll almost make himself sick. This gross display of binging A) makes the thought of junk food sickening for the next 6 days and B) aids in fat loss. Wait....WHAT?! From the book: "Paradoxically, dramatically spiking caloric intake in this way once per week increases fat-loss by ensuring that your metabolic rate (thyroid function and conversion of T4 to T3, etc) doesn't downshift from the extended caloric restriction."

I'm gonna give it 30 days. I've never gone hardcore into any sort of diet really and this does not seem to be some cockamamie gimmick diet. It's eating well. 4 healthy meals a day. Okay, maybe it is, but I've got to try something! I've got a kiddo en route this November and I'm most certainly in the worst shape of my life. I need to be lean and mean in order to chase this rugrat around.

Hopefully I can make this foray into the healthy delicious and entertaining to read about. If not, My Sunday through Friday blogs will suck, but you're definitely gonna want to the Saturday blogs. If I've been given a license to eat ridiculously on Saturdays, I WON'T disappoint. Stay tuned!

Lucy's Fried Chicken

So the way I understand it, Lucy's Fried Chicken was opened by James Holmes on the coattails of his famous fried chicken that is served at the Olivia brunch (where he is the executive chef). It does not disappoint. I checked the place out with the wife (ol preggers) and mother-in-law (Terri) last night. We wanted some good food, but it was Friday night and we didn't want to drop serious coin, or wait forever. 7pm. Friday night. Sat right down. That's what I'm talkin' about!

After perusing the menu, and figuring that ol preggers and Terri probably wouldn't go for calf fries, chicken gizzards, chicken boudin, or the sausage basket (all of which I plan to return for), we opted for a bucket of chicken, black eyed peas, and crab-boil potato salad. We did not fail in our selections. The chicken was excellent! Moist. Crispy. Flavorful. The peas were perfectly cooked and had a some bonus pork in them. The tater salad was spicy as all get out and delicious! The basket says it "feeds 4", but we barely made a dent. As is made clear in the following photo:

Yea. We needed two to-go bags. "Well" we figured, "if we're taking home chicken, we might as well take home pie!" They have a great selection of pies that are most certainly being made by someone's grandma chained up in the back. Lime, Apple, and Shoofly. Yup. Shoofly pie is an ACTUAL thing! It's a molasses base with a butter oat streusel and a gingersnap crust. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

All-in-all, a great experience and we can't wait to have chicken for dinner, and check out Lucy's again!