Food Adventures: Richmond, Virginia

Well I really had meant to write a little about my trip to Richmond, VA sooner, but I just haven't been in the writing mood. This will be a bit minimal about my trip, I should have written about it sooner when my memory was fresher. I also wish I had taken more pictures, but I am just not that much of a photographer. I need to learn to be if I am going to write about things I do.

The first place we went where I took pictures was Capital Ale House. They had a very nice menu at this bar, and I think the rest of my family enjoyed the beer selection as well. It was also a pretty short walk from where we were staying during the trip as well.

This was the pulled pork poutine that was on the menu at Capital Ale House, french fries covered with cheese curds, gravy, and pulled pork. My dad is actually the one who ordered this, the portion was quite big, but of course there were too many fries and not enough toppings, but still it was quite delicious.

This was my dish at Capital Ale House, bacon and onion stuffed chicken, with au gratin potatoes, and broccoli. It was really good. I loved the garlic and onion flavor in the stuffing and the chicken was cooked perfectly. It was a great, slightly healthier option on the menu because I knew I would be having some less than healthy foods during the week.

The next morning my brother and I went off to a local English pub to watch some Premier League soccer, the place was called Penny Lane, and yes after The Beatles. I got the full English breakfast. It was quite mediocre, as I thought it might be at a pub, but it was high in protein and really filling.

We went out to a French restaurant with some friends of our father. There really wasn't all the much that appealed to me on the menu here, but I decided to get some mussels, since I was closer to the coast seafood was one of the things I wanted to eat. These mussels were flavored with ingredients that also go into clam chowder, and there were a few clams included as well. Seasoned with bacon, leeks, and cream, they were quite good, but were weirdly served with french fries, all of which together was quite salty.

This is the last food picture I have from the trip, the one thing I wanted to have more than anything else, Chicken and waffles! I also had it with some sweet tea for a true southern experience. The chicken and waffles was everything I wanted it to be, crispy, chewy, salty, sweet, and juicy. The one complaint that I would have preffered some pieces of chicken other than wings, but other than that it was amazing.

The one other thing I had to add to this was a picture of the Lucky Strike building in Richmond, I guess Richmond used to be one of the biggest cities for tobacco companies, and there is a long row of former tobacco warehouses that are being repurposed as apartments and condos. I just thought the Lucky Strike tower was really cool. There is also a Native American looking over the corner of the building.

The Lucky Strike building from a different angle.

Diet Log Week #1

6/16/11
I just thought I would put some of my thoughts and actions each week in a log, so my diet stuff does not clog up other posts, but is still given a fair amount of attention, because I really do think about these things a lot. Eventually the stuff that I am doing will no longer be novel and new, and I will be able to not think about the different things I will cook as much, but until then I will include them in here.

Well I had some leftover grilled marinated chicken from last week, which was paired with some roasted vegetables. I also have since made some delicious pork chops in a paprika tomato sauce, along with even more roasted vegetables.

I have had a salad that had some tuna and white beans on it. I didn't really like the white beans though. they are too mushy in texture, so I may just have to stick with black beans, or try some kidney beans or something. I realized that i could eat a big salad with a ton of tuna on it any time. I love tuna, I tried some of the seasoned tuna which was really good, and allows me to add even less salad dressing than i had been adding. I also have been tossing in some baby carrots and some cucumber slices which have been a good change of pace to the regular pile of lettuce.

Right now I am having my last grilled chicken breast on top of a salad. I am already looking ahead to what I will cook on the weekend, should the weather be nice, I might have to grill some steaks, and some more marinated chicken breasts. I will probably spend some more time roasting some more vegetables as well. I just really love the roasted garlic flavor on top of the cooked broccoli and cauliflower specifically. There is a little big of oil on them, but not too much where they feel heavy. I might even do a double batch of those, in 2 separate pans so that I won't have to cook them twice a week.

On this diet, you spend a lot of time thinking about what you will do for your cheat day. For those that don't know a cheat day is a day where I am supposed to eat a lot of carbs, and a lot of the foods that I otherwise would not be able to have on this diet. It helps to make sure that your cravings don't completely ruin your diet completely. I guess there is also some science behind it. Your body is not able to process all of the carbohydrates and fat that you eat on a binge day, and they leave your body as waste. I know this because the writer of this book actually measured his own waste, which was gross, and interesting to read.

So I have my game plan which will be my cheat day:
Fried eggs in the morning, I am supposed to still eat protein for breakfast
Grapefruit juice, which will help manage the glycemic load of what i am going to be eating
I have been craving chocolate milk, and some cake of some kind
For lunch I am going to go to culvers and get a double butter burger with cheese basket with fries
For dinner I am going to have some Thai noodles of some kind and some egg rolls
Some sort of ice cream, maybe cold stone, or DQ

I know this sounds like a gross amount of food, but its what it recommended by the book, so I don't know what else to do. This diet makes you think about what it is you want over the course of a week leading up to your cheat day, so you have a pretty good idea of what do buy that day. Sitting at the office, or at my other job, ideas will pop into my head, and I just need to make a list of what I am craving this week. Last week it was a chinese buffet, which I realized I could probably do on the diet, I have some pizza and some ice cream, and some chocolate donut holes.

I think this diet is really going to teach me to manage my temptations well. This diet is really making me utilize sunday as a day to cook food for the rest of the week as well. Planning is really important in this case, because I want to always have a few items available to myself to eat. I am already planning what I should buy tonight when i am done at work. More chicken, and some salad are the 2 top things. I will also look at what the price on some shrimp would be. I need to get some more broccoli and cauliflower for roasting as well.

6/17/11
My cheat day was fun, the night before it I had a dream about food, but only the bad kinds of foods. I definitely drooled on the pillow.

I had my normal high protein breakfast before delving into the depths of carbs. Oh how sweet carbs are, but of course also the cause of all of my problems. I like the idea of limiting all of my carbs into one day. It makes me plan ahead, and limit all of the things I eat to what I can consume in one day and not actually explode. Culvers was great for lunch, a double butter burger with fries so deliciously greasy. I had some Cold Stone, which is probably my favorite ice cream. I love Ben and Jerry's, but it makes me sick if I have too much, its too rich. Cold Stone is nice and creamy, and not that heavy. I love the cake batter ice cream. I like the peach iced tea ice cream, but I don't really know what to mix in with it, so its not that great of an offering from Cold Stone.

I had some chocolate milk with some cake, which was disappointing. The chocolate milk was amazing, and I had missed it, but the cake really somehow missed the spot. For dinner I had some Thai noodles with some eggrolls. It was a good dinner and some more carbs. I am glad that I got rid of any of the leftovers of my bad foods before the night was over, and I threw some stuff out rather forcing myself to finish all of it, which was some development in myself. I would usually, in the past, just binge on the sweets to finish them.

6/19/11
I spent a lot of the day cooking. I am liking more and more the fact that I can spend a few hours cooking on a sunday and have food for myself for the whole week. Having food ready to eat at home makes all of the other temptations much easier to resist. I made some chicken, some steak, some broccoli and some cauliflower. I might need to look into making some new sort of way of preparing vegetables, but its not a big deal. Maybe some curry vegetables for a change of pace.

6/21/11
I had my usual lunch from Burrachos today, and it really is filling. I was worried a burrito without rice would not be able to hold me over through the last 4-5 hours of work, but the fact that I get double beans really helps keep me full.

6/23/11
I got a new tape measure to take my measurements with because my old one was falling apart. If I were to compare my new measurements with my old ones I have lost 6 total inches from my body over the course of a week and a half, which is really good news. I still have not received my scale so I can't report on any weight loss at all, but I should be getting it today or tomorrow. I have felt like my clothes have been looser on me, which is a great feeling, but it might just be psychological. I am ok with tricking myself into thinking things are looser as long as I am feeling better.

Looking ahead to this weekend, I am making my first trip away from home while on the diet so it should be a different experience. I still have my cheat day to use so it won't be so hard to keep the good work up.