So after talking to my coach to make sure I wasn't going to be doing anything stupid, I made several small changes to my daily routine designed to take about a pound or two off a week. And upon my return to Richmond 2 weeks and then 4 weeks later, I was delighted to see that it was working just as planned.
There are some breathing rules, though, such as special dinners with friends, special occasions, and special parties, where you're allowed to eat whatever you want (within sane reason).
But what happens when all of a sudden you are hauling your butt clear across the country? Suddenly most nights become eating out with friends, parties, or special occasions.
The Blue Ridge Brutal signaled the first wounds of the diet, because, come on, you pedal 100 miles up lots of hills for the first time in your life, you get hungry. Ridiculously hungry. The following nights (Sunday = gbye dinner with friends, Tuesday = another gbye dinner with friends, Friday = Gbye dinner with family) were also not very kind.
But tonight, well, tonight I think my diet finally gave up the ghost for a while.
Because tonight, I ate at The Big Texan.
Now, look closely at that big bull. Do you see what it says? The FREE 72oz steak dinner?
Yes.
This dinner, featured on Food Networks Man v. Food, consists of a 72oz steak, 2 dinner rolls, a side salad, and a baked potato. All must be consumed under 1 hour (and stay down) for the dinner to be free. Otherwise, it'll cost ya. Before saying it's impossible, not only has it been done, a LOT, but once a professional wrestler named Klondike Bill at TWO OF THEM. And lived. But probably had a very very rough night.
I did not have that dinner.
I did have my diet pepsi in a boot.
And lest you think the adventure ended there along with my diet... AU CONTRAIRE!!
I present to you: Mountain Oysters
If you don't know what they are, go ahead and google it now. How did they taste? Fried. But good. Anything fried is good, but these were tasty in their own right as well. It's been a long time since I've eaten a completely new food, and so getting to partake whilst on a once in a lifetime trip made it superbly appropriate.
The dinner itself, for me, consisted of a rare 6oz steak of some sort (don't ask me what, but it was gooood), cooked onsite and out in the open in the pit.
Along side it was a side salad, a baked potato (not loaded, but still good), and some baked beans that I ultimately tasted but rejected. Busch has forever warped my tastebuds to think that baked beans need brown sugar, and these were more chili based.
To give you a little bit more sense of the ambience, it was a place with many dead animals on the wall.
All in all, a super fun time was had. There was also a large quantity of foreign exchange students who were going cross country there for the real "Texas Experience." They were having a great time, and the musicians were punching up their performances in appreciation of the amassed enthusiasm, so I think I can use the phrase "good night" to describe when we went.
My diet was saved from dessert, all of which looked gargantuan. Including a "94 grams of fat" slice of carrot cake.
It was not saved from the homemade fudge. The Praline, Salty Nut, Chocolate, Butterfinger, and Cookie Dough fudge. Enough fudge to last a normal person for a month. Me? Maybe a week.
Maybe.
But Tom saved me from the fudge when I insisted he take it into his room with him. Which is the only reason I'm not gorging on it right this second as I write this post.
So. Yeah. That diet? Ummm... hmmm... Well, there's always time in my life for a new diet once things settle down. Sometimes there are more important things than dieting.
Like windmill farms!
And Dirt Devils!
And basically, just letting go and living a little. I'm sure the diet will be waiting for me in Morgan Hill, none the worse for wear.
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