Cheater, Cheater, Pants on Fire!!

I can smell the smoldering remains that were my pants. Not only did they catch fire today, they burst violently into a plume of white hot flame and billowing black smoke.

Ok, that may be a little exaggerated, but still. I sure ain't stayed in my calories today!

But that's alright. It's been a long while since I've had a cheat day, and I deserved this. And heck, maybe I even needed this. After the previous 13 days of hardcore cutting with the likes of Longhorn, my body very well may have been in straight starvation mode.

Anyway, I didn't even bother with a brotein bar this morning. Sidney and I went straight to the market, unfed and anticipating something delicious. This something delicious could only be...

There was a hearty vein of cheese running down the middle of my burrito this morning! Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, good!

But I know what you're thinking. I know that you're thinking that this looks like any other Saturday morning at the Market. And you'd be right in your assessment. So how could this be a cheat day???

Patience, my friends.

After confirming with Sidney that today would indeed be a cheat day, I agreed to let her surprise me with a little something from another vendor at the Market. I had no idea what she had in store for me, but I was pretty sure it would be carbs. It's always carbs. Rule of thumb: surprises are always carbs.

This is what she came back with:

See, I told you so!! But just look at this glory:

I simply could not wait to taste this poppyseed "bread" so I dug right in.

With a sugar glaze, this is hardly bread. This is more like a muffin in the shape of tiny bread. And I'm perfectly happy about that! I tore off about a third of this tiny loaf and split it with Sidney. It was so good! It really did taste like a poppyseed muffin, and on the bright side, I've still got some for later!

A little while later, a Market tragedy occurred. One of the Peanut Butter Stuffed cookies stuck to the one above it, and a big piece of it ripped off.

What a shame, now we couldn't sell it. Whatever would we do now???

We would eat it, that's what!!!

I had about half and Sidney had about half.

Then later, because I was now in an "eat everything" mode, I scavenged some scraps from one of the cookie jars after the cookies had sold out.

Now here it comes. Here's where the cheating really picks up some steam. Remember how I've been craving a good buffet session? Well, my craving experienced a little satiation right after the Market!

Sidney and I headed down the street a couple blocks to Lawrence's newest Indian restaurant. This was the second time eating here, and it didn't disappoint!

Everything looked so good, so I got my customary sample plate at the beginning.

I started off with some poori (crispy puffed bread), then (clockwise starting at 11) some vegetable pakora, chicken tikka masala, beef vindaloo, some chicken and potatoes, and some cheesy peas.

Meanwhile, they had brought out some fresh naan to our table.

Literally everything tasted excellent, but there were a couple standouts. The poori and chicken tikka masala were otherwordly in flavor. When I went back for my second plate, I doubled up on poori and got a very generous portion of tikka masala.

This time, though, I added some chicken biryani as a nice bed for the chicken tikka to rest on.

The combination was stellar. Also, the combination of chicken tikka with the crispy poori was simply amazing. I wish I could just taste that all the time. Seriously, there are very, very few things I've ever eaten that taste as good as this. There are a few reasons why, as a whole, Indian cuisine is my favorite style of food. This is definitely one of them. Obviously, I had to go back and get some more. This time, along with the requisite poori and tikka masala, I optioned in some basmati rice and another pakora, just to add some texture and some even greater depth of flavors.

I was in absolute food heaven, and I wanted to stay there for as long as possible. But, like all good things, it came to an end. But that means that it's time for dessert!

Unfortunately, they did not offer gulab jamun on today's buffet, but as a worthy substitute, rice pudding was on offer. The last time I ate here, both Quinn and Andrew preferred the rice pudding to the gulab jamun, but I didn't try it. This time, having no choice, I got a bowl.

I'll admit, it was tasty. I'm standing strong behind my preference for gulab jamun, though. There's just something about those warm, fried, doughy delights soaked in sugary syrup that are impossible to resist. And we all know my history with this particular dessert. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they didn't have any today.

Anyway, this lunch buffet at Bayleaf really hit the spot. It hit the spot more than any meal or food has in quite some time. I'm fully committed to my cut, but the food aspect of it is slightly a bummer. It's worth it, for sure, but I miss eating with the reckless abandon I shared with Quinn and Andrew last semester. All in the name of being lean, I shall carry on!

But not today. Today I will eat everything. Oh look, cookies!!

I had about half of a chocolate chip walnut oatmeal cookie. Oh look, more cookies!!!

Then I had an oatmeal whoopie pie and another half of a chocolate chip walnut oatmeal. Oh look, more cookies!!!




Just kidding. Peanut turtle dove!!!

Then, Sidney and I went downstairs to pack a little of our stuff into boxes (we're moving soon). This really consisted of me handing her stuff while I snacked on some leftover Easter candy. Almond M&Ms are good.

Then, a little before bedtime, I decided to wrap up my cheat day with a little more nuts and chocolate. I had quite a few dark chocolate-covered almonds and pecans. Eating one almond and one pecan at the same time is a perfect combination of dark chocolate, almond, and pecan.

So, how did I do on my first cheat day in almost 2 weeks?? I'd call it a resounding success!!! I've got my eye on another buffet, so be on the lookout for that sometime hopefully in the (relatively) near future.

Box Kitteh!

Like I mentioned yesterday, we had some fun and games to attend to this morning. I had my morning cup of joe, er, brotein bar, and I was good to go!

Then, for the next hour and a half (a long time, I know), this is what I saw (and heard):

Picking up rocks in a field isn't actually all that bad. It sure beats picking up sticks, and I think I'll always stand by that. Plus, there's something satisfying about chucking rocks 30 feet through the air and hearing them clang off the metal of the bucket. There's also something testosterone-boosting about throwing rocks through the air and hitting other rocks in the field. That crack when the two rocks hit, or that thud when you miss, are just such satisfying sounds to produce.

But our time in the field was inevitably limited. Sidney had to go to work and I had to go to school.

After I got out of class, I headed to the gym to get my daily dose of bro. I did some HIIT cardio on a stationary bicycle, and once I was done, I quickly downed a brotein bar to stave off as much of my muscle loss as possible.

While I was eating my bar and savoring every bite, I watched some bros shoot hoops.

Then I did the more bro part of my routine, where I focused on training my shoulders.

When I got back to my tandoori car, I mixed up some brotein and BCAAs while struggling to breath.

Eventually, my air conditioner triumphed and cooled my car to a nice temperature. It actually got so cold that I had to turn it down a couple notches. Not bad for being almost 100 degrees outside.

I then did some homework, I might've fallen asleep for a few seconds, and when Sidney got home, she baked her muffins and brownies.

I helped decorate the brownies with pretzel pieces, and I couldn't resist eating a few of the salty treats.

Then, after Sidney had finished baking, she needed the labels for everything. I went back to retrieve them, but instead of labels I found a kitteh lounging in the sun room!

Pretty soon, it was time for dinner. I had one more pork tenderloin, and this one was garlic and herb flavored.

To be honest, I have no idea what herbs were included in this flavoring, but I was sure it was going to be good.

Sidney got herself a bowl of mangoes, of which I sampled a few pieces.

She also made use of some leftover mashed potatoes by making potato cakes out of them.

Of these, too, I sampled a small piece.

They were really good, but they had too many carbs. I needed more brotein, and luckily, I had a whole pork loin to eat!

With the pork accounted for, I still had about 400 calories left, so I warmed up some naan and got some hummus. Yallready know how I feel about those two things.

The pork was really good, too, especially when dipped in some hummus! In all honesty, hummus is becoming my new ranch. I could eat it on almost anything. Now, I don't think hummus will ever replace ranch atop my list of favorite stuff to dip stuff in to, but with many fewer calories, it's hard to resist. 

Admittedly, after eating this much pork (listed at 1.7 pounds before cooking), I didn't want to taste it anymore. Unfortunately, the flavor was lingering a bit, so I needed something to cleanse my pallet. I only had about 50 calories left, so I just grabbed a handful of mixed nuts and called it a day. 

 A little later, while sitting around and listening to the Royals game, I noticed a weird sound coming from a box behind the kitchen table. I looked over and saw the plastic in the box moving about. I went over to inspect a bit closer, and this is what I found:

Silly kitteh! She had gotten under a small flap of plastic. Don't worry, she was in no harm of suffocation; she just couldn't figure out how to get out! I lifted up the small flap of plastic and she leapt out to freedom.

And finally, I was joined by a few friends straining to catch a wave of the Royals game.

These frogs just like to sit on the windows, thinking that if they sit there long enough that they may diffuse through the glass into the forbidden world that is the human habitat.

So, it's a roundball, but which one?

It's KU, so it's obviously the KU Roundball Classic!

Every year, former KU basketball players descend on Lawrence Free State High School to play in a charity exhibition basketball game that benefits children in need. Players range from former walk-ons and all-Americans to current and former NBA players and the occasional reality TV star. It's always an enjoyable experience.

Earlier in the day, I was motivated to get out of bed by the prospect of doing what I do every Thursday...helping Sidney bake cookies for the Market! I ate a brotein fiber bar to jumps start my day, then we started baking! I was humming along, mixing some cookies, mixing some cookies there. I got to the first recipe that calls for walnuts, so I got some walnuts, chopped 'em up, and added them straight into the bowl. I then grabbed a couple walnut and popped them into my mouth. They were yum yum yummy!

After Sidney had finished baking all the cookies, she, as is becoming a weekly tradition, made a Frankencookie out of some surplus dough fragments.

This time, though, it wasn't just two cookies joined in a match made in cookie heaven.

Oh no, it was twice as good! That's right, there were pieces of Devil's Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Walnut Oatmeal, and Breakfast cookie, all contained in one glorious cookie.

We split it in half, and made it a meal.

It was still a little warm, and the chocolate chips were still oh so ooey gooey and wonderful.

And this was all that I ate for most of the day. A brotein fiber bar and half a cookie will only get you so far. But I didn't want to eat anything else in case we went somewhere after the Roundball Classic. Sidney couldn't wait, however, so she had my parents, who were on their way, stop at Taco Bell. She got a chalupa...

...and a soft taco.

Yes, I had a bite of each. But only one.

And sure enough, after the Roundball Classic, my dad wanted to go to Freddy's to get a Turtle Sundae. My food rationing had come in handy! I looked up the nutrition facts for a double bacon cheeseburger and small fries, and that's what I ordered.

Turns out the burger was around 700 calories and the fries, a small order mind you, was around 470 calories. That was higher than I expected, but alright.

But it really was worth it. After this burger and fries, I made an official proclamation that Freddy's is my favorite fast food restaurant. This later sparked an interesting and lengthy discussion about what exactly is defined as fast food, but I stand by proclamation. After accounting for the burger and fries, I still had about 400 calories left, so I looked up how many calories were in a Mini Turtle Sundae. I was sure that it would be around 400 calories, and if it was a little over, that would be alright. I was shocked when I found out that the Mini, yes the Mini, has over 800 calories. That effectively made my decision for me, so instead of getting a Turtle Sundae, I indulged in a little of the "fry sauce" that Freddy's has become so well known for.

And since they sell it by the bottle in-store, the nutrition facts were readily available. Two tablespoons of sauce has about 110 calories, and I figure one of these little cups is about that if not a little more, so I should be good.

It really is addicting, and it's not just for fries. It's great on burgers, too!

And with that, Sidney and I parted ways with my parents, we headed home, and went to bed. We had some fun stuff to do at 0600 the next morning!