Check out the Featured Pic on Today’s Post. Now THAT is TRUTH in advertising!

Wow.  The Country Club Plaza here in Kansas City has a new restaurant that is just getting ready to open.  I really appreciate it their fondness for truth in advertising.  They feel so strongly about telling you what their food will do to you if you eat it, that they actually put the result right in their Restaurant Name…………….Pot Belly Sandwiches.  (And that is exactly what you will continue to have if you keep on eating them without first removing the bread from the upper and lower layers!!!)

As you can probably guess, I started my day out with one of my Protein Shakes.  May I suggest that you check the ingredients on mine before you think what you are drinking as a “protein shake” is okay.  You do need whey protein.  But, you might also need to add some of the other protein powder that is commonly called “meal replacement” protein powder.  This powder typically has a little bit of sugar grams in it.  (You need to minimize this!)  But, it also has some of the other stuff that your body needs if you are doing what I am doing….that is to say, basically drinking this thing in lieu of a complete meal.  Remember, in addition to two different types of protein powder, mine also has two heaping tablespoons of raw almond butter in it, a heaping tablespoon of cold milled organic flax seed, and a teaspoon of honey.  It really is almost a meal by itself. And, as you have probably noticed, I certainly use it as one quite
often throughout my week.  As it happens, one of the girls happened to be chopping up some fresh organic strawberries that Angie had just purchased at Whole Foods.  And, I was lucky enough to be given a bowl to take upstairs with me………As you can see, I washed it down with some unsweetened organic iced tea.  Nice way to start a morning!

Well, since I hadn’t put that first protein shake down the my throat until about 9:30 am, I really wasn’t quite ready for another one at 10:30 am.  And, since I didn’t want to have a bunch of that stuff rumbling around in my belly during today’s CrossFit crazy workout…..(Fridays are always a booger at our neighborhood CrossFit affiliate)……I decided to have a low glycemic protein bar coupled with a Trio nut and seed bar instead.  Check Trio out on the web.  They are probably not something you should be slamming down willy nilly….a little too many sugar grams really…..(I think they have around 6 to 8 grams…..way less than the average protein or nut bar.  But, still……)  But, one before (or right after) a workout occasionally is probably okay.  And, I promise you, they are good!  (Special Note for Success:  If you are a long way from getting your belly to look like David’s belly, perhaps you should skip the Trio bar for now.)

Pretty soon thereafter, it was time to go do a set of 30 reps of each of the following:   thrusters, pullups, box jumps, burpees, clapping pushups, and Hand Stand Pushups.  (Thirty hand stand pushups ……after all the aforementioned…..seemed like a lot.  But, that is what Ronnie wrote on the board.  So, that is what we all did.)  That little bit of exercise helped me to build up a pretty good hunger for my midday nutritional intake.  And, I decided to reward myself with a little bit of Grande Street Cafe’s finest……No.  That is NOT the only restaurant in Kansas City.  But, sometimes, I like to re-visit the same scenery.  And, today was not an likely opportunity for exception.  And, if you look at what I ate, perhaps you can understand why.  This is getting to be one of my favorite meals.  What a pork chop!  And, thank you Victor (kitchen asst chef) for being kind enough to chop me up some yellow squash, zucchini, and onions to sauté in olive oil and real butter and serve alongside it.  (On the menu, it is always served with a potato gratin.  I hope you understand why you should not opt for that choice over mine……But, just in case, let me say it again:  Vegetables are low glycemic.  They do not spike your insulin or glucose levels.  You can eat an unlimited quantity of them…even when they are soaked in olive oil and real butter…like mine always are.  Potatoes, on the other hand, are way high glycemic.  And, as such, your insulin levels will go high off the charts if you eat them.  And, you will get fat….not lean.  (That is bad.)  You might as well load up with a couple of Snicker Bars if you are thinking about eating that potato gratin.  Exact same glycemic spike results from a serving of potatoes or ingestion of a Snickers Bar.  Not kidding.  Look it up!)  …..          By the way, please scrape that sauce off your pork chop.  It surely has something bad in it….I know because it tastes kind of sweet.  I don’t think the little bit that is left on the chop after you scrape it off onto another plate will hurt you.  But, you most certainly don’t want all of that going into your belly if you ever hope to have your belly reduced in its overall circumference!
As you can imagine, I felt pretty good after lunch.  Not bloated.  And, not ready to take a big old nap….like I would have been if I had had Pizza for lunch.   In fact, when 3:30 or so rolled around, I was ready for a bit more stuff to make my belly happy……..thank
Goodness for Alix’s generosity in bringing her old friend, David, a sliced organic Pink Lady apple with a couple of heaping tablespoons of Raw almond butter…..and, just a few pieces of Trader Joe’s Colby Jack cheese for decoration.  Washed it all down with some Unsweetened iced tea.  And, I know we are good to go until dinner!

Ooops.  I guess I was wrong about being good to go until dinner.  I got downstairs just in time to see my good friend, Henley…..(one of the terrible trio of triplets that cohabitate with us)……munching down on some Organic Raspberries that had just made it home with momma from Whole Foods.  (She was most of the way through her first whole container of them and thinking real hard about her best course of pleading to attempt to be allowed access to a whole additional container of them!  As you can see in the picture, she is being very protective of the ones she has……not much in the way of an offering there for her good old dad.)  That is okay.  I saw some more sitting over there by the sink where Angie had been cleaning the first container.  And, they looked like they would do nicely as a little tide-me-over to the dinner meal.  (Please make note: Eating fruit late in the day is NOT the best idea in the world….it certainly does not represent a low glycemic snack.  As we all know, fruit is very high in natural sugars.  So, if you are still working on making your belly look like the ones you see on those Roman statues from Italy, you might want to seriously consider having YOUR before dinner snack be something more like a small handful of Raw almonds instead.  They ARE low glycemic.  And, as it happens, they are very tasty too!)

Well, enough preamble.  I know you are all wondering what David put in his belly for dinner.  (Let’s be honest here.  You are all wondering what my lovely wife prepared for David to put in his belly tonight.  Without her, it wouldn’t be too much fun to follow my evening meals at all, would it?)  For tonight, her Master Chefedness had brought home some more of those very tasty shrimp from Whole Foods.  (Note:  They are the best in the world in my humble opinion.)  And, as I entered the kitchen, she was preparing to start sautéing the little fellars in some coconut oil, real butter, and sea salt.  Oh.  And, a bit of fresh garlic as well, I think.  Right next to the shrimp, she had thrown in some of those straight green beans with the french name (that I can never spell or pronounce…..haricot de vorts?).  And, those beauties were sautéing in their own little Angie Curry special mixture.  I think it is olive oil, real butter, garlic, and some sort of red spicy flakes.  Coincidentally, Angie’s preparation of green beans are ALSO my favorites in the world!  Please take a look at how pretty they looked on my plate….especially with that bottle of 09 FoxGlove Napa Valley Cabernet sitting there with them.  If you have known me for any period of time, you will really appreciate how much I am enjoying the way I now eat as you consider the following progression of photos.  (Most of you know that, in the old days, I always left something on my plate.  Many of you really enjoyed having a little bit of fun at my expense with that slightly odd little trait.)  Well, you will have to think of something new at which to direct your fun because when I eat what David eats now, I eat it all.  Always.  Watch it go….going, going, going……gone.

Grab yourself a bit of 70% or greater Cocoa content dark chocolate….if you feel you must….and, your trusty water bottle…..and, play a game of Uno with your kids….and, your lovely wife….AFTER you have helped clean up the kitchen, of course!

That is what I did.  Over and out!

Post Script:  Wow.  Did I really only eat ONE protein shake today?  Hard to believe that I survived……………………