Black Angus

The other day my parents invited us out to lunch at the Black Anus Angus in Chula Vista.  It my my nephew's bday (he turned 12) and almost everyone on my side of the family would be there. MIA were my bro and Bert who were both at work...

Man, I haven't been here in years...I don't think much has changed though.
They sat us in the sports bar side of the restaurant. Kinda dark. The boys were preoccupied with watching the baseball game that was showing (multiple screens had baseball, old football games and some sports channel)...

I chose the Create Your Own Combo...

The kids attacked the bread. I was surprised since it was brown and had oats on top and thought they wouldn't like it. On the contrary, they polished off two baskets!

My family is used to my compulsive photo taking already so here goes...Potato soup (three people had this with their entree)...

I chose to have the steak soup with my salad...It was pretty hearty with barley, carrots, tomatoes, celery, potatoes and bits of steak, but it was too salty.

My garden salad. What I liked about this was that it was served on a chilled plate. No dressing at all. This is my attempt at eating healthy again now that I'm back from our road trip.

The waiter brought this cheesy bread in when I was practically done with my soup and salad. He told me it came with my combo (which I didn't know); I ended up giving it to the kids who were only too happy to have some.

Nephew #4 (he is one day older than TC) got the applewood bacon burger with onion rings and fries. That's way too much fried food if you ask me.

Nephew #2 got the Bacon Wrapped Dog with fries. The dog also had cheese in it (looks like cheddar?). He thought it was okay but it was a bit too salty as well.

TC got the Filet Mignon Sliders with fries. I liked how the mushrooms were on top of the bun. So cute! She could only finish 2 and brought the last one home for later...

Nephew #1 got the NY steak but it was missing the mashed potatoes which were brought out shortly thereafter.

Nephew #3 (the birthday boy) got steak (I forgot what cut) with fries... As you can see, my sister's kids are not big on vegetables. Wait, I take that back, #1 had a Caesar Salad (not pictured) and I was quite surprised to see him eat that.

My bro's girlfriend got some sort of Surf 'n Turf combo with fries, rice pilaf and broccoli. You can see Nephew #5 (the baby) in the background...that's his chubby list fist there. He ate the bread and  bits and pieces off of his mother's plate.

My mom got the Grilled Salmon with broccoli...

My sis's ex got steak with shrimp and mashed potatoes...

My sis had the Create Your Combo - Potato soup (seen earlier) with a half sandwich (Chicken and Avocado). I was thinking of getting that but I wanted salad more.

My Dad's Caesar Salad with grilled chicken...I wonder if the chicken was dry.

My meal was pretty lackluster. Soup and salad. TC's was pretty good since the meat was actual steak instead of a ground beef patty. It was a pretty large gathering - 12 people (6 adults, 5 kids and 1 baby).

Even though my three month nutritional plan is up, I'm still continuing it. I was able to lose 6 inches (from various areas, gosh that sounds wierd) and 6 pounds (which was cool because I didn't think I'd lose any weight) and 7% body fat. I was able to fit into some of my smaller sized clothes again.

This plan required a lot of organization on my part. I actually measured my proteins and carbs with a food scale and made my meals in one big cooking marathon, labeling containers and separating them accoriding to the day of the week. I felt pretty good about giving this program a shot and even though I fell off the wagon towards the end (it was crazy busy with end of the year parties and such), I thought I did well considering my initial frustration with having to measure my food and being mindful of cutting out white rice, bread, processed foods and sweets. Having small meals a day turned out to be easier than I thought. Thank goodness for protein bars and protein powders.

Anyhow, despite my fairly good results, I think our recent roadtrip set me back a tiny bit and that is my own doing. So now I have to work that much harder to regain what I'd achieved earlier. My trainer told me not to look at the scale since the weight is not really indicative of fat loss. Plus, muscle weighs more than fat. But psychologically, I like looking at the lower number on the scale.  I hate seeing it creep up after all the hard work I did. With work coming up in less than two weeks, I think that I'll be able to get back on track with the eating plan as well as fitting in my workouts.