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Categories Drink & Drop Challenge

Feb 18 – Back 2 Good (Sort Of)

With apologies to Matchbox 20, today’s post is about a level of redemption after yesterday’s failures. I finished yesterday’s post saying, “Tomorrow is a new day.” My plan was to get “back to good” on the #DrinkAndDropChallenge. Mission, mostly, accomplished.

I’ll take today as a step in the right direction. It wasn’t a day of perfect choices, but at least it was a step in the right direction. We press onward, eyes on the prize of a smaller version of me on the horizon somewhere.

Today’s Food

  • Breakfast. You guessed it.
  • Lunch. I got a frozen meal. It was small. I mean, kid’s menu small. It was good, actually. Quite tasty, but it was barely enough food for a 4-year old. It’s the SmartMade Chicken Fried Cauliflower Rice Bowl. Bonus points for sitting at just 150 calories
  • Snack. About 11 minutes later, I was hungry again, so I opted for a banana and some trail mix.
  • About 2 hours later, I was hungry again. Ugh. A second banana got me through until later in the evening.
  • Dinner. This didn’t come until after tennis. And yeah … we got housed in tennis once again. There was plenty of beer. I wasn’t altogether happy. And this is why my mission for the day was mostly accomplished. I basically had Fritos and Cheez-Its for dinner. So, I wasn’t over-the-top on calories. But nutritional value …. nope. Not even close.

And Now, Beer

We had our final tennis match of the season (make-up from the washout yesterday.) So I got in a nice workout. Having almost no calories all day followed by a bunch of cardio … yeah. We deserve some beer tonight. Tonight was a simple “empty the fridge of the random leftover singles that have been collecting.” It’s like I made my own mix-a-six for the match. In tonight’s grab bag:

  • Boulder Brewing Pulp Fusion. Not gonna lie. I wasn’t looking forward to this one. But it was actually quite tasty. It’s a citrusy-IPA that gets it bright flavors from blood orange juice, rather than just from the hops themselves.
  • Sweetwater Black Lager. The magic of a black lager. Crazy dark in color, super light in flavor. One of my favorites from Sweetwater.
  • Red Hare SPF 50/50 Tangerine. Pretty sure Red Hare created a style for this one. They call it an India Pale Radler. So, they take an IPA (their Gangway) and mix it 50-50 with tangerine juice/flavor. (Hint – that’s what a radler is: half fruit, half beer.)
THIS. This is what I meant yesterday by recovering from a bad day. I’m not going to let yesterday’s failures become today’s repeat of the same. Each new day is a chance to chart a new course. Yeah, this is more like it!
Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Drink & Drop Challenge

Feb 8 – The Birthday Weekend

The birthday weekend begins. Not mine … my soon-to-be 8 year old. Friday through Monday, we’ll celebrate this little dude turning 8; and that means his favorite foods and restaurants (and probably some dessert treats here and there.) Temptation run amok. I’ll need to be extra careful this weekend, and everything was fine Friday until I heard the words, “Daddy, can we go to Taco Mac?”

  1. I love my children.
  2. I’ve obviously trained them properly.
  3. Of course we can go to Taco Mac
  4. Uh oh. More on that later

Breakfast – not sure why I even bother typing this line anymore
Lunch – had some leftover chicken salad with some Wheat Thins. Pretty healthy so far.
Dinner – at the aforementioned Taco Mac. If you’re not familiar with is, picture scores of TVs, wings, billions of beers on draught … basically heaven on Earth. I had a turkey burger with a side of roasted zucchini. A really solid selection for me.  Thank you to TM for listing calories on the menu … I held myself to about 700 for dinner.

But there’s also a beer menu.

Friday Beer

Taco Mac has a loyalty program called the Brewniversity. (We’ve covered this in the past.) Basically, you score a point for every unique beer purchase. Points add up over time, and you occasionally score some solid swag. I’m approaching 700 points and am always interested in adding to that total when we go. I’m also all about beer variety – I like to try as many flavors as possible. And that’s why I love the Mac – so many options! But I’m also not very bright. In all my years of going and accruing, I’ve never thought about ordering smaller sizes to maximize points AND be able to branch out into additional beer options. Last night, I had an epiphany. TM offers a smaller pour called a nooner. It’s in the neighborhood of 6-7 ounces, which is perfect for enjoying several without getting out of control.

However, just like a kid in a candy store, I may have gone a little overboard in my newfound joy. 6 beers later, I went home …

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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