A Laborious Non-Cheat Day

Good Day Cheat Fans! I hope you had a good holiday and I hope you didn't work at all, and if you DID I hope you didn't work hard AT ALL! That's what Labor Day is for after all, not working. So, if you worked on Labor Day and you are working today STOP, only for a few minutes and read this blog, Cheat Day. Don't Care. A blog about my Cheat Day adventures. If you have been with me for a while this is a new edition, a new week, a new cheat day. If you are just joining me, welcome! If you find this one boring, go back and read some of my far crazier adventures.

I had gained weight (2lbs bringing me back to 244) when I weighed in on what would have normally been my Cheat Day. In my last edition I had made mention of the fact that there would be no official Cheat Day for the next few weeks to a month as I drop drinking all together and attempt to focus my efforts for a wedding I am to be involved in this month. I have held strong on the no drinking which is great, BUT I have eaten a few off diet meals. Here is what and why:

Tuesday afternoon I went to a Cubs game (one of the hardest places to NOT drink mind you, they got guys BRINING YOU beer! C'mon!). Anyway, I totally ate Taco Bell before the game so I could get grub on the cheap. I got 2 Beefy 5-Layer Burritos and the new Double Stuffed Cheesy Gordita Crunch and before you fuckers ask, YES I got the nacho cheese Doritos loco taco shell instead of the plain old hard shell. I was disappointed by how stuffed this double stuffed CGC was, but that COULD be because the war zone that is the Wrigleyville taco bell is about to close down and their staff could give two shits about the food, customers, or Taco Bell in general. I think I'm going to try it again at a different Bell.

Here we can share my POP!

Once in the game Nicole Carter gave me a weiner with mustard and onions (ball park dogs are dank as fuck BITCH) even though I TOLD HER I was full from Taco Bell and didn't want anything else! I also ate a few of her fries and the rest of her soft pretzel, but I WASN'T HUNGRY I SWEAR! I just can't leave food behind which is a HUGE problem I have...YUGE.

THEN there was Wednesday. I ate pizza, Papa fucking Johns SHIT pizza cut into god damn Chicago/Midwest SQUARES and not slices because this city for some reason doesn't know what fucking pizza is!...because (sorry) I ate it because I went to the American Blues Theatre fundraiser that Liz put together and that came with the price of admission. I also drank a Sprite. I like Sprite. Oh, OH! Get this, PBR also came with the price of admission, and I totally didn't even drink one! SUCK ON THAT SALLY!

TAKE THE PICTURE!

Then I was pretty good for the next couple days until Sunday when I went to the grocery store and ate two donuts. I also drank a couple of Cherry Cokes. Then on Monday (Labor Day) just before the main event Liz and I got trapped in Margie's Candies from the rain...oh no, SO SAD, what a HORRIBLE place to be trapped...NOT. It was awesome. I got mint chocolate chip in a chocolate dipped with sprinkles waffle cone and Liz got a turtle sundae with birthday cake ice cream and a different kind of ice cream that I can't remember. Margie's Candies fucking RULES! Go get ice cream from there!

Then, for the main event! Logan's BIG SAUSAGE CHALLENGE!!!! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM! Thanks Logan for making ME a judge! It was a delight. The Conner's are known for their yearly Chili Cook Off in February, but this year they thought they'd try a new challenge. This one was set up like more of a cooking show/challenge. This year there were two teams of 3: Team Law TBD and Team Art. The Law came in hard with a Korean/Mexican fusion sausage in your standard hot dog bun. The sausage was cooked to perfection, though the fusion was more of a FEUDsion as each food style kind of fought for attention with each bit. Then Art had to show up with their make shift sausage patty breakfast sandwich. It was a delicious sandwich, but the toppings: egg, pomegranate slaw, Brussels sprouts, and feta cheese kind of over powered the sausage patty a bit.

The Team of judges!

LOOK! I'm no foodie, I just like to eat dank ass shit, and DANK dis SHIT was. If they put it on again next year and you're around! Attend and partake in some delicious sausage concoctions!

Look at me go, trying not to Cheat Day but still sprinkling some cheat around whenever I get the chance! Here I come Cheeseman wedding! I'm gonna look so HOT in my TUX. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other and eat like your life depended on it.

ELE,
Zach

THEY CAME FOR CHEAT DAY!

Pie in the Park

OOOOOH BOY Cheaters! What a fantastically fun filled entry do I have for you this week! I had my very first Cheat Day. Don't Care. fans/friends make a trip ALL THE WAY to Chicago from Virginia JUST to experience Cheat Day with me! Well...not really JUST for that, they also wanted to catch a concert that wasn't coming to the east coast and they've never been here before and they wanted to check it out and well...SHUT UP! A boy can dream can't he?! THEY CAME FOR CHEAT DAY!

Chooch Chat

Stephen Kolberg and Jennifer Lamendola were my college roommates and now they are married. It's been a long time since we've seen each other and a WAY longer time since we've actually hung out so the whole thing has been a serious treat for me as well. They landed at my placed on Cheat Morning at around 10:30AM. We waited around a bit for Liz to be ready to GET THIS CHEAT DAY GOING!

We started at my NEW SPOT OF THE WEEK! I have been to Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits a few times just for fun and before this diet and it was always delectable. Before getting in to the vastness of this flavor country I want to take it down a notch or two. It's simply cramped. That is totally not unheard of in this town as it IS a city and it has to fit many buildings into each block so some joints open up into locations that are just a bit too small for the eventual boom in business. Otherwise Bang Bang, GOOD SHOW! Also, special shout out to my home boy Trevor! It's always great to see you bud, sorry it doesn't happen too often!

I ATE a Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie for my meal. The others got a sausage biscuit with cheddar cheese and a seasonal jam, and biscuits and gravy with sausage and egg. I got to try it all and it was all glorious. I loved the pot pie, though it was a bit too blue cheesy for my taste. If you love blue cheese EAT DAT SHIT MOTHER FUGGLER! The biscuits were amazing.

NOW LET'S TALK PIE! We got three slices to split between 4 people. We got their Honey Pie (baked honey custard, blueberry compote, graham crust), Black and Blue Pie (blackberries, blueberries, orange brown sugar crumble, leaf lard pastry crust) and Chocolate Puddin' Pie (chocolate pudding, whipped cream, graham crust). MY FAVORITE?! The chocolate puddin' pie. However, I think the consensus was pretty split across the board.

MOVING ON! There were a few grumbling about not eating enough of this or not eating enough of that, but I gotta tell you, that first meat packed quite a punch and these two SKINNY PUNKS had a long way to go with Ol'ZACH at the helm. I'm not saying I paced myself for their sake necessarily because I am trying to get into the habit of pacing myself in general. BUT, you listen to what we ate the rest of the day and YOU TELL ME!

We didn't eat for quite a while after that, but we did stop to meet Cheat Day Pal, Soup (sorry I never drank that Malort your Cheat Day requests are reinstated), at Hopleaf for some brews. I had 2 Zombiedusts from Three Floyds and 2 Double Daisy Cutters from Half Acre. I REALLY enjoyed those Double Daisy Cutters, espcially for 8%ers.

Next, BOOM Jet's Pizza. The three of us split a small, two each ya tallywackers! Guess what, THEY FUCKING LOVED IT. Because who FRIGGIN doesn't?! NO ONE that's who! YOU TWATS! GO. TO. JET'S. PIZZA! We had a Hawaiian with jalapeno.

Almost immediately from there we went to (ANOTHER NEW PLACE) Big Star so we could slam a pitcher of margaritas and two TACOS each. It was a day of twos and and it was about the perfect amount! I ate a Taco De Panza (crispy braised pork belly, tomato guajillo sauce, queso fresco, onion, cilantro) and a Taco Al Pastor (marinated spit roasted pork shoulder, grilled pineapple, grilled onion, cilantro). I gotta tell ya, I like them, they were priced fairly I thought for as big this restaurant is, but I've had MUCH better tacos in a city that is just jammed packed with delicious and authentic Mexican food.

A post-Big Star mini-bar crawl ensued. We did a shot and a beer at G-Man Tavern, then a shot and a beer at Ten Cat where we eventually met up with Liz. Once Liz arrived I had several more beers. (Mostly PBRs across the board Alex, sorry it was nothing fancy).

Now, I'm gonna let ya'll guess what happens next!

Cheat Day carried over a bit into the next day when we ate at Ramen Wasabi and then made a rather LATE NIGHT Taco Bell Cantina run. Thanks for visiting Stephen and Jennifer. You know how I know we are great friends who made a connection that will last the rest of our lives? Our hanging out never skipped a god damn beat. It was almost like we were back in college again (most of the time anyway). We made the same old jokes, new jokes of the same style, new jokes of a DIFFERENT style and talked about all sorts of people we used to know and still know! We also talked about real shit about being grown up and the way things change and how to cope.

Take care of yourselves. If you do it'll better prepare you to take care of each other. And always eat like your life depended on it.

ELE,
Zach Finch

Dinner Diner

In Place of Stephen eating, a Slinger

Eat It Up

17 Steps Forward 10 Steps Back

The Fare at Forastero

I fucked it up again guys! I regained weight because of beer during the week as well as one LATE night meal because I was drunk and hungry and needed sustenance after the fantastic play "Doppelganger" at  Steppenwolf! So, before I go into what may have been my weakest Cheat Day yet I will tell you how I am going to come back, and I want to thank a few people for calling me out while I was slipping. It keeps me in check, THANK YOU. That mixed with the weekly weigh-ins really highlight when and how I am fucking this up.

This week. 0 Beer, Strict Diet, back on the bike, plus some muscle training to get back down to sub 250!

I am going to start this Cheat Day with the bad ass meal I ate around 2AM Friday night. NO, though technically 2 AM is Saturday morning not Friday night, it does NOT count as Cheat Day. As stated before in this blog Cheat Day should begin as soon as I wake up Cheat Day morn as to not effect my weigh in, Which I am sure it did this week.

The amazingly delectable late-night meal was devoured at a new family owned establishment on North Ave. between Second City and Steppenwolf called: Forastero. Forastero boasts a lovely and new late night atmosphere, BYOB status, and a Mexican-Korean fusion. There is a high amount a care put into every dish we ordered, including something as simple as their french fries which came with a garlic aioli. French fries are a hard thing to fuck up but they are also hard to get perfect. I will say everything about these fries was perfect, down to the temperature, which stayed hot for an alarming amount of time.

The other items I tasted from this fine establishment all receive a similar praise. Everything came to the table piping hot and the dishes were packed with an intense and interesting level of flavor. My three tacos were each unique and delicious. The "Esta Camaron" was stuffed with fried shrimp some light veggie garnishes and two delicious spicy sauces: a Korean aioli and seasame sauce. Fuck my nuts off I love spicy sauces and theirs CRUSH. I also ordered the "Porky Pig" which was STUFFED with shredded pork that was so nice and juicy! I am VERY aroused. The third was a "Tinga de Pollo" because it had chorizo in it and you KNOW I love chorizo.

Finally I ordered one of their house specialties (and staff favorites) for the table: Dak Wings. These puppies were scorching hot for what felt like forever. The sauce they were covered in was hella (that's right I'm using hella now) unique and deadass to die for. It was a pomegranate molasses mixed with the spice of Guajillo and Gochugaru peppers. Seriously go check this place out! Especially if you are in that area often. You will NOT be disappointed.

The rest of my cheat food included home made smothered and covered Waffle House Hash Browns (YUMMY DUMMIES!) and a chocolate covered donut.

Side note: Be careful going to the grocery store the morning of cheat day as you are buying food that is supposed to last several meals. Not only does it leave you with tempting excess, but it also costs more than you think!

I DID go to Taco Bell to get the new Wild Naked Chicken Chalupa (meh it was fine, FILL THAT FUCKER UP WITH THAT BEEF, BELL! COME ON!). I also got a Beef Quesarito, a Chicken Quesadilla, and a Cheesy Gordita Crunch with a Doritos Locos Taco....so...sorry not sorry!

Then there was BEER, waddup Alex?! Mostly Busch Light from a can and Miller Light Pitchers from the bowling alley. "Which bowling alley you TUB OF DUMP?!"

Come on! Easy on the nicknames! If you want to bowl, please go to Timber Lanes! And that my friends wraps up this week's Cheat Day! Of course there wasn't as much to eat as usual, what with my late Friday night meal I am counting, but I still managed to eat some real nice shit! Some shitty ass shit! Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and eat like you life depended on it.

ELE,
Zach