Two locally-owned restaurants offering good vegan options

Bandit Burrito

Today I had the pleasure of eating lunch at Bandit Burrito in Johnston on Merle Hay next to Pagliai's Pizza.

My vegan friend Crystal had told me about the place so I decided to check it out on her recommendation. They have your usual burrito fare much like what you would find at Pancheros or Qdoba, but fresher and far superior! If you've never been to the aforementioned places, think Subway but for burritos instead of subs (and actually good unlike Subway).

You can skip the meat and add grilled veggies, onions and peppers, guacamole, many different kinds of fresh salsas made in-house. The options are many!

This isn't some chain. This is a locally-owned joint of which this is the only location. Apparently the owner worked at a burrito joint in Ames that was popular and decided to open his own burrito place here.

The place was doing awesome business at lunch today. A lot of people were eating in while many others were getting it to go. Very popular place!

www.banditburrito.com You can also become a fan of theirs on Facebook.

Fong's Pizza

Fong's is a hugely popular pizza joint downtown on 4th Street across from The Lift and down from Java Joe's. If you're familiar with King Ying Low, it's in their old building. King Ying Low was Des Moines' oldest Chinese restaurant dating back to the early 1900's. Within the last couple of years, it closed and Fong's opened keeping the Asian-inspired theme going. There are Asian-themed cocktails and pizzas. They have a huge beer selection. The place is very popular with the downtown bar crowd.

I made a suggestion on their Facebook page one night that they should look at having vegan options, and they responded right away saying that they're going to have vegan and gluten-free options in their next menu printing! How cool is that?! I had eaten there a few times back when I was eating meat and dairy and loved it. I can only imagine how good it'll be. They said they would have multiple options, so that'll be great!

www.fongspizza.com You can also become a fan of theirs on Facebook.

It's really nice to see that locally-owned places are being so smart and keeping vegans and others in mind! Much better than a lot of the chain restaurants where your only options are to order a fruit plate, some steamed veggies and some rice. I ate at Village Inn recently and had a less-than-stellar Boca Burger. At least there was something for me. :)

Working out a lot! Signing a friend up at Anytime Fitness tomorrow.

Working out a lot!

So I'm working out twice a day most days of the week. I wake up, eat a little snack like a handful of nuts to get myself a little fuel and head to the gym for 30-45 minutes of cardio before work. After work I head home and repeat the process.

I have to admit, I'm not really losing anything. I weigh myself too much. I think I'm obsessing quite a bit about my weight and whatnot. I think one problem is I may not be eating enough. It's hard to know how much many calories I'm taking in because I don't eat processed foods. Processed foods list the calories on them. They'r crap, generally, but they list the calories. When I make something like a curry with veggies, beans, lentils, etc, I just have no idea how many calories I'm eating. I suppose I could try to break it down by how many calories are in each item, but that's so hard because I make a big pot of whatever I make.

I dunno. I guess I just need to try to cram some more whole grains and beans into my diet since they're higher in calories than veggies. Either way I'm not gaining, so that's good.

Signing a friend up at Anytime Fitness tomorrow.

My friend Larry has followed my weight loss progress. I have a lot of people ask me how I motivated myself and ask me to help them. I love helping people achieve what I've done. I love giving advice. Sometimes I don't think it's followed and it bums me out because I spend a lot of time coming up with that advice. Larry and I were talking via Facebook and I think he'd asked me how much it costs or something. Or maybe I mentioned that he should join Anytime. I don't remember, but anyway I'm meeting him at Anytime in the morning to sign up! We have a somewhat similar schedule, so I think that'll be good. I think it will really help motivate he and I by having a partner to work out with. I think he's pretty motivated, so it'll be fun to help him!

Now off to bed....

What have I been up to in the last 8 months or so since I last blogged??

Wow! It's been a long time since I've blogged, huh? I intend to start blogging more actively now.
My focus will still be on weight loss as I hope to drop another 20 pounds or so, but I'm also going to be talking about my vegan lifestyle somewhat.

Now, first things first......
I have to admit, I sort of 'fell off the wagon' for a while. I lost focus for a while and gained back about 20 pounds. I kept eating very healthy for the most part, but I slacked off entirely on the exercise. What a waste that was. I spent an entire year taking the weight off and getting into great shape only to go back to not working out.
I blamed it on a change in my work hours. That was partially true, but it doesn't take that long to adjust and get back in the swing of things. I just let my priorities change. I bought a condo shortly after my hours changed. Too much change at once does tend to throw me a bit. I was no longer able to fulfill my commitment to Anytime Fitness due to working evenings. Then one night I tried to go to the gym and my passkey no longer worked.
I did end up buying a Nintendo Wii with WiiFit but only used that from time to time. It's just not the same as going to the gym and using actual equipment.
I started noticing my clothes getting a little bit tighter. Not terribly, but enough to notice I'd put on some weight.
My girlfriend at the time put me on her membership at Anytime Fitness a couple of months back, but even then I only went sporadically. When I did have spare time, I tended to spend it with her rather than on myself. Again, priorities came into play. I have to learn to be selfish and treat myself first and others after that.
She broke up with me some three weeks or so ago on my birthday. After a few days of letting it sink in, I decided to start focusing on me and what's important to me. I started hitting he gym. For all intents and purposes, it had been maybe 7 or 8 months or longer since I went to the gym with any regularity. Sad considering what I had accomplished. Also, it's hard to admit. When people would ask me how I was doing with the weight loss and if I was keeping it off, I'd lie and say 'Yes'. In my mind I knew it was a lie, but I wasn't THAT far off the mark. I hadn't put a lot of the weight back on. It was a lie nonetheless.

Back in the saddle again. This time with a vengeance!
I decided to not let myself slip any further towards where I had come from: 312 pounds. I knew that JUST eating healthy wasn't going to keep me at the weight I wanted to be at. That was part of the equation. The other part of the equation is exercise.
And man have I been exercising! In the last couple of weeks I've been hitting the gym twice a day almost every day! I get up in the morning and have a small bite to eat to give myself some fuel then head to the gym. I knock out around 30-45 minutes usually (sometimes an hour) of cardio whether it be running and inclined walking, stair-stepper, or ellyptical, or a combination of all of them. After work, I'll knock out a good hour of cardio or an hour of weights and abs and stretching.
It's giving me TONS of energy. Rather than making me tired when I'm done, I'm energized! I feel amazing right now! Part of this is due to my vegan lifestyle as well......

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I'm down 10 pounds in the last couple of weeks. My clothes are much looser now as well. And I quit smoking a couple of weeks ago.

My vegan lifestyle.....
I'm trying a new vegan lifestyle. When I was losing my weight, I ate mostly lean meats such as chicken breasts and salmon along with veggies and whole grains (quinoa, bulgur wheat, lenitls, and on and on). I grew to really love whole grains and decided to start eating more of them along with veggies which I've always loved. Just that little bit of trying new things trying to be healthier led to me really enjoying them more and more, so much so that I decided to become vegan.
The difference between vegetarian and vegan is basically that vegetarians still consume cow's milk, cheese, and other such dairy products and some even eat fish and eggs. Vegans, on the other hand, don't eat anything originating from an animal. No dairy, no meat, no eggs.


Q: Where the heck do I get my protein and aren't I hungry? Isn't that food really bland?

A: I get complete proteins from whole grains and beans. I'm never hungry. The calories are nutrient-dense, so I can have more in quantity than I could of less nutrient-dense food.
There are so many amazing recipes out there for vegan food. It tastes SOOO much better than that processed garbage that's loaded with salt, sugar, and chemicals.
I didn't become vegan to save the animals or anything (not that that's a bad thing; it's a great by-product of what I'm doing). I chose a vegan lifestyle because it's a healthier choice. It's also better for the environment. Maybe later I'll go into all of the statistics about vegan lifestyles vs. meat-based lifestyles. In the meantime, do a little research for yourself. Check out Alicia Silverstone's new book 'The Kind Diet'. You'll learn a lot!

That's all I got for now! Hope to see you at the gym or at New City Market! New City Market is my FAVORITE place for whole grains, organic produce, and other great foods. Not to mention they have an awesome, friendly, knowledgeable staff! Check them out at 48th & University in Des Moines or online at www.newcitymarket.com.