No worries, mate! Or, Why I Love Outback Steakhouse

Have you ever lost track of time (and hunger) while on the computer? I think most people probably have at some point, it certainly isn't a new experience for me. That's what happened this morning with my breakfast, or rather, the lack of one. Oops.

Normally this wouldn't be anything to worry about, but we had to be out the door sooner than I realized for a wedding today! So, no breakfast and no lunch, and certainly doubted there would be any paleo-friendly choices at the wedding itself. I managed to chow an apple and a nectarine (yay for the convenience of fruit!) in the car as we were driving. Wedding was at 2pm, and as predicted the snack-fare didn't leave me any real options for snacking. Candy, crackers, cheese, cashews (salted, doh), and a mix of raisins, almonds, and peanuts (doh). At least they had some grapes. But still, more fruit. Not my best food day ever. I did at least manage to avoid the wedding cake AND the buckeyes (formerly one of my favorite treats).

The wife wanted to go out for dinner, so we ended up at the Outback Steakhouse. Now, this place was already my favorite chain-style restaurant and has been for years. It was further cemented in that place earlier this year when I made my initial diet changes as being a place to get decent meat (beef, chicken, fish) with good choices available for the sides. Today, though, I was prepared to make our waiter really earn his tip, as it were, due to having to adjust to my Eat Real challenge paleo needs. It went something like this:

Me: "So, I'll just warn you up front I'm going to make this a bit difficult"

Waiter: (jokingly) "Oh man don't do that!  What do you need?"

Me: (thinking about bread, breading, etc) "Well, the big one is no gluten"

Waiter: "Do you want a gluten-free menu?"

Me: (bwuh?!) "You have one? Yes definitely!"

he brings back their gluten free menu and I check it out, then we get to the ordering

Me: "Do you know what they use to cook the steaks? What kind of oil, or...?"

Waiter: "They use butter"

Me: (woohoo!) "Ok then, the Outback Special, 8oz, cooked medium, with the seasonal veggies - no seasonings - and the sweet potato just with butter and cinnamon."
(the veggie seasonings apparently contain gluten, as the gluten-free menu said to request them without. Also the sweet potato normally has brown sugar on it, which is why I specified)

That was ridiculously easy, and the meal was completely in line with CF Rockwall's challenge and general primal/paleo diet items. I ended up eating an extra 4-5oz of steak because Jamie's stomach was not cooperating with her intent to eat it. Two thumbs up to Outback, which is not going to be ousted from its position in my list of restaurant choices any time soon.

I chomped a few strawberries at home for dessert and feel rather good about how the food ended up today. No workout today, although I did practice a few handstands...

Shoulder flexibility (lack of it) is affecting my form on these, according to my wife - dancer and used to do gymnastics so I'm going to believe her *wink*. Overall though, I'm getting better at holding them so progress is being made!