Here's some photos from our recent travels. We currently find ourselves in Chicago so if you know any great places to eat, and I know there is a lot, let me know. 

This place was directly outside our hotel while we stayed in Sacramento so it seemed like a no brainer to check out. Especially after we saw that it was on the show Man vs. Food. Turns out it was on the show for enormous pancakes so i avoided those with all my might. My wife got the mini which was hardly a mini. I got an enormous omelet which was super tasty. I think I will use green chilies in omelets more often. It's really tiny inside and the food is all really yummy. It's not necessarily Lo Carb friendly, but it was a cool stop. And it looks like they had some stew that might have been pretty tasty. 

After trying several Quest Bars I think I found one I can handle. A lot of the other bars just were not flavorful enough for me and had a taste that was to artificial that it was hard for me to enjoy. This bar has pretty good taste. I think the berry flavor helps. Its almost like a Blueberry muffin bar. Don't get me wrong, it still is a protein bar so it has a lot of that protein bar taste, but this one has a good sweetness to it which seems to work well for it. If I was to do a Quest Bar again I would probably get this one. Its a great breakfast flavor. 

Do you guys like Quest Bars? What's your favorite flavor?

My wife and I attended a wedding of a cousin recently. We had a great time celebrating the big ordeal. Weddings always have a lot of great opportunities for people watching and that always entertains us. Not to mention that the food is usually good, especially since its free. But free food isn't alway low carb food. Sometimes the food you get serve in certain circumstances is anything but within your diet. 

At the wedding I was served chicken cordon bleu, asparagus, and rice pilaf. Great food if the diet wasn't an issue. But since it was, what does a person do? Well, first thing you need to know is that you alway have a choice on what you eat. In a case like this you should stick to the asparagus and chicken. The rice is something that you don't really need and its just added carbs. And guess what, it never hurts to ask your server. Most places like this can at least provide a salad. They want you to be happy at the event so that you tell your friends and the caterers may get more jobs in the future.  

Just remember, If you can make it through the night you'll be in good shape. Just beware the cake. You will be surrounded before you know it.

I use my iphone for everything. There are so many great apps out there that you can use it for practically anything. So why not your diet? Now I know that there are thousands of fitness apps to choose from, but these are just a couple that I think are great.

LOSE IT -
Lose It! is simple, fun to use, and includes great features:
- Simple, attractive, streamlined interface
- Comprehensive database of foods and activities
- Quickly add new foods or exercises to the database
- Setup recipes for more complicated foods
- Quickly add to your log with previous meals, my foods, and other shortcuts
- Track nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, and more
- Log packaged foods quickly with our popular barcode scanner
- Works with or without a network connection
- No advertisements!

I like this app because it makes counting carbs and calories during you day super easy. It even has a lot of items from restaurants in your area. You can monitor you progress, and keep track online. And now, they even have some scales that work with wifi to upload you weight to their site so it keeps it accurate and easy. 

MAP MY WALK -
iMapMy is a fitness tracking application that enables you to use the built-in GPS of your mobile device to track all of your fitness activities. Record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. You can even effortlessly save and upload your workout data to any of the MapMyFitness websites where you can view your route workout data, and comprehensive workout history.



I have really enjoyed using this app on the road to help my when i walk in new places. it helps find routes in your area as well as tell you how far you have gone. If you join with friends you can compare your goals and distances. There are feature in it if you want to change your workout too. Running, cycling, it has a bunch to choose from.  

I know we are a little into 2013 now, but I thought I would go ahead and share some of the things about 2012 that were on the top of my list. Just random stuff I liked. Check em out if you want. 

There were a lot of movies I liked that can out this past year, but two were the most fun in my book. the first is Moonrise Kingdom. I am a huge Wes Anderson fan and so I knew I would love it regardless, but his writting and wit in combination with his beautiful design always make for a uniquie story. Great characters too. 

I am a geek at heart so when Marvels movie The Avengers came out I enjoyed it a bunch. Its just fun smashing and explosions. Everything you want from a summer movie. They did a great job of weaving all the characters together. Im looking forward to where they take everyone next.

I got on this train a little late I think, but The Lumineers album was definitely one of my favorites. The minute I heard them I was in love. Great melodies and lyrics that stick with you. Perfect music to unwind you hectic day to.

Ready Player One - I read this book early on in the year and it was the most fun of all my 2012 reading. if you love pop culture just mix in a dash if Sci-fi and you will have an easy read that you wont put down. Give it a chance. There is no reason this book should get overlooked. Its seriously a lot of fun.

Cartoons are often relegated to being just for kids, but in my opinion, Adventure Time is more creative, thoughtful, and daring then 80% of what's on television today. This show is filled with great wit, beautiful art, and a whimsical quality that keeps it interesting. Definitely something that parents and kids can enjoy together. Thats rare in my book. 

I finally embraced my love of coffee fully by getting the Starbuck app for my phone. It's nothing special, but it's great to get rewarded with free drinks and refills while I have been on the road. It's amazing how comforting the familiarity of a coffee shop can be when you are homeless and on tour.

Magical Game Time - This blog by artist Zac Gorman is filled with beautiful pictures and comics he has drawn. He often will blend motion into his comics to create a little more drama in what you see. Even though 80's video games are usually the topic of his art, he makes them extremely interesting even for those who have no idea what they are referencing. 


This is one of my favorites, which i thing I even relate to a bit.

Check it Here

As soon as we get cozy in one city it's off to another. We find ourself at historic Pantagas Theater in Hollywood CA. We love California because we have family and friends here and so spending two weeks here is OK in our books.  It's just some extra time to meet up with friends and maybe even eat some good food. 

We are staying in a cozy little apartment for our two weeks that has a Murphy bed. It also has a kitchen and fridge which is not normal for our travels so it is nice to have a chance to do some home cooking. That Mean I get some thick Bacon for breakfast, none of this thin restaurant garbage.

The theater we are at is pretty awesome. It has a ton of history and suposedly is even haunted by Howard Huges. I havent seen any ghosts yet myself, but every time I show up to my booth at night I hear a voice in my head whispering, "Cinnabon...Cinnabon" sooooo.....could be Howard. 

This is a cool pic of the lobby inside the theater. It's really pretty. Someone pointed out to me that it looks like Laura Rosalind dream in Battlestar Gallactica. If you don't understand that reference then stop what you are doing and go watch the 2000 version of Battlestar and be prepared for your life to change. If you don't then we can't be friends. sorry.

I found this door wandering the basement of the theater. I was gonna go in, but didn't want a piano to fall on my head. Weird. 

We are hoping to see other friends of ours while we are here but already had a chance to meet up with some great ones. You might recognize Emily Rose as the star of Haven on the Sci-fi network. We went to college and were on a comedy team together. She's super funny. Her sister Amy is a designer for the show Magic City. Both very talented people, but even better friends. We had a great time meeting up at The Counter for a light lunch.

Any-who...More to come from LA LA Land. I'll keep ya posted if I eat something awesome.

p.s. Rufio from Hook totally came to see Peter Pan the other night. So yeah, that was awesome. 

When it comes to soup, there is not really a lot of choices out there that are lower in carbs. Most of them are going to run about 30-40 carbs in a 1/2 a cup. French onion soup is usually a safer choice because it's primarily a broth and has limited ingredients. Progresso has a French Onion soup that is only 8 Carbs in a half a can. Even if you are hungry and use the whole can it's still pretty low for soup. I shredded some cheese to put on top to add to the yumminess. Granted a soup like this is great with bread, if its driving you nuts to have it without you can always add some ripped up low carb tortilla to it. 

I suppose I should mention if it's any good. I love french onion soup and consider myself a bit of a expert on what good. This isn't the best stuff I've ever had. It's not as oniony as some of the other soups you may have had out there and to some may even be a little watery, but it did fill me up and was nice on a warm fall night.

We were invited over to some old college friends house while in AZ for their traditional family breakfast. Talk about a spread. Lots of good food and conversation. I told someone that I felt like I was in an episode of Parenthood. Anyway, just thought I would share some of the pics.

First thing first, I know these omeletes aren't great and aren't nessisarily low carb because IHop does make them with some pancake batter. So they aren't as low as we would hope, but they are pretty yummy and very filling. A much better choice than pancakes. :)

We have had an Ihop connected to our hotel in AZ so it was bound to happen that we would end up there eventually. I went for the Colorado Omelete with a side of fruit.