ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT!!!

        Want a chance to win a free Poor Man's Atkins Low Carb Survival Kit? It's easy and takes about 2 seconds.

1. Like our Facebook Page
2. Write something on the Facebook Page's Wall. Just say hi if you want. Whatever.
    It's as easy as that. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of December and sent out a free Poor Mans Atkins Survival Kit filled with some of PMA's favorite low carb snacks and treats to get you through those hard times. Trust me its a sweet prize and well worth the time it takes. And besides, you like us anyway right? Right? Why not tell the world.

  It's as easy as that. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of December and sent out a free Poor Mans Atkins Survival Kit filled with some of PMA's favorite low carb snacks and treats to get you through those hard times. Trust me its a sweet prize and well worth the time it takes. And besides, you like us anyway right? Right? Why not tell the world.

    Christmas is over but the holiday time continues. I just got back from a quick stint in my hometown of Fargo, North Dakota with the family for Christmas. Had a blast. Lots of good hangout time too. Things I learned over this Christmas Holiday.

1. Puppies make any holiday better. That's Katie, my parents newest family member.

2. Trips home are marked by what you eat. Although I usually hit several places when I go home I almost always have to hit two spots. the first is Taco Johns, a Midwestern Mexican fast food place and the second is Space Aliens which is basically Pizza Planet from Toy Story only with ribs. Their BBQ sauce is awesome! Not low carb though. Sorry.

3. Mustaches are in! Big time!

4. Holidays are all about family time and food. Carbs lurk around every corner. My mom always makes a big breakfast usually on Christmas Eve. Hard to say no when Carmel rolls show up. And food is a social thing i our house. If I was a distance away from my goal weight I would probably avoid the carbs, but since its the holidays and I have managed to keep the pounds down I enjoy myself.

5. All Midwestern homes come equipped with several puffy coats.

6. My cat sitters have a nice sense of humor.

Well its a couple days back In the OC and then I fly to New York for New Years. Should be an interesting time. Cant wait to have a new Work Hot Dog!!

      Want a chance to win a free Poor Man's Atkins Low Carb Survival Kit? It's easy and takes about 2 seconds.

1. Like our Facebook Page
2. Write something on the Facebook Page's Wall. Just say hi if you want. Whatever.
    It's as easy as that. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of December and sent out a free Poor Mans Atkins Survival Kit filled with some of PMA's favorite low carb snacks and treats to get you through those hard times. Trust me its a sweet prize and well worth the time it takes. And besides, you like us anyway right? Right? Why not tell the world.

    It's as easy as that. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of December and sent out a free Poor Mans Atkins Survival Kit filled with some of PMA's favorite low carb snacks and treats to get you through those hard times. Trust me its a sweet prize and well worth the time it takes. And besides, you like us anyway right? Right? Why not tell the world.

    I'm off this week ot Fargo to visit my family for Christmas then off to New York for New Years so there may not be a ton of posts until 2012. Hopefully I'll have some good stuff for when I get back, assuming this whole Mayan calender thing was wrong and we dont all die a apocalyptic death. If that happens, well carb it up folks.

    I was checking out at Trader Joe's the other day and something caught my eye. As you know may or may not know, Trader Joe's has a bunch of chocolate and organic treats in there stores. Since they believe in organic and real foods they carry a good amount of dark chocolate by smaller companies. Places like these can be great to look for treats because as far as carbs go, if your chocolate is high in cocoa and low in sugar it can actually be kind of safe to eat. However I hadn't ever really found anything that jumped out to me as being a strong choice for low carb and taste. Until now. I spotted a new bar on the shelf by a company called Simply Lite. Their motto is "Dark Chocolate for the heath and calorie conscious." Right on the package of this bar it says on in nice and large "Low Carb". One carb per serving, Four servings for bar. Oh Snap!!!

    So how does it tsate?

    Well, lucky for me I love Dark Chocolate. I love to let it slowly melt in my mouth and savor every taste. Its a real treat to have and really satisfies that craving for something sweet and rich. Lots of flavor and doesn't feel waxy like I feel many major candy companies chocolates do. Obviously the big thing here is that its guilt free. 

    Look em up.

            "You there, what day is it?"
            "Why its Meat-mas day sir!"
            "Meat-mas day? Then I haven't missed it!"
                    -Beefsteak Whetherbottem A Meatmas Carol

    Ah Meatmas. My favorite time of year. Children having BBQ fights in the front yard, Roasted leg of lamb on an open fire, and lets not forget kissing the one you love under the flank steak in the entryway.

    Woah wait what?! You ask what is Meatmas?! You've never heard of it? Well sir and/or madam I shall tell you.

    Meatmas is a tradition that started in my department at my work about 5 years ago around the Christmas holiday. Its really a special day that is broken down by two major events.

    1. The traditional office round of Yankee Swap: In which everyone brings something awesome and I bring something slightly less awesome and someone gets slightly screwed out of a good gift as I myself take the better one home. Follow? Look, I know its not good to bring a white elephant to a Yankee swap, I wouldn't do that. I get the rules. You want good gifts, but you need a reason for people to steal. If everything is equally good, what's the fun in that. This year I brought a DVD of my movie 305. People were less than thrilled. Its not a bad movie, its just not a good gift... really ever.

    2. This is the heart and sole of meatmas. Brazilian BBQ. My department heads down the street to a Churrascaria Brazilian BBQ place for lunch. Traditionally the food they have here is rice, beans, and some other side. Salad and cheeses but the big thing is the meat. The employees walk around just dumping meat at your table until you raise the red flag telling them to stop. And this is good meat too. Tri-tip, Tenderloin, Prime rib, bacon wrapped filet, sausages, ect. They keep coming and coming. Cooked perfectly so the are moist and tasty. Its really a low carbers paradise.

    Being that my department is made up mostly of men this means we push ourselves to that dark place of meat eating through testosterone. We tend to avoid the fillers like rice and beans as to have a little more room for the Parmesan pork and red meats. We eat and eat and return to work only to fight falling asleep. Its a dangerous game, but worth it. And because of our shared experience we all draw slightly closer together as a department. We all have traveled to a dark place together and now we relate anew.

    Oh Meatmas. You come and go so quickly. It's a great tradition that comes a week or two before christmas and for me and I think I may want to bring it to my family some day. I'll invent some charming lie of an origin story to tell my kids about the pilgrims only having cows to eat during one cold Christmas and how they were so thankful for red meat or something. I'll use it as a way to break from the hustle and bustle of the holidays by stuffing my children so much they will take naps. We as a family shall come closer, and in a way that's what the holidays are for. That and ribs.

    This past weekend was kind of bittersweet for me. Had some good times with friends, performed, and ate some yummy food.

    On Friday, some good friends, my wife, and I went out on the town for a double date. We started out at a little sports bar/pool hall for some food. I don't think there was really any sports worth watching while we were there, nor did we play any pool, but because of our shared passion for sports bar food we ate up. The food was pretty good too. Really big portions. I always like it when a place give me a lot of food. Makes me feel like I just got a good deal or something. Anyway, they had an item on the menu perfect for low carbers that I tried called the Newport Chicken Plate. Essentially it was two pieces of grilled chicken breast with cheese and tomatoes between it and chipotle ranch sauce with avocado on top. Not to far from that weird bunless chicken sandwich that KFC had for a while. Anyway, when we were done we went down to Balboa Island to walk around and see some of the fancy houses with Christmas lights on them. Our "best in show" award went to the one pictured here which actually had a snowman made of dry ice in front. It was pretty fun to look at.

    On Saturday, my good friend Brandon and I went and did a standup comedy show. We are in a comedy duo together and have been on a bit of a break with performances, but around the holidays a couple shows always seem to pop up. Its always fun to go out, do our jokes, and hear peoples reaction when we haven't done it in a while. Its a good reminder that we still know how to get people to have a good time. You can see some of our joke here: Brandon and Tim.

    My Wife has been on tour with a show of Peter Pan that is travelling. She was home on a short break for a few days but had to hit the road early Sunday morning. After we shared a yummy breakfast together I dropped her off at the airport and then I had to do some Christmas errands. One of the errands was to make one of my all time favorite treats. Its certainly not low carb at all, but I decided to make some for a Christmas party that I was attending later this week. Chocolate Covered Potato Chips AKA Chippers. Super easy to do and if you know someone that is a fan of salty and sweet flavors together they will love them. I recommend only making these if you have self control. You will need lots. Believe it or not, I haven't even eaten one. ..yet. I feel guilty for even making that joke.

    Anyway, my night ended up with me delivering a Christmas gift to some friends of ours. then coming home to chill the rest of the night. I am a bit of a home body so I love just lounging around and watching movies. For me it my Sunday movie was Gran Torino. If you missed that movie from a year or two ago I highly recommend it. Not really a Christmas flick, but certainly packs an emotional punch.

    Well, Thanksgiving was about 2 weeks ago and I think its finally out of my system. I weighed in yesterday and everything seems to be back on track. Unfortunately this happens as we enter danger season A.K.A. Christmas time.

    I love Christmas. The smell of pine, the music, the yummy coffee drinks, the lights. Its just a warm and cozy time of year. However, I will say, for some reason it never really feels that much like Christmas until I see a James Bond movie. Already got mine in this year thanks to Instant Netflix. I watched The World Is Not Enough. Who picked Denise Richards as a bond girl? Every time she spoke I wanted to punch her in the mouth. Not that being a bond girl requires that you studied at Juilliard for acting, but I am pretty sure they could have put lipstick on a mop and gotten a better performance then she gave. But I digress. 

    Christmas is a time to be with the ones you love and to be with friends and family. My wife and I spent some time with friends the other night decorating sugar cookies. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea right. Lets just roll around in frosting and sugary sprinkles for an hour or so and see what happens. Well, I am proud to say, not much happened. I stayed strong and didn't go near them, which is more than I can say for the people I was with. 

    We also spent some time running errands and doing some Christmas shopping this week. Its usually customary when doing shopping of prolong periods to get a little hungry. That's definitely true for my wife and I. We were making our rounds in Target and we were both hit with the sweet smell of mini pizzas by the express Pizza Hut by the entrance. We ignored as best as we could, but knew we wouldn't make it long without something in our guts. That's when the Heavens parted and God sent an Angel. WingStop.

    We got some garlic Parmesan and some bbq. It was in the words of Schmidt from the new Fox hit series New Girl "Scrummy". Did I mention how awesome it is to have a wife that eats wings. Well it is. 

    My biggest challenge as of late has been the FroYo place down the street. They do a new Christmas flavor each day. I kind of have an appreciation for FroYo and that amplifies with flavors like gingerbread and white chocolate. I picked up some Low carb Ice cream last night so hopefully having that around will make things easier. 

    Anyway. all that to say is that the closer to the holiday of Christmas it get, the harder it is to eat right. Next week I have two Christmas parties for work. one will be difficult, the other I shall refer to as Meatmas. Expect to get details of the slaughter soon.