The Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak Challenge.

the steak... Last Wednesday, we finally went to the Lone Star Cafe to take on the 72 Oz steak challenge. 2/3 people who attempted it succeeded and tasted the sweet victory of a huge free steak. (RECAP: Lone Star Steak Challenge , Training Day 1 , Training Day 2 , Training Day 3, Training Day 4). We called in 2 days before to reserve the steaks and they took our credit card number just in case we didn't show up to eat the steaks. I felt good that day and I prepared myself for the meal (at 9pm) by constantly eating very small bits of food all day (mostly yogourt and fruit). Daniel prepared himself on the day of the steak by playing some rugby to build up an appetite. The third contestant, Yale, went another route as he prepared his body to eat the steak by eating an XL bowl of Pho for lunch (beast!). When we walked into the restaurant, our other friends who came to witness the challenge ordered first and our steaks came soon after. The steaks were 72 Ounces (4.5 lbs) and each one sat on a sizzling hot plate. Each of us had to choose 1 side as well (Daniel and I got the garden salad, Yale got the mashed potatoes with gravy). Right when we sat down, our server brought over some nacho chips as well (Yale also killed these, he just keeps eating!). We all ordered the steaks medium rare, and they came out to be more like medium (if you want to try it, I would suggest ordering rare). As you can see in the pictures, the steaks are huge! Not only are they wide, but they are really thick. At the thickest point, they were probably over 3 inches thick.
If we finished the 72 Oz. Steak + Side in under 1 hour it would be free. When we first started eating it tasted pretty good, but as we approached the halfway mark, that was when things started slowing down. One person started to give up, as Daniel stopped at half the steak (he still ate an impressive 2.25 pounds of meat). Yale and I kept going, and by 3/4 of the way, I seriously started to not feel so well (haha!). I did not want to eat the steak anymore, but I continued to cut and chew. The hardest part was that my jaw was getting tired and the meat was quite dry on some parts (especially the charred parts). We did tell the waiter that the steak was way too well done for medium rare and they said we could get 25% off if we couldn't finish it (Daniel definitely benefited from this as the steak cost $54.99+tax if you can't finish it). At about the 50 minute mark, both Yale and I finished the entire 72 Oz steaks and quickly inhaled our sides!!! I wish I could say that I felt really happy about finishing it (LOL) but I really felt jealous of Daniel, who stopped eating his and felt great. The craziest thing that happened was that Yale then went on to finish off some Ribs from somebody elses plate. "When are we going to do the steak challenge again?!" was the first thing Yale asked me the next day.
Quick Notes: I could not have completed this challenge without the training that we did. Eating entire cabbages actually stretched my stomach, increased my appetite and helped me mentally when I didn't want to eat any more of the giant steak. In terms of price, this was the "DEAL OF THE YEAR." As you can see in the picture of the receipt, the two steaks me and Yale finished came to a total of $0. Between the 2 of us, that was 144 Ounces of meat + sides for nothing. "Some people run marathons, we eat!"
Can you do it? The staff at Lonestar told us that around 1/10 people who attempt the steak are able to finish it. My advice to you is to make sure you train and are able to eat a lot of the same thing in one sitting (ex. entire 4.5 lb heads of cabbage lol). On the day of, eat as light as possible, but make sure you eat little things throughout the day so your stomach doesn't shrink. During the challenge, my strategy was to cut the steak from one side only, to keep as much moisture and warmth in the giant steak as possible. Yale's strategy was to use huge amounts of HP steak sauce (a total of 3 bottles were used between Daniel and Yale). In addition to this, it is important to watch the time and to continuously cut and not stop chewing. If you can complete it, it is a free meal. I'm pretty sure that I have eaten much more at some all you can eat sushi places, but the huge steak and the 1 hr time constraint was a definite challenge. Try it at your own risk. Click here for locations

Here are 2 videos documenting our challenge.lol: 1. before we ate the steak and 2. the process of us eating the steaks...

Steak Training Day 3.

training day 3... If you haven't already seen, check out Day 1 and Day 2 of our training for the Lone Star Steak Challenge. On the Day 3 of the training, Daniel was busy training for Rugby, so I had to train for the steak by myself. I didn't want to eat that nasty cabbage by myself, so I went with just eating alot of everything. I ate dinner at home, first time in awhile... I then went out with some friends and got a Large 3 Topping (Bacon, Sausage and Extra Cheese) and a Medium Pepperoni Pizza from Pizza Nova. (Sick deal at Pizza Nova: Buy a 3 topping Large for regular price and get a medium 1 topping for $2.99... comes out to $21.98 after tax, picked up). In addition to this, I had to step the training up, so I got a Subway Foot Long Cold Cut Sub. After the dinner at home + 3/4 of all that pizza, I could barely finish the sub... it was a crazy struggle! To finish it off, I had a bowl of store bought Gelato (will post about this later).
How did I feel? Not too good! I've posted a picture of myself, and that is the look of a man stuffed with way too much food! Day 3 of the training was definitely the toughest for some reason.
Update:We were going to do the challenge tonight (April 10, 2009), but when I called to make the reservation at Lone Star, they said they were out of stock for the 72 Oz. steaks because the holiday Easter weekend has resulted in a high demand for the crazy challenge. I guess there are other fools out there like us! haha
Total Cabbage Heads Consumed:(1.75)

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STEAK CHALLENGE REVIEW**

Challenge: Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak + trimmings
Contestant 1 - Me	Contestant 2 - Daniel
-aka St. Hubert -age: 22 -Chinese -6'1'' -185 LBs	-aka Korean Kobayashi -age: 22 -Korean -6'2'' -185 LB

** Contestant 3 -Yale (The Favourite) not shown.

Steak Training Day 4.

training day 4... Recap: Lone Star Steak Challenge , Training Day 1 , Training Day 2 , Training Day 3 . This is the 4th and final day of training to increase our ability to eat a lot before we do the actual challenge. The training has definitely worked as both Daniel and I can clearly consume much more food now. Again, we bought cabbages, but we prepared it in 2 different ways this time. For the first cabbage, we made half of it into coleslaw with some easy coleslaw salad dressing from the supermarket, so we wouldn't mess up the recipe like we did on Training Day 2 . The second half of the cabbage, my friend helped us cook, she boiled the cabbage in chicken broth and added garlic, salt and pepper (This tasted way better than when we made it ourselves!). I ended up eating an entire 4.5 LB cabbage myself and Daniel ate half of a 4.5 LB cabbage. In addition to this, I managed to also eat half a double cheesburger and split a Large Fries + TarTar sauce with Daniel.
How did we feel? Well, both of us ate all this cabbage + Mcdonald's after we both had already eaten dinner, so we were really full! I definitely did not feel too well.haha but it was not as bad as before as our training has definitely paid off.
Update: We are planning to finally face these giant 72 Oz. Steaks at Lone Star Cafe this week. There will be a post on whether we succeed or fail soon.lol ...so keep checking back for updates!
Total Cabbage Heads Consumed:(3.25)

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STEAK CHALLENGE REVIEW**

Challenge: Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak + trimmings
Contestant 1 - Me	Contestant 2 - Daniel
-aka St. Hubert -age: 22 -Chinese -6'1'' -185 LBs	-aka Korean Kobayashi -age: 22 -Korean -6'2'' -185 LB

** Contestant 3 -Yale (The Favourite) not shown.

Steak Training Day 2.

training day 2... So, we're still training for the steak challenge. On Day 1 of our training, the cabbage tasted pretty bad after awhile, so we decided to make coleslaw out of our next cabbage head... A lot of coleslaw (4.5 lbs of it)! I've also included our coleslaw recipe below. The coleslaw would have been good, but my friend, Daniel, messed up the recipe by putting in 1/4 cup of salt, instead of 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt... nasty! We were each able to eat about 2 pounds of the coleslaw, which shows clear progress of from day 1 where Daniel was only able to eat 1 lb. In addition to this, we grabbed a Large 3 Topping Pizza and a Medium Pepporoni Pizza (~$21 after tax, picked up) from Pizza Nova. We were able to finish this completely, but there were obvious itis effects as we both slowed down and felt slow and tired.lol On a positive note (if you could call it a positive.lol), we experienced clear progress in our eating capacity and hopefully we will be able to up this to the Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak (4.5 LBs) goal.
After receiving some feedback about training to eat a lot, we are considering trying out a new technique: eating seaweed. Apparently, professional eaters (there are such people!) eat huge amounts of dried seaweed, which then expands in your stomach. Anyone know the health effects/risks of this? haha
Total Cabbage Heads Consumed:(1.75)

Coleslaw Recipe (Serves 20-25 people):
Ingredients: 10 tbsp diced onions, 1 diced cabbage, 3 1/3 cup dressing (ex. mayo), 15 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 1/2 cup sugar, 13.5 tbsp white vinegar, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 cup poppy seeds
Directions: Just mix everything in a large bowl and toss! We also added 1 lemon worth of lemon juice for extra tangy flavour and some black pepper.

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STEAK CHALLENGE REVIEW**

Challenge: Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak + trimmings
Contestant 1 - Me	Contestant 2 - Daniel
-aka St. Hubert -age: 22 -Chinese -6'1'' -185 LBs	-aka Korean Kobayashi -age: 22 -Korean -6'2'' -185 LB

** Contestant 3 -Yale (The Favourite) not shown.

Steak Training Day 1.

training day 1... If you haven't already seen, me and a couple friends are going to attempt to eat the Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak (4.5 LBs). We are just average guys, so we referred to google for some training tips. The number 1 tip we came across was to eat cabbage in large quantities in the days leading up to the 72 oz. steak day in order to "stretch your stomach" CRAZY!. So, we went to our local Loblaws and bought 2 heads of cabbage (each weighing about 4.5 lbs each ~ same as the steak). They are the preferred food item to train with because you will eat a lot, and it isn't loaded with unhealthy fats and it is cheap ($1.69/head of cabbage). To cook it we chopped it up, boiled it in water, then stir fried it with some olive oil and pepper.
After cooking up one head of cabbage, we decided that we would share the 4.5 lbs head of cabbage between the 2 of us for the first day. This is wayyyy tougher than it looks. I was able to get through 2 lbs of the cabbage myself, but my buddy was only able to get through 1 lb (you can see him struggling in the picture). Suprisingly though, we had a huge craving for some fast food after, because of how nasty the cabbage tasted after eating so much of it. We then headed to Mcdonald's where my friend got a Double Big Mac Meal and an extra Large fries (w/ tartar sauce on the side). I headed over to wendy's to grab the Stack Attack Value meal w/ baked potato side and an extra Jr. Deluxe Cheesburger. We destroyed these meals within seconds... We will see if this helps us reach the next level and possibly finish the steaks.
Total Cabbage Heads Consumed:(3/4)

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STEAK CHALLENGE REVIEW**

Challenge: Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak + trimmings
Contestant 1 - Me	Contestant 2 - Daniel
-aka St. Hubert -age: 22 -Chinese -6'1'' -185 LBs	-aka Korean Kobayashi -age: 22 -Korean -6'2'' -185 LB

** Contestant 3 -Yale (The Favourite) not shown.

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge Results

I recently completed the #healthyaroma challenge and I must say, I feel great. For 21 straight days, I ate 2 meals from Aroma Espresso Bar each day. My diet consisted of high protein, low carb meals and my goal was to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise. For the third meal of each day, I tried my best to eat mindfully at food events or cooked healthy high protein, low carb meals. The #healthyaroma challenge was very successful as I was able to lose 13 lbs in 21 days. During this time, I also started an exercise program of cardio and strength training 3-4 days a week, including some pickup basketball. Check out the before and after pictures below. Pretty siginificant changes over the 21 days! Keep in mind that before the challenge, I had just gained some weight from a trip to Asia where I ate an insane amount of delicious food.

Day 1

Day 13

Day 21- lost a total of 13 lbs!

I approached my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar because I knew Aroma had a wide variety of healthy food options including a great selection of salads that would help me achieve my goal. One of the hardest parts about going on a healthy eating diet is meal prep and leaving this part to Aroma made it much easier. They have locations all around Toronto from downtown all the way to Vaughan and Markham, which was convenient for me as I spend my time travelling all over the city for food events and work as a physiotherapist. I was able to visit 14 different Aroma’s in the 21 days. I tried many different healthy items from their menu, including all 11 of their Salads, the Aroma Power Breakfast, Organic Oatmeal, Muesli and their Breakfast on the Go. Nutritional information for each menu item is available on their website which made it easy to help track what I was eating. There were a few items I enjoyed so much that they became a staple in my #healthyaroma diet. Here are my top 5 favourite healthy food items at Aroma Espresso Bar:

1. Aroma Hash- An all day Mediterranean style breakfast option with chicken, turkey and potato hash on top of arugula with a sunny side up egg on top of fresh in store baked bread. All of this sits on a layer of yogurt, sprinkled with za’atar spices and served with syrup and lemon olive oil dressing. You get a little bit of everything and the syrup tastes great but is optional if you want to be super healthy!
   
2. Aroma All-Day Power Breakfast- This was my go to item whenever I had the time to sit down and eat at the Aroma locations. The All-Day Power Breakfast is served with 2 eggs (any style), mixed greens, chopped tomato and cucumber salad, shredded carrots, a scoop of cream cheese, a scoop of feta, a scoop of avocado spread, 5 olives and your choice of fresh baked bread (I opted out of the bread almost every time to stick to my low carb, high protein diet) 
   
3. Warm Chickpea Salad- This was definitely my favourite salad from Aroma. A salad loaded with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, hardboiled egg, garlic croutons (I skipped the croutons during this challenge). It is served with a lemon olive oil dressing and tahini. The tahini, which is basically ground sesame paste really compliments this salad.
   
4. Freekeh Salad- This is one of the newer salads on their menu and incorporates many healthy ingredients. The Freekeh salad is Aroma’s most colourful salad and consists of freekeh (a super grain), black quinoa, sprouted brown rice, organic baby kale, tomato, cucumber, carrot, pickle, red onion, parsely, za’atara seasoning and a scoop of labneh cheese (a thick, creamy Mediterranean yogurt based cheese). It is served with their lemon olive oil dressing. I loved the variety of ingredients, especially the labneh cheese and pickles that add a lot of flavour to the salad. Each of these salads contains 7.4 grams of fibre! 
   
5. Aroma Special Salad- I really enjoyed eating the Aroma Special Salad as a post workout meal. It’s a protein packed salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, hardboiled egg, olives and your choice of flaked albacore tuna or feta cheese. Tastes best if you get half tuna and half feta! It’s also served with a low fat balsamic dressing. 

Customization! Added Smoked Salmon to the Aroma
Special Salad!

There are lots of excellent healthy food options at Aroma Espresso Bar and customization is also available. You can substitute or add items to your meal like chicken, steak, tuna, cheese, avocado, or smoked salmon. Although I focused mainly on their salads, they also have a nice selection of sandwiches and soups. Throughout the diet, I skipped all of their delicious baked pastries but those alfajore cookies were super tempting every time I stepped into an Aroma store. It was not easy for someone like me to get through these 21 days. I love food a lot and am fortunate enough to be able to attend many food events and tastings where I did cheat a few times. The first few days were especially difficult as I had to fight cravings for snacking, but it did get easier and results were very encouraging. The real challenge will be to continue this healthy eating and active lifestyle. I lost 13 lbs and overall I feel more energetic and stronger. Aside from losing weight, I hope that this can help me kick start a healthier lifestyle long term and inspire anyone else to do the same. Special thanks to Loren from Aroma who helped make this happen! I had lots of fun sharing this project on Instagram and Snapchat and thanks to everyone who followed and especially those who supported!