Author: Jason
Catch up on Workouts
With all these Veestro posts I thought I should take a break and do some updates on how my exercising has been going. Saturday was great because I got in a 20 mile ride and it was a blast. Sunday we got really busy and I didn’t have time to workout. My Zwift bike had very low tire pressure so I did get a new pump and fixed that on Sunday, but I didn’t have time to ride after that.
Somehow on Sunday I did manage to hit my Fitbit steps, but not any of Amy Apple Watch circles.
Yesterday, Monday was a good day I fit in some steps/walks and also did Yoga at the gym. Today will be a good day because we have a step class. I always look forward to those!
Veestro | Savory Croquettes
Breakfast again. Veestro vegan savory croquettes should be cooked in the oven. Their brochure says to take a meal out of the freezer the day before, but then the instructions are from frozen not thawed. So I decided not to burn this using the oven instructions and instead cooked this meal in the microwave. I think that was a mistake. As you can see from the images above the croquettes are breaded and I think they would have been better oven cooked. Maybe they would have been a bit toasty. Cooked in the microwave they were mushy.
The taste of the croquettes was very good. Looks like they were tofu based while it tasted light it was very filling. The sauce was not too flavorful but was a good addition. I could see if they were cooked in the oven that they might get dry so the sauce is a good idea. the veggies included were very good. They were my favorite. Again they were small like the other dishes, not sure if this is to make sure the defrost quickly or if it is another reason. The meal also included some chopped walnuts. I’m not sure how well they complemented the meal, but they tasted fine. In the pictures I covered them with some sauce. I would order this meal again.
Veestro Review | Breakfast
This morning I tried a different Veestro meal for breakfast. Last night I got it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost overnight. I also took the time to cook this in the oven. This is the first breakfast burrito I’ve ever gotten that had sauce. The meal needed 20-23 minutes in the oven and you have to stir the sauce about halfway through.
This meal is pretty heavy at 390 calories with the sauce. Taste wise I liked this better than last night’s meal of bbq chicken. The burrito was good and since it is vegan it used tofu instead of eggs. Very tasty. It also came with very small chopped potatoes. They were seasoned, but so small! I wish they had been cut a little larger. They still tasted good though.
I would get this one again! However, I think that breakfast is easy for me to do by making some oatmeal or overnight oats. So I don’t think I would get many breakfast going forward. Lunch and dinner are harder for me to make and therefore more valuable to have something ready to go.
Veestro Review
Microwaved 
Box
Veestro is a meal box subscription service. You can choose what is sent to you. The food is 100% cooked, you just have to warm it up. The best part of this service is that all the food is vegan. Today we received our first box and I tried Southwest BBQ Chick’n. The chicken of course is not real chicken. It doesn’t taste like chicken, but its not bad. The sauce was good and taste with just the right amount of tang. The chicken was just okay.
The meal also came with fingerling potatoes, these were very well done and I added some ketchup to make them perfect. Lastly, there was a mix of vegetables that consisted of chopped squash and corn. It was good but a little mushy.
To be fair I did microwave the meal and I think if I had cooked it in the oven the vegetables would have turned out better and probably improved the potatoes as well. I was just too hungry to wait.
We have a lot more of these meals, I hope to remember to take pictures and rate them here for you. So you can decide if this meal option is right for you.
Weekend Update | Poor Performance
On Saturday morning I had some food that didn’t agree with me and lost a lot of exercise time. I was never able to complete the circles on that day.
Sunday was better with a long walk before church and then played some basketball with Samantha. It was a lot of fun but lead to a sore ankle and toe. Monday lead to a dr. Appt to look at toe. Seems to be more arthritis. Not very happy about that, but don’t plan to let it slow me down, I’ll just have to minimize impact on my right leg as much as possible.
Monday was better than Saturday with a 1 Mile walk with the girls and almost 9 miles on Zwift.
Yesterday was the best. I ate well and with step class managed to close all my rings and also get 14k steps. Good day!
Today is Yoga class so I will need to fit in some cardio as well. I have had overnight oats both mornings this week. Emily helped me make mine last night and she did a great job!
Fun Friday
That is what it is called at the gym. No class at our usual time, just a white board with the workout you should complete. A friend and I went down and made up our own workout instead. We ran for 20 minutes, then we did upper body for 30 minutes. I got some more running / walking in between sets just for good measure. All that walking and running lead to 12k steps on fitbit for me.
Yesterday was also the 2nd phase of the 3 phase layoffs at work. So I had to say goodbye to more friends. It was a stressful long week and I’m glad it is over. We had homemade coffee cake, fresh fruit and other yummy foods that people brought in.
For
Impossible Burger @ The Counter 
Two patties to go
Zwift | Ride the Worlds
Ride the worlds is a mission in Zwift this month. The first mission I have tried. I don’t think I’ve ever done 15 miles in one sitting on Zwift. My seat is just not comfortable enough. But Innsbruck doesn’t show up much. It will only be available twice more this month, including tomorrow.
So I settled in and started. I was in no hurry and thought it would take me more than an hour. Actually it took just over that. On the downhill on the flat track, I finally hit 15 miles. I got the pop-up below.
But it didn’t go away. Zwfit had froze! So now I didn’t know if I had gotten credit for it or not. I skipped the gym today so I would have the energy to ride this today. I did end up getting the email saying congratulations for finishing the mission, so I’m very happy about that.
Tuesday’s step class was rough. Lots of squats, but I made it. Wednesday I was really sore but determined to hit my fitbit goal. I ended up surpassing it by hitting the treadmill and elliptical before Yoga. I got 18k steps yesterday.
Today I will be lucky to hit 10k steps, as it was all about the 15 miles in Innsbruck today. I’ll have to make up for it tomorrow.
Catchup
I missed posting the last few days. Let me try to catch up.
On Monday I did only Yoga. It was a very big day, long with lots of meetings. I did not hit my 10k Fitbit step goal.
Tuesday, yesterday, was better. It is always easy to hit my Fitbit step goal on Tuesdays as I go to a step class. With this class I can easily hit all my goals.
Everyday I had overnight oatmeal including this morning. Monday was apples, Tuesday was peanut butter banana and today was strawberries. Tomorrow I can have a breakfast burrito as I plan on working from home.
Yesterday on the way home I finished The Circle audio book. I enjoyed it and will be posting about it soon on Jason Reads.
A Bit of World Culture | A River in Darkness
A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa
A World Book Day purchased for free on Amazon in order to read books from authors that are outside of the US. I was excited to read this book from an author born outside of the US and written about a country I will probably never visit. As you might imagine from the title the book was very sad. It made me even more thankful for all the things I have and fortune to be able to provide for my family. It would be interesting to see what else has happened to Mr. Ishikawa since the book was published.
The 172 page book was originally published in 2000, but I think the fact that it was a featured book on World Book Day and the fact that it was free, really helped the sales. It currently has 25,500 ratings at a 4.26 rating on goodreads.
The author tells of his impossibly difficult life in North Korea and his eventual escape from the oppressive country. I gave this book 4 stars.