Places I've Vanquished

Below is a list of all the places I have vanquished in the past month and a half.

Stevi B's Pizza
McDonald's
La Parilla
Marietta Diner
Burger King
Firehouse Subs
Subway
Pizza Hut
Willy's
Starbucks
All Star Pizza

So what does that mean, "vanquished"?  It means that I not only ate there, but I controlled my portions, made good choices, and in most cases took some food home with me.  In the past, if Cheryl and I ate out and we brought something hope with us, it was because it was poultry, and I couldn't eat it.  (In case you didn't know, I'm allergic to poultry...that's why they call it fowl.)

Not so anymore!  Every time I walk out of a restaurant know that I've eaten right, I know I've taken another step in the right direction.  All this different eating has changed my taste buds.

For the last few days, I've been craving...salad.  Salad!  Can you believe it?  I've also started to really have a taste for peppers.  Bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, green...any color), banana peppers, pepperoncinis, jalapenos, you name it!

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Have you had any small victories lately, like going to a restaurant and not over doing it?  Walking instead of sitting?  Water instead of Pepsi?

I'm Something of an Expert

There's few things in life that I claim to be an expert about.  One of those few things is hamburgers.   I know hamburgers.  Home grilled, fast food, and everything in between.  It's absolutely my favorite food.

I have definite ideas on what constitutes a good home grilled burger, and there are a couple of restaurants that make great burgers (Hello, Jucy's!) that should not be classified as "fast food".

I've never tried to do this, but I guarantee you that I could demolish a blind taste test of the most popular fast food burgers.  If you blindfolded me and gave me a bite of a McDonald's burger, a Wendy's burger, a Burger King burger, a Krystal Burger burger (too easy), a Whataburger burger, a Jack-in-the-Box burger, a Sonic hamburger, a Braum's burger, and a Steak n' Shake burger, a couple of things would happen.  First of all, I would be full. Second, I think I could identify each one.

In my opinion, with few exceptions, the best way to eat a hamburger is with double-meat, cheese (which, of course, technically makes it a cheeseburger), mustard, and pickles.  That's all.   If you start adding lettuce, tomato, onions, and other things, it begins to mask the real taste of the MEAT, which, after all  is what a burger is really all about. Do NOT be tempted to put bacon on your burger.  Bacon is perfect by itself, and should not be mixed with any other flavor unnecessarily. 

Then take that burger, and dip it into ketchup.  One bite at a time. Do not put the ketchup ON the burger.  Dip the burger IN the ketchup.  Don't knock it till you try it.  I'm an expert.

Of all the fast food burgers I listed above, my favorite is Sonic's Super Sonic Cheeseburger, which is their double-meat quarter-pounder.  Before I said that double-meat, cheese, pickles and mustard, dipped in ketchup is the perfect way to eat a burger.  This is the one exception:  jalapeños.  Sonic's Super Sonic JALAPEÑO Cheeseburger is a work of art.  Sonic's jalapeños have the best flavor, and just the right amount of heat.

For the past day and a half, I've had a nagging craving for something.  I tried a bunch of different things: strawberries, Cheetos, cheese.  Nothing did it.  It has been six weeks or so since I had a "real burger", so this evening I decided to "jump off the wagon" and get a Super Sonic Jalapeño Cheeseburger.

Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what I'm craving!  Right?

I will admit.  The burger tasted great.  Really, REALLY, great.  The problem?  After about 4 bites, I was over it.  I finished it.  I couldn't waste a Super Sonic Jalapeño Cheeseburger.  I just couldn't do it.

Afterwards, I wished I hadn't eaten it. I didn't feel guilty.  I felt cheated.

The burger was good.  But the problem was that it wasn't good enough for me to justify the calories and fat.  The promise of how good the burger would taste didn't justify the calories.  And the fat.  And the sugar.

I enjoyed the burger, but now I actually enjoy eating healthy even more.  It's not even about taste.  It's that it makes me feel better.  Physically as well as how I feel ABOUT myself.

So when your favorite (not-so-good-for-you) food whispers "eat me" in your ear, ask yourself the following question.  "How will I really feel after I've eaten this?"

I wish I would have asked myself that question.

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One last note...  I know there many other burgers out there I didn't mention:  White Castle, In-and-Out, etc.  I was just focusing on the ones that have been local to where I've lived.  Sorry.

Healthier Is Possible

Due to some unforeseen circumstances this weekend, we ended up eating out a couple of times that we hadn't planned on.  Usually when we eat out, it's fast food.  Burgers and fries, Taco Bell, or maybe a sub sandwich.  Before, my plan was always to get the most food for my money.  The bigger the better.  But now, I eat differently.  Here's a couple of examples.

SUBWAY BEFORE:
12" Meatball sub on wheat with salt & pepper, oregano, cheese, mustard, pickles, and black olives
1460 calories (300 for a soft drink)

SUBWAY NOW:
6" roast beef on 9 grain whole wheat with s[icy mustard, pepper jack cheese, cucumber, banana peppers, black olives, pickles (lots and lots of pickles), bell pepper, salt (just a little) and pepper (a little more), and LOTS of oregano
420 calories


McDONALDS BEFORE:
Double quarter-pounder with cheese and large fries
1240 calories (230 for sweet tea)

McDONALDS AFTER:
McDouble and small fries
620 calories

Today I had Arby's.  We love Arby's.  In the past I would get the LARGE roast beef sandwich with a  LARGE order of curly fries.  Add in a LARGE Dr. Pepper, and you have around 1,500 calories and a LARGE Aaron.  (And I would usually finish Nathanael's, too.)

I got a medium roast beef sandwich today, and only ate half the bun (which is where half the calories and all the sugar resides).  My fries were also a medium, and I only ate half of them as well.  I learned my lesson.  I would have been satisfied with a small.

I'm beginning to understand that while it may be impossible to eat "healthy" everywhere, it is possible to make healthIER choices.

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So, I'm encouraging you (and myself), if you have to eat out tomorrow, make healthier choices, no matter where you go!

Make a Choice

This evening, I went to dinner at the Marietta Diner.  It's a pretty popular place, and they are well known for their ginormous desserts.  In general their portion sizes are HUGE!


You may have noticed that the title of this blog is "Make a Choice".  Tonight, that's what I did.


In the past, I've been a constant victim of the "I'll start fresh on Monday" or "I'll start after the holidays" syndrome.  No more.  I wanted so bad at dinner to just eat the way I always have and "start over" tomorrow.  But there's a cost every time you do that.  It pushes your goals back.


So tonight, I made a choice to eat a half of piece of bread with a little butter, instead of 4 pieces of bread with a layer of butter.  I ate two small pieces of their spinach pie instead of a half dozen.  I had water to drink instead of sweet tea.  Cheryl and I split a dish of Broiled Stuffed Filet of Flounder...and we still brought home enough for my lunch tomorrow.


I can't really tell you what the difference is in calories between this meal and the meal I would have eaten in the past.  I'm guessing that this meal was 1/4 of the calories.  It felt good to box up half of my plate and leave not feeling more stuffed than the flounder.


Tonight my choice was moderation.  Each choice is a separate choice, and each GOOD choice, is one step closer to my goal.


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If you're reading this and you could stand to shed a few pounds, I want to encourage you to not wait.  Right now, pick one thing that you are going to do differently tomorrow.  One positive choice you are going to make.


Let me know about it.

McEvil Goodness

An oxymoron, you say?  To what am I referring, you ask?  Speak in questions much, you deride?

I am referring to McDonald's new McFrappe things.

My wife had a tooth filled today, and on the way home from the dentist, I, being the loving husband that I am, asked if she wanted to try one of McDonald's new cold-coffee-smoothee-thingies.  She agreed that it would be nice.

I took a sip to try it myself.

E.V.I.L.

But oh so good.  I will admit that I had a more than one drink.  It was McAwesome.  I don't recommend it.

I Went to Burger King!

Right about now, you're saying, "What?!??  Burger King!  I thought you were on a die-it."

A-ha!  Wrong...it's not a die-it, it's a lifestyle, remember?  Sheesh?  That was just one post ago that I established that.

So NOW you're saying, "What kind of 'lifestyle change' is going to Burger King?"

I'll tell you.

Right after this sentence.

Here we go.

Normally when I go to a burger joint of any type, I get a double-meat burger.  I like the meat in a burger.  The bread is just something to keep my hands from getting greasy.  I've strayed from that formula slightly in recent months because of the advent of the Value Menu.  Value Menu!!

Burger King is good because they have all their food "stats" posted right by entrance.  I did some quick math.  My typical double-meat (full-sized) burger, large fries, and large drink tallied up a total of about 1770 calories.  Of course, that's with no refills.  Right.  Like that's going to happen.  Let's say I get two refills.  One in the store and another to take with me.  That brings the total to approximately 2640 calories.  Scary, huh?

Today, I had a Buck Double, value fries, and water.  This tallies up to 630 calories.  Oops!  Hold on.  I have four refills of my drink.  So now, the total is...630 calories.

To top it off, we walked to Target to get a battery for my scale (yikes!), then walked to BK, then walked home. Not quite a mile, but part of it is uphill!

Some may consider this a small victory.  I consider it a step in the right direction.