Even when I'm "OFF", I'm still pretty "ON"!

I impressed even my self over this weekend. With Valentine's Day being a day that, normally, I don't put too much thought into.... I really had decided that, even though I have the love of my life to celebrate it with... EVERY day should be one we celebrate. This being said, we decided to not "go out" or make a big deal about the day itself and actually ended up not even realizing that Sunday was Valentine's day other than a small gift we exchanged & a card. My sweetie had wanted to go "out" to eat but I asked if, instead, he wouldn't go for a nice steak dinner at home. Home cookin' is so much better tasting, so much cheaper, and allows us to eat in our big oversized jersey's and blankies! LOL


What I discovered about this "Valentines Day Weekend" was that I had decided to sort of "lay back a bit" on counting but not go crazy all weekend. Oddly enough, this train of thought didn't throw me into an eating frenzy of "bad for me" things & create a monster! Instead it opened my eyes to what my idea is "NOW" of, "being OFF" was... compared to my old self.... very different than what I used to think!

So how "Off" was I? Not as "Off" as you'd think! My splurge for the entire weekend was one of my biggest bad guys around... and I will confess up front that I cannot control myself with "REAL" ice cream! I did end up eating a TON of full fat, creamy, delicious, "Birthday Bash" Perry's Ice cream. This was the one item that I purchased that wouldn't fall in the "still healthy" category. Other than this item (of which I made sure I worked off those calories believe me!) everything else I "indulged" myself in was actually quite healthy! End result was that I used all of my "Points®" and some extras but I didn't have a gain (actually lost for the week). I also knew that over-indulging was going to require a decent "work-out" and better planning the rest of the week, so I compensated.

But the truth of the matter is this... you can be "OFF" program... or misbehave a bit... and still not really be off. For example; our Valentine's dinner was a thin cut T-Bone steak (as opposed to a 2" thick version & I ate only 1/2 or a "true portion" size of about 3 oz.), some mashed potatoes (made with skim milk & ate a single portion size, not a huge plate full), some veggies (always "ON" program) with a dessert of the 150 Calorie (3 pts) Betty Crocker single serve cakes you microwave. My dessert of choice was a chocolate raspberry cake. End result for dinner was an amazing dinner, flavored with tons of spices, and coming in at well in-program! Even my "extras" throughout the weekend were well within "healthy". I splurged with chocolates (the difference being that THIS time a "splurge" was 2 Ghirardelli squares which came in at 2 points® & not an entire BOX of chocolates). The bag quietly sat on the counter the rest of the weekend and I didn't even flinch. But WHY? WHY the change now?

I have begun to think thin. I know, I wrote an entire blog on "thinking thin"... and this is yet another example of how I've begun to do this. YOU can do it too! You have to realize one thing.. you are NOT perfect. Thin people do not think they can NEVER eat anything yummy, decadent or categorized as "bad" again in their life. What they do realize is that it can NOT be a way of life! This weekend my choices, even the items I made as special dinners, were all created with lower fat, lower point, lower calorie items. Example, I made amazing smoked gouda and bacon burgers with caramelized onions. "What?!", you say, "That CAN'T be "ON" program!?" .. .but truth be told it is totally okay to eat! How did I do it? Simple... instead of big, full buns that cost a good 3 or 4 points, I used the FlatOut® sandwich wraps (1 pt)... instead of 25% full of fat burgers I used 5% fat (95/5), bringing the points® down a good 3 points®.... instead of a full fat gouda, I used a lower fat gouda.. knocking off 1 point® & instead of loading on tons of mayo I opted for a ton of caramelized onions, taking off another 3-4 points® and adding a TON more flavor..... toss aside that fatty bacon and use center cut pieces or turkey (both the same point® wise), size it down to 2 strips instead of 4 and you've lost another 2 points®! My total for MY Grilled Smoked Gouda & Bacon with onions Burger was 9 points® as opposed to the same version with full fat, calorie and high point ingredients that I WOULD have used long ago that would bring the same burger to about 21 points® or more! And what did it take? Not much... better choices of ingredients, omitting some extra things (do you REALLY need 4 slices of bacon or can 2 pieces of center cut or turkey bacon work just as well.... is MAYO really a necessary ingredient to give the burger flavor or can you grill up some onions to add moisture and flavor... do you want a mouth full of bread or can the 1 point® FlatOut® wrap allow the rest of the burger flavor to come through.... and why get 2 ounces of meat for the same point® value you can get 4 ounces?!) and creating a more flavorful and friendly main dish!

My inspiration for this burger was the Backyard Burger® Smoked Gouda burger... they won't even POST the nutritional values for this puppy but suffice it to say that a similar burger of theirs (with cheddar instead of gouda) comes in at a whopping 1170 calories, 79g fat and 3g of fiber according to their website! Does the points® calculator even WORK with those numbers or does it just explode (like your waistline)!?!?!?! By the way.. those numbers come in at about 29 points® for ONE burger! Um, hello that's a DAYS worth of points® for most people, if not more!!!!!! Putting mine on a wheat FlatOut sandwich wrap, omitting the mayo alone and using a low fat beef blows this burger out of the "healthy" waters and into the sinking depths of the obese.. I mean, abyss, it belongs in!!!!! I'm not hatin' on the BackYard® Burger version, just saying... maybe it's a great way to be inspired to create something healthier for yourself!? They've inspired quite a few versions of burgers and grilled chicken sandwiches for me to be honest and I will sometimes grab one of their Hawaiin Grilled Chicken sandwiches (no mayo, only 1/2 a bun) for a fairly nice main dish... I just have to remember to stay away from those chili cheese fries!

*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.
Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.