hamburgers and healthy eating

One of the things that comes up frequently when people talk about losing weight or eating healthily is the idea that you have to give up your favorite foods forever. I’ve heard people say “I just don’t know how I’m going to give up hamburgers” or pizza or ice cream or … whatever their food of choice is.

Me? I don’t believe in giving up food forever. I think when you tell yourself that you can never ever eat a favorite food again, you are already setting yourself up for failure. Eventually you’ll cave – you’ll have to have whatever it is you’ve denied yourself, and then you’ll decide that since you “failed” at that, you might as well give up for good. (That’s the way it seems to work for most people, I’ve noticed.)

What I’d rather do is learn to make healthy versions of my favorites – like the burger below:

This hamburger was made with 4 oz of 93% lean ground beef, 1 Pepperidge Farm whole wheat bun, 2 bibb lettuce leaves, a nice thick slice of tomato, 1/2 ounce of sharp cheddar cheese, and some Dijon mustard on the bun. Total calories – 320. It also has 14g of fat, and 32g of protein.

Pair this with a side of fruit salad or some cabbage slaw and you have a good, filling meal for under 500 calories.

If you’re really watching your calories, you can leave off the top of the bun and eat the sandwich open faced, to drop about 40-50 calories.

Here’s a great way to spice up plain lean ground beef:

1 lb 93% lean ground sirloin
1 tbsp dijon mustard (or 1 tbsp A1 steak sauce, or both)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all these ingredients together thoroughly (I use my hands) and divide into 4 portions. Flatten the patties out and use your thumb to make a depression in the center of the burger (this insures that it cooks evenly and doesn’t “dome” up). Grill over a medium flame for 4 mins on each side.

Enjoy!