Hey there -

I am on day 2 of phase 1. I have about 10 pounds to lose and am quite motivated!

My question is - if i go to a restaurant, can i order a hamburger and ditch the bun? Today my husband dragged me to red robin, where i ordered the Burger -n- Greens salad. It was a meat patty with swiss melted on top of a large bed of salad with some cheddar sprinkles (i had to ditch the shredded carrots on the table). I ordered their regular ranch dressing (figuring it would be high cal, but no sugars) and dipped my fork.

Is this ok? My family grills out hamburgers all the time and goes to burger restaurants about once a week --- can i eat the meat and throw out that bun?

All of your thoughts would be appreciated by this newbie!

Thanks-
Kate

That has always been my experience...and if you can find various lowfat cheeses to melt on top, it can offer more variety.

Way to go on Day 2...You're doing awesome!

In a pinch, I'll eat a restaurant hamburger, but if cooking at home, I buy the lean ground beef. I think regular ground beef is too high in fat for SB.

If I was to eat a burger out, I wouldn't worry about the fat in the meat because I only eat burgers away from home about once every 6 months but since you eat them once a week, you probably need to find out if you can find a leaner burger. When I cook hamburgers at home, I use 97% or leaner ground beef. Restaurants normally use full fat cheese too which you might not want to eat too often.

I see from their website that Red Robin has grilled chicken as well as grilled turkey burgers. That would be a healthier choice. In fact their menu has enough good looking stuff that I think I may have to give them a try. I've never eaten there since they first moved into the area a few years ago.

For phase 3, their burgers would probably be okay and with only 10 pounds to lose you can probably eat out more often than those of us with more weight to lose.

Beachmomof3! I agree with Schmoodle, that you should stick to lean ground beef, which you most likely are not being served in most restaurants, and lowfat cheese. How about ordering grilled chicken instead of a burger when you eat out, and enjoy your burgers at home where you can make them with a leaner cut of ground beef?

Beachmom!

Yup, I agree with the other posts. The burgers you eat while out have intensely high amounts of fat. I didn't realize how bad it really was until one of our local restaurants, Ruby Tuesday, started putting fat grams and calories in their menu. Some of the burgers had more than 40g of fat...and some were 800 calories or more!!!

So--it's MUCH better to make your burgers at home with 95% lean (or even better, if you can get it) ground beef and reduced fat cheese. The saturated fat in burgers and cheese is the "bad" kind that tends to cause heart problems (not as bad as trans fats, but pretty awful, nonetheless), so you want to stay away from it as much as you can.

Good for you, though, on going to Red Robin and avoiding the endless fries (they are SO good... ) and the amazing drinks. I haven't been in several years as we don't have one here, but DH and I have very fond memories of the place! I agree with the chickies on getting grilled chicken. Turkey burgers, while less fatty than beef, are still pretty high in fat, so I'd avoid them as well unless you absolutely can't go without a burger.

Glad to have you with us! Check out the recipe forum for more ideas and please join us in the daily thread! It's the one with the name of the day in the title.

Thought I'd poke around online and see what I could find.

Red Robin, interestingly enough, not only doesn't post nutrition info on their website, but there doesn't seem to be nutrition info listed for them anywhere else, either. So, instead, here's a nutritional listing of a beef burger with swiss cheese and portabello mushrooms, with mayo and bun, from Ruby Tuesdays. Obviously, having just the burger and cheese would minimize some of the calories and fat...but it's still going to be through the roof. Here's the same sandwich, just with a turkey burger instead of beef. Notice it's less fat and less calories, but not by a huge amount.

Not to sound all "holier-than-thou," though! I had one of their burgers with cheese and bacon on Saturday! That's a once in a major while treat for me, though. Interestingly, I couldn't finish it and it made DH (who had the same thing) and I both so full we didn't eat dinner!

Just stuff to ponder. I know I was totally, totally shocked to find out how many calories (and worse, how much fat) was in restaurant burgers. They are just mind blowing!