Hey everyone!
St. Patrick's Day is almost here and I always make cornbeef and cabbage...this year is no exception. It is one of my favorite foods next to pizza. I plan on having some. How bad is it really? Is it a big no-no for SBD? It is just the cornbeef, cabbage, and onions. I don't put potatoes in mine and might have a sweet potato with it on the side. Is it that bad? Would you count it as a completely off plan meal? If so, how many of you go off the plan occasionally? I have not yet and am worried about going off. Please advise! I would greatly appreciate any input!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. It is beautiful here! Not one cloud!

Unless we have Holy Angel Beachers here, I'm sure most of us do go off plan. I'm having corned beef, cabbage and one potato tomorrow but will just avoid the fatty parts of the beef - and BEER. We do have to get on with real life. Enjoy! Just don't worry when the scale goes up after the salty beef.

No clouds here - except for the 5' white ones lying on my lawn!

Just try to find the leanest cut of corned beef, and try to skim as much fat as you can from the broth. It's high in fat, but one meal isn't going to cause you any real damage. Enjoy your Irish meal, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

According to the USDA nutrient database http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ 6 ounces of cooked Corned Beef is 427 calories, with 32 grams of fat, 11 grams of it saturated. Thereare 1928 mg of sodium (2400 is the recommended max for the day). Enjoy it, know what you're eating for the size piece you select, and recognize that the sodium may cause you to retain water for a day or so.

it's off plan but so what.

it's family tradition. I ate birthday cake on friday and junk food last night...

today i'm right back on plan... that's the KEY just get right back on plan....

That's me, I'm a perfect angel.
I don't think we can go off plan every time the opportunity presents itself. but I think we all decide where it's important enough to bend the rules a little. For me, it doesn't seem to be such a big deal to stay on plan on holidays - I didn't go off for Thanksgiving f'rinstance. I have a lot of Irish in me, and I like corned beef, but I don't care all that much, so I'm not having any tomorrow. I usually make buttercream Easter eggs every year, not this year. But I will have my glass of wine, my dark chocolate, and my little bag of popcorn when I really want it. If it's something you really want and would really, really miss, then I think you should go for it and Sláinte chugat!

Thanks everyone for the responses! We celebrated today since the holiday was moved to Saturday due to the conflict with holy Monday. First time the date was changed since 1940...wow. Anyway, I made it and had a little. I even managed to stay under 1500 calories today! I got all the fat off I could and didn't go overboard. I will consider this a slight bend to the rules. It's just meat and veggies. I think I did alright tonight. It could have been much worse.

You know the biggest loser show? Bob says that ONCE a WEEK they have the contestants go off plan for a few reasons... to give them a reward for all their hard work, but more importantly toi give their systems a "jolt" and keep them from plateauing. He says it is actually beneficial to have one "big calorie" meal a week.... so I hope you all enjoy your corned beef and cabbage. I'll have to buy the ingrediants today and we will have it tomorrow since I don't have the makings today! I personally don't care for the meal, but I know my son likes it, and if it's something different than what we usually have, thats a PLUS!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't spend the rest of your life being super-strict. You just have to truly pick where you want to go off-plan and make sure you don't go too far off. Then you get back on.

That is interesting, what would count as a big calorie meal? Would pizza count? A serving of pizza is one slice so would you eat more than one slice? Could I go get a cheeseburger or am I totally misunderstanding this? Would it be better to eat the big calorie meal at lunch or dinner?

Fluff is right - pick your "sins". Remember that the biggest loser folks are not living a real life as we are. My cheat would be Buffalo Wings but not my usual dozen - maybe six with a salad.

I think there's a difference between big-calorie and Junk Food. To me, it means still eating healthy foods, but not being concerned with quantity. Get your fats from healthy sources, not saturated fats. Have a pizza, but make it with a whole wheat crust and veggies and cheese.

Ruth, you've inadvertently said something that always makes me chuckle. The whole world calls them Buffalo Wings. But if you come to buffalo, they're just "wings" or "chicken wings". You can always tell when someone is not local simply because of what they call wings. We also have the best mustard and horseradish, and a wonderful sandwich called Beef on Weck.

I wonder if this is the same thing with Philly Cheese Steaks. If you're in Philly, do you just call them "Cheese Steaks"? I was IN Philly last year and never remembered to find out. Darn!

You should ask Ruth what they call Canadian bacon where she is from

I wholeheartedly admit it. Saturday we went to my moms for A St Pats Day Dinner (in Scranton they do the parade on Saturday) and I had My corned Beef and Cabbage potato and soda bread and Guinness (half)
Its my favorite meal and nobody makes it like Mom! Except Gram God rest her soul.
Tonight we're probably going out but I'll be having a wiser choice since it wouldn't taste as good anyway!