Another week flies by. We are almost in full-blown summer and the grills have been fired up. We are starting to have people in our backyards even if we may be social distancing. Something got me thinking about the ways we sabotage ourselves and that “thing” was hamburgers!
You know how it goes … the hamburgers are on the grill. They are smelling perfect. Oh, the delicious smells of Summer. The grill chef (your husband) asks if you want cheese on your burger. “Why of course I want cheese”, you say! “Would you like a slice of bacon on your burger”, he responds. “Yes, Yes, Yes, Please”, is your answer. Ketchup? “yes please”!
Notice how he never asked me if I want the bun because he knows that I won’t eat it. “Heat a bun for me”, I say. That’s exactly how I have started to sabotage myself.
I mean, how bad can the bun be? IT’S NOT, if you just eat the small bun one time and then move on. For me, just that small bun can put me on a downward spiral. Accepting the bun means that I am also going to grab a handful of chips to place beside my PERFECT burger. I am also going to take a spoonful of potato salad because if I am going to do carbs, I am going to do them RIGHT.
If you eat just the tiny bun and that’s it, then ignore my little rant but if you are like me, and you allow the tiny bun to seriously side-rail you then you need to do what I am going to do,,, just cut it out and get real and stop asking for a tiny, heated bun and make yourself a chaffle bun, or buy yourself a bag of low carb buns to keep in the freezer or eat the darn burger without the bun OR use a bunch of lettuce to make the bun.
Just cut it out if you are making the same errors that I’ve started making … nobody needed bariatric surgery because they ate one hamburger bun. Nobody needed bariatric surgery because they love to eat only protein with veggies. Look, one of the reasons why we gain tons of weight is because we don’t know how to do refined and processed carbs correctly and we just overdo it.
How bad is the rice? BAD if you do the rice with the sweet Chinese chicken balls.
How bad is the bread? BAD if it sits on your plate beside the big plate of pasta covered in Alfredo sauce.
How bad can the hamburger bun be? BAD if it’s sitting on the plate with the chips or fries and potato salad.
Now, if you do a meal like this “once” and move back to protein and veg, then forget about this blog post BUT if it puts you on a downward spiral then let’s have a good look at what’s happening and just cut it out.
I’ve fallen into a bit of a “salad dressing trap” a few times over the last few weeks. I make a gorgeous salad. My plate looks amazing and you know what would go perfectly with that salad? Ranch dressing! Of course, we all have a gorgeous bottle of ranch dressing in our fridge, right?
Who eats one tablespoon of ranch dressing? I don’t see any hands up. You know why? It’s because we eat a lot more than a tablespoon of ranch at a time. We eat more like 4 tablespoons of ranch minimum. All my hard work of trying to eat correctly has just been sabotaged by ranch dressing. Don’t believe me? Turn over the bottle of ranch and see what is in it. It is full of sugar and it is also full of canola oil. That’s the bad stuff that does really bad stuff inside your body.
There are tons of examples that I can give of what I do in my journey to wellness that sabotages me. I want you to try to identify yours and then take some steps to make things better.
This week I am going to do a few things to help myself along the way. First up… ever hear of a chaffle? You probably have and it takes about two minutes to make two of them and they are the perfect replacement for the hamburger bun. Instead of having that burger with cheese and bacon and ketchup, I can do the following: skip the processed cheese on the burger because it is not real cheese and it’s loaded with junk. I can make a chaffle which is a small amount of mozzarella cheese and an egg. This chaffle-bun holds up perfectly against my juicy hamburger and I can add some sugar-free ketchup on top. I have just taken my burger to a new level.
What about that ranch dressing? Well, I got in my kitchen last weekend and created a ranch dressing that tastes superb and is high in protein and healthy for me. I took my food processor and I added a couple of spoonfuls of cottage cheese. My Greek yogurt had gone bad so I needed to throw it out but the Greek yogurt would have been perfect also. To that base I added my favorite seasonings, a touch of stevia, a big squeeze of lime and I blended it up – it turned out AMAZING. I will do some more experimenting with some different salad dressings this week and I will share them with you. You can put them in a small container in the fridge and they stay good for about 5 days. I will add some avocado, cilantro, etc, and share them with you.
So, I guess in closing today I want to say that I don’t want to vilify hamburger buns. I don’t want to vilify ranch dressing. I do want to look closely at my personal habits and see if I can find a way to healthify them. Remember, it’s not just the darn hamburger bun for me. It’s a spiral that happens and the bun turns into French fries and ice-cream and gimme gimme gimme all the carbs. Before I know it, I am watching Netflix and chowing down on gummy bears and not the healthy ones I make in my kitchen.
Why don’t you take a look at your habits and if you have something that is derailing you, and you don’t have a good replacement for it, reach out to me, and together we can find something that may work to replace “said” item for you.
Healthy Hugs Minus the Bun!
About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
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