Points: Chipotle and Outback

 Hi guys!

I was cleaning out a cupboard and found a dust covered Weight Watchers At Home Program circa 2004 and after my trip down memory lane subsided, I got curious.

I was remembering pre-celiac diagnosis how I would eat...and it wasn't necessarily pretty - in many ways! I happened to be one of the few who could maintain a certain level of weight despite the celiac (until it reached a critical point and I lost 20 pounds in a couple weeks, of course). So, in 2004 I was dating a guy who wanted me to diet with him so I chose Weight Watchers since it didn't require bizarre shakes, bars or excessive workouts (I had zero energy due to the CD) and got the at-home kit so we could share and be frugal...

Needless to say, it was only a short time later I found I couldn't follow it, because I discovered that I was eating about 2x as much as my points allowed just to keep upright and functioning. Yes, you read that right, just to maintain, I ate at least 2 times the amount of food a "normal" person should. I kind of freaked out about that...again.

So, back then, restaurants didn't publish nutrition info on the web as much as they do today so any points estimates were just loose guesses, unless I happened to eat at one of them in the Dining Out Companion.

Which brings me to today's little research project!

I decided to see how many Points a meal at a couple restaurants, where I still eat, would be. Here we go!

Outback (gluten free menu, of course -  no croutons, no bread, no seasonings):

Outback Special steak = 1 pt per ounce (6 oz = 6 pts, 9 oz = 9) 

House salad with tangy tomato dressing = 4 

Baked potato w/everything but butter = 6 

Garlic Mashed Potatoes = 7 

Grilled Asparagus = 1 

Steamed Broccoli = 2 (added fat!) 

Sweet potato, plain = 6; add toppings = 10 

Salmon = 10 (added fiber?) 

Chocolate Thunder dessert = 9 per serving, serves 4 

About 20 points for the meal! Wow. Considering pre-celiac diag. I may have also added bread & butter, 2 drinks and dessert to that...I can't think about that now!

Chipotle (also used to get a 6 pt tortilla too):

Burrito Bowl:

Cilantro Rice (white) = 3

Black Beans = 2

Barbacoa = 4

Salsa = 0

Cheese = 3

Sour Cream = 3

Guacamole = 3

Chips (sometimes!) = 13 for 4 ounces.

So an entire Burrito bowl ranges from 15 - 18 points.

To give you an idea of what points per day a person should eat, the scale goes by body weight:

Your Weight: Daily Points

below 150: 20

150-174: 22

175-199: 24

200-224: 26

225-249: 28

250-274: 30

275-299: 31

300-324: 32

325-349: 33

350+: 34

BTW, I heard they've changed the program - but I'm not curious enough, yet, to  sign up and find out how. Anyone know?

I hate to admit this, but when I look back at an average day in my WW journal (pre-diagnosis), I easily ate 40+ points per day, literally 2-3 times my allotment and I didn't gain a single pound...

If you haven't seen this video yet...it's one of those tragically funny ones for me. Obvs I going gf isn't what makes you skinny...