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...

The most pathetic lunch ever?

Seriously, when I have 15 minutes for lunch...this is what I come up with. Amy's GF dairy free mac & cheese (cook time 6 mins) and a can of tuna, not drained with S&P (5 second pop-top).
What's your fastest lunch idea?

CLOSED Gevalia Kaffe Giveaway and Review

Good Morning!

Kraft and MyBlogSpark offered to let me do a review and a FREE giveaway for you all of Gevalia Kaffe. To win your free coffee, please leave a comment below with a way to contact you, if you're the winner.  I will choose a winner randomly on March 16th and MyBlogSpark will send you the prize pack within a week - pass it on to your friends who like coffee too!
Your prize pack will contain: 
(1) sample of the House Blend fromGevalia Kaffe
(1) sample of the French Roast Blend from Gevalia Kaffe
A Gevalia Kaffe branded coffee mug

I wouldn't consider myself a coffee connoisseur. I have dabbled with my espresso machine and you know how I can't resist my Friday Starbuck's treat but for the most part, my coffee staples are 2 jars of instant granules that I keep in the fridge for company or emergencies. One regular, one decaf. 
So, I thought this little taste test would be fun and I enlisted a couple other testers to help me out.

We started with the House Blend

Taster #1's first reaction was "Eww! What is that sour taste?" but after a couple sips it turned to "This is ok, better than most." and proceeded to down 2 cups of it. So, I'd call that a thumbs up.

Taster #2 had a similar reaction to the sour start, and agreed whole heartedly that it had a taste much like old fashioned, boiled in an enamel coffee pot on the prairie coffee but added some creamer to be fair and it wouldn't dissolve

so thumbs down.

Taster #3 gave it a thumbs up as well and would buy it, found it to be smoother than others.

Next we tried the French Roast

#1 thought it was stinky and really icky

#2 thought it smelled better and had a little bit of a nutty taste than the House Blend, which was better but still bitter and added some creamer, which I might add was Safeway brand, the store where you can find Gevalia Kaffe (see below) and it made the French Roast coffee taste better. Thumbs up from #2 and would prefer it to the swill they provide at work.

#3 has not, as of publishing time, tried it because of the jitters from the House Blend but will probably see if the French Roast will make a nice Irish Coffee.

So, can we make a recommendation? Not really. It just goes to show that everyone has different tastes. I'd say, if you're shopping around and want to try something new, give any of these flavors a try and you might be pleasantly surprised, at worst it will be tolerable.
For me and my sporadic coffee cravings, I'll stick with my Starbuck's for now.

So, leave your comment below for a chance to try this for FREE!  Let me know if you've tried Gevalia before.  What's your favorite kind of coffee?

If you'd like more information about all their varieties and offerings, please visit their website: http://bit.ly/GevaliaSite 

Finally, a required disclaimer:
Kraft Foods has provided sample product to me and is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by me.

UPDATE:

THE WINNER IS AubreyLaine. 

Thanks to random number generator: