Day 199 - Results and Australian Beef

Yesterday I treated myself to one of the more acceptable deviations I've discovered: a five guys bacon cheeseburger, with no bun, double grilled onions, double pickles, and mustard. Cooked down and without bun or mayo, double cheeseburgers simply aren't that horrible for you. Back calculating from the five guys info, a bacon cheeseburger (the double) is 920 calories, while the little bacon cheeseburger (single patty) is 630 calories. With a 290 calorie increase due to patty, and cheese, and knowing from the chart that the bacon is 80 calories, a bunless double is roughly 660 calories. That's not great, but i can work it into my diet. For example yesterday I also only ate 3oz of chicken thigh (~160 calories) and 7 oz of beef filet (~400 calories) for a daily total of 1220 calories, a little high but still very aggressive.

I may only order a single burger next time, or try harder to take some home, as I did feel full while eating but inertia caused me to finish the burger. It's probably the toughest habit to break for me. Simply putting off eating is easier than stopping once I'm digging in.

I did go shopping yesterday, and Giant Eagle has whole beef tenderloins, either USDA or Australian, for $9 and $8 respectively. The butcher told me that the Aussie would be gamier, but I tried it. He sliced it thinner than most filet for use on the Foreman. I rubbed it with a beef spice blend I made based on a recipe the beef council put out (salt, three peppers, garlic, onion, paprika, thyme, etc) and cooked it a delicious medium rare. Even on the Foreman the meat was amazingly tender and very flavorful. The thyme in particularly really brought out the meaty taste. While an expensive treat (although filet does not cook down nearly as much as most beef, resulting in more net meat), I'm very pleased with my purchase. I'll try to get a picture up next time I cook one.