Indulgence Meals: BMI = 29.5

Once a week I like to indulge in one of the foods that I used to drive my BMI up to 43. This week my choice was an A&W Teen Burger. To my mind, the Teen Burger is the ultimate Canadian burger. I love how the fat from the beef and cheese coats the inside of my mouth. I love how the onion and bacon linger on my breath. There is a thick slice of tomato hiding in there that makes the burger seem even juicier than it already is. The pickles and sauce give this burger some sweetness and tang.

I notice these subtleties more palpably now that I only eat like this once a week. The mood boost that I find in comfort foods is now more poignant than ever but I’m not desperate for it all the time because I am no longer starved of micronutrients. On my days off, I reserve the right to have one beer in the afternoon, if I so choose.

A nice cold glass of frothy beer in the middle of the afternoon is a delight that I allow myself once or twice a week. In the evenings I have red wine although I do need to curb that habit a bit. My point here is that comfort foods or a nice frothy glass of beer can be enjoyed once in a while as long as they don’t start replacing your core nutrition. As long as my other 20 meals are balanced, my BMI continues to slowly descend even though I enjoy a slice of pizza, a burger, or any other reasonable portion of comfort food once a week.

It’s becoming routine for me to seek out 2 servings of fruit/veggie, 2 servings of whole grains, and one serving of lean meat for lunch/dinner. If I go for a salad, I make sure to have whole grain bread with it, or I make croutons out of some Ryvita wafers. Rather than lettuce, I prefer to stuff my salads with broccoli, carrot, cabbage, tomato and red pepper. For a ‘vinaigrette’ I mix a bit of oil, apple cider vinegar, and Dijon – no added sugars.

Topped with some roast beef and sambal, this healthy, balanced meal was almost as pleasing as the Teen Burger. Ok, ‘almost’ might be an overstatement. It was about half as exciting as the Teen Burger, but still very pleasing.