2 chains to offer 'low-carb burgers' wrapped in lettuce

AZCentral.com ^ | Dec. 16, 2003 | USA TODAY

[11th_VA]

Low-carb mania may reach new highs Monday when the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. hamburger chains announce plans to introduce the fast food world's first "low-carb burgers." The big bunless burgers - 1/3- to 1/2-pound - will come wrapped in large leaves of iceberg lettuce for a handhold on the burger and fixings.

[cyborg]

I was thinking about a cinnamon roll as I was reading this.

[cyborg]

I hate whiners. All these dieticians and doctors are just whining because they've been proven wrong.

[Mamzelle]

Gee, Robyn, are you at your ideal weight? 'Cause I know three dieticians, and not only are they all overweight, one is morbidly obese.

And none of them can prepare a meal worth eating--even when I was eating carbs.

[Mamzelle]

It was my doc who started me on locarb. He had gone from a balding, rolypoly obgyn to a lean, buff, balding obgyn. Balding looks better on lean and buff.

Docs have taken their lead from dieticians, btw--a mistake on their parts.

[RightWhale]

When I did this diet 30 years ago it was the Monroe or Munro diet. 30 pounds in 30 days. Everybody thought I was smack, but it was amazing that clothing that was getting tight was rapidly becoming loose-fitting. No other effects except the the karate endurance, strength, and agility exercises suddenly started showing vast improvements as well.

[cyborg]

And dieticians get their cue from the USDA starch and carb mafia with their food pyramids. Atkins has been promoting this diet for years.

Edward Lear from the 1800s...
There was an old man of Tobago,
Who lived on rice, gruel and sago
Till, much to his bliss,
His physician said this -
To a leg, sir, of mutton you may go

[Dr. Luv]

I am sorry this didn't work for you, perhaps you need to read ALL of the information about the way a low carb diet works. The reason it DOES work is that you can EAT LIKE A PIG. A sample day for me: Breakfast: five pieces of bacon, two eggs. Lunch: three hamburgers with melted cheddar cheese. Dinner: A steak the size of my head and a large spinach salad.

I cannot believe how much I'm eating and I've lost almost 20 pounds since the middle of October. Eat fat, don't get fat...

[beezdotcom]

Well, then, what are you eating? There are very few ways to eat a significant number hi-cal goodies without going out of ketosis... like chowing down an entire pound of butter.

So, I take it you've already dismissed out of hand the study that CNN reported, and want to move straight to MY diet, eh? Like I expect you'll believe me, either...

But, since you asked, here's a clue: never understimate the number of calories provided in the condiments, such as olive oil, mayo, butter, heavy cream, the sauces you might make with these, etc. And why does it necessarily need to be HIGH-cal goodies? It can be lots of LOW cal goodies, or high-fiber goodies. (Not to mention the fact that you don't have to be in heavy ketosis to still lose weight, just as described in the book.)

Let's see if I can predict what's next. "And what is all that fat doing to your body???" I guess you'll just have to ask my doctor about that one, who is quite pleased with my lowered cholesterol, triglycerides, and that one liver enzyme (ALT?) from my (formerly) fatty liver...

[Blue Screen of Death]

Works for me - down two inches since Thanksgiving !

Poor guy. I will forward some of the spam I get that promises to help out with this problem.

[radiohead]

I don't know if I've responded to you before on this topic, but I just want to say your posts are an inspiration to me as I struggle with the twin issues of insulin use (which can cause weight gain) and diet (so I can maybe get off of the insulin).

It has been a difficult year for me, physically, but when I see your posts I just make myself think long term, keep plugging. Fortunately, my doc is in agreement w/my eating program. I've had docs who weren't. Worse, I've had diabetes nutritionists who couldn't get behind low carb, so at least I'm not getting any negative vibes from people who don't understand how necessary this type of eating is for diabetics.

Thanks again.

PS - I think you have a long wait coming if you think McDonald's is going to offer asparagus. : )

[HungarianGypsy]

In N Out Burger already does this upon request. It's mentioned on their site under FAQ about their "secret menu".

[beezdotcom]

HUH? Iceberg? I would have chosen Romaine, or butter (Boston Bib), or even California Green-leaf, either are much more flexible, and sturdy. I'll wait and see how it holds all of that topping stuff without dripping all over your tie...Bwhahahahahah

Well, I just went out and bought a Hardee's Low-Carb Double Thickburger. (Thanks to FR, because I haven't seen ad ONE about it in my locality.)

Carlo, you're right. While in principle, it's a nice idea, the iceberg lettuce really doesn't do much for holding the burger. However, the burger is so big, I'm not sure the other types of lettuce have big enough leaves to suffice (unless you can stitch them together somehow). The burger comes in a standard wax-paper pouch, and you pretty much have to leave it in the pouch to eat it, or it WILL drip all over your tie.

Pros: Quick, meaty and tasty, and no bun to throw away
Cons: No cheese (forgot to ask for it), messy, not much better than throwing away the bun

I'd be willing to pay a dollar more just to have a low-carb high-fiber bun. (Once again, ANOTHER thing I can make at home but can't seem to find at the store...)

[HamiltonJay]

Its frequent because its true...

People go on a diet that immediately denies the person sugar and flour.. the two greatest calorie intakes of americans (and all are empty calories)... and then they go all warm and fuzzy over the fact they are losing weight....

WELL DUH! Both Dr. Atkins himself and the Doctor behind the latest Low Carb "malibu beach body" or whatever it is have on the record admitted that's what their diets do... REDUCE CALORIC INTAKE! the fact there are so many out there that just take the Marketing hype and digest it and then make statements that are patently false and are at odds directly with the admissions of the diets "founder" just boggles the mind.

I am glad it works for you, if having to have the "hook" to keep your calorie intake down is what it takes, then that's fine, I am glad it works... but I am tired of all these people claiming "miracles" when its really black and white and admitted to by the doctors who created the things.

[Hank Rearden]

Anyone have a link to a site that lists Atkins type foodstuffs? I'm interested in starting this but am worried about lack of choices

I'll leave it to others with better links to answer that, but first you need to read Dr. Atkins' book. That's the key.

But, in my experience, you certainly do NOT have to buy a lot of prepackaged (especially Atkins-branded) foods to do this diet. In fact, I only buy Atkins ice cream (because there are no competing brands in my area yet), low-carb bread from an independent baker and Carb Solution snack bars.

The packaged stuff is really way, way too expensive, especially the Atkins brand - competition hasn't really appeared yet and the demand is huge.

The good news is that your supermarket supplies everything you need for the diet in the dairy, meat, frozen and vegetable/fruit departments. You don't need the packaged stuff at all.

And you can make your own substitutes for goodies for much less. For instance, I bought a Liss cream whipper, some NO2 cartridges and I make my own zero-carb, no-sugar, flavored whipped cream with Splenda and sugar-free Italian syrups. Great on jello, Atkins ice cream and especially fresh strawberries. And my friends had never tasted blueberry-flavored whipped cream before - thought it was great!

Read the book, give it a try - you'll find it's a pretty easy dietary change . . . . not a "diet".

[ladyinred]

They will never be as good as In and Outs no bun burgers!

[PoorMuttly]

The "professional dieticians" desperately need to cover their previous statements and social engineering campaigns. What they can't endure is people finding out for themselves that when one isn't fatigued by carbohydrates, excercise is much easier, which yields more energy and strength, which yields more enjoyable and successful exercise......

.......seems to me that throughout history, poor, subservient peoples were dominated by their wealthier, meat-eating fellows, who more easily recovered from their toils than the cheap-carb-eating peasantry. The ruling classes knew what kept them strong...and took it for themselves.

Once you have the fuel, strength and vitality increases through EXERCISE...which isn't as tiresome anymore. Exercise is the KEY to the "Atkins Diet," and those who know it, and DO it, do very well.

[HamiltonJay]

Ok, lets look at that on a CALORIE intake perspective

5 strips = 250 calories
2 eggs = 160 Calories
3 Burgers with cheese = 900-1000 calories
1 Large Steak (We'll go 1 lb of TBONE here for ya, probably way bigger than you ate, but just to be safe) 950 calories
1 salad green leafy, looking at under 100 calories

SO your TOTAL CALORIES in is under 2500 Calories! While you may have taken in a lot of VOLUME, you didn't really take in nearly as much calories as you thought!

The RDA is based on a 2000 calorie a day diet that hardly any adult american men live under... 2000 calories can be in 1 fast food meal if you go regular soda and large fries... so again, while you feel you ate a lot of volume, PROTIEN (meat, eggs etc) are very low in calories compared to their bulk.. this is why you have a full feeling and why you can eat much more volume for equivalent calories.

Now lets look and see if you had just had those 3 burgers with a bun... heck with the other meals, just adding 3 buns to that lunch order would have added to your calorie count... well on average with a bun those burgers go from just under 300 calories each, to nearly 500 calories each! So that takes your 900-1000 calorie meal up to 1500-1600! Do you see the difference? THe bun has 2/3 of the calories as the actual MEAT and Cheese! So by cutting out the bun you can now eat 3 burgers for what before would have been the same number of calories if you had eaten just 2.

I am glad you find this diet really works for you, I really am, and I don't have any problem with people being on it, I just cringe when I hear people regurgitating marketing nonsense that just isn't true. Both Atkins and the Beach Body guy are on record admitting they are using Caloric restriction to produce long term weight loss/maintenance... and if cutting out sugar and carbs is the manner that works for you or others, that is fine... but its not some super secret... just banning the empty calories and eating more filling foods.

[beezdotcom]

Both Dr. Atkins himself and the Doctor behind the latest Low Carb "malibu beach body" or whatever it is have on the record admitted that's what their diets do...

You'll get no quibble from me that one result is that people may end up taking in fewer calories, and yes, Atkins touted this as a side benefit. But to represent that Atkins "admitted" this was the sole mechanism at work, and that Atkins didn't ALSO indicate that you could take in MORE calories and still lose weight, is intellectially dishonest AND a misrepresentation of his position.

Hey, I don't have to convince you of anything, and you're perfectly free to consider me delusional or a liar about my own eating habits, despite not having a shred of proof to the contrary. But I'm just curious - do you consider everyone in these studies liars, or merely ignorant gits?

[TheOtherOne]

Protein Burger. To make it really messy ask for an Animal Style Protein Burger. :o)

You can always order it by it's technical name: Heartattack in a Lettuce Cup

[Ichneumon]

Diatitions are parrots

No, Psittacines are parrots. (Sorry, obscure joke.)