Checkup and The Great Hamburger Taste Test

Let's start with the OB appt.
Measuring fine, no weight gain, blood pressure great, heartbeat found quickly. 

That probably took me longer to type than the time I spent with the dr.  I'm not really complaining, because if I spent more time with her, something would probably be wrong.  But I'm pleased.  Especially that we found the heartbeat after just a few moments.  I'm hoping and praying for a posterier placenta this time instead of anterior (where you don't feel the baby for a lot longer, and it's more difficult to find the heartbeat with the doppler).

On to more delicious things:

The Great Hamburger Taste Test  (If I could make that echo, I would.  'aste test, 'aste test, etc....)
I'm only admitting this because I haven't gained any weight so far.  (Actually, I think I'm up a pound, but I wore jeans to the first appt. and I had a light skirt on today).  BUT, I don't know if I would call is a craving, but in the last 5 weeks, I have been after hamburgers.  I suppose it's a craving.  It just sounded so good, all.the.time.  And I was dieting all of spring, and even when I'm not dieting, I usually get a chicken burger or salad if we have to go fast food. 

So I've decided to share what I've learned about fast food.  You're welcome.

So maybe I just gave myself permission, but it started with Jack in the Bo.x.  I really wanted an Ultimate Cheeseburger (which has 26 weight wa.tcher points, more than I'm allowed in a day).  I planned my week, and I finally went for it.  It was delicous.  It made my mouth water.  Pros - two patties of meat.  And mayo!  Where have you been all my dieting life!  Cons - no lettuce, tomato, or anything designed to make me feel even a little bit healthy.  Also, upgraded to the curly fries, and only had a few.  Tasted like they had been made the day before. 

Then the next time I was on my own for lunch, I hit up Burger Kin.g.  Their burger is the Who.pper.  It was good.  Not great, but good.  It had a good amount of veggies and stuff, but nothing about the burger was amazing or memorable.  The fries were also satisfactory.  Overall, a very satisfactory experience, but nothing noteworthy.

My next adventure was to Carl.s Jr.  I think in other states it goes by Har.dee's.  This burger was amazing.  I must say, I knew enough to order it without onions (I don't hate onions, but raw onions can sometimes be overwhelming).  The burger tasted as close to a barbequed burger as I found.  There was a good amount of greenery on the burger and ultimatly the patty was delicious.  By far, this was the best tasting burger I had.  AND, pair with it with fries that were hot and fresh, this was the winner.

BUT, I wasn't done yet.  I didn't know it was downhill from here.  Now, if you live in Southern California (soon expanding everywhere), then you know In n Ou.t.  (and I didn't try 5 guys, those just came to so. cal.  Anyone have any experience with them?  Should I continue my taste test and try them?).  So at In n Out, DH actually joined me on this challenged.  I decided to try a double double because in my life, I never had before, and heck, at this point, I'll probably never be so open about my red meat consumption, so I went for it.  It was good.  Really good.  Probably second place.  But it just didn't have the heartiness that I was craving.  The fries are also hit or miss for me.  They're made fresh (you watch the guys cut the potatoes) and sometimes they're just 'off'.  It was an 'off' day for me.  Maybe on another day this would beat Carl.s Jr., but not today.  Overall, this was the best value though.  Most food, least money.  Delicious.

And I suppose I should share my opinion of the worst.  This was the only place I had to drive a little bit out of my way in order try.    
THe burger patty was practically falling apart, even in the bun, and the pickels tasted too sweet.  Maybe they were the bread and butter kind instead of the dill that I am used to on a burger, but I didn't love it.  The fries were 'eh', and it just didn't mesh.  Not memorable, not gonna eat that particular burger again (I would go back, just try something else).

And then that leads to today.  I thought I was done, but as I was on my way to my OB appointment, I had some extra time to kill and lunch to eat, so I thought I'd try So.nic.  I didn't grow up eating sonic, there's only 3 within a 100 mile radious of my house that I know of, but a new one is not too far from my dr. office.  So I went for it.  I tried a regular soni.c burger combo with tots and a vanilla die.t coke (I am allowing myself one diet coke per day while pregnant.  I've given up coffee in order to do this).  Well, the Vanilla diet coke was amazing.  The burger was fine.  Probably as good as the who.pper from Bur.ger king.  But the tots were a nice salty side dish.  This would rank in the middle.

This concludes my five weeks of burger tasting.  Are you grossed out by the red meat or are you thinking, "how could I do this in MY town?!" 
I'd love to know your thoughts.  Did I miss any places?  Even if they're regional to your city, I'm always looking for the next burger (by always I mean since the past 5 weeks have led me towards burgers).

Final thoughts:
Every single place except In. N Out asked me if I wanted to 'go medium', or 'go large'.  I always said no (I'm pregnant not rediculous) and every time I didn't finish all the food.  This mindset of paying 40 cents more for 500 more calories is a problem in America.  We don't need, and we need to stop offering it.

When I share this experiment with friends IRL, I ask what they think my favorite was, and every time people have said Carl's J.r.  Apparently I've been missing out for a few years by just eating chicken burgers.  Everyone else seemed ot know that CJ's burgers are better.  And now I have proof to agree.