Saint Patrick's Day is a fun one. Corned beef, cabbage, maybe a pint with friends, the occasional shamrock-shaped everything. Like most holidays, the core of the meal is plan-friendly, it's lean protein and a cruciferous vegetable, and the damage lives in the edges: the green beer, the Shamrock Shake, the buttered potatoes, and the "I'll just have one" at the Irish pub. Small swaps handle all of those. And the on-plan Shamrock Shake below is genuinely delicious.
The drink in your hand is the bigger factor than the food on your plate.
A 12-ounce regular beer is 150 calories and 12 grams of carbohydrate. Guinness, at 125 calories per 12 ounces, is actually lighter than most craft beers, but people usually drink 20-ounce pints, and they usually drink multiple. Green dye is just dye. It adds nothing nutritional and doesn't hide the fact that four green beers is 600 calories of pure carb and alcohol on top of your dinner.
Corned beef and cabbage is plan-friendly at its core. Lean corned beef is protein. Cabbage is vegetable. The problems are the sodium-heavy brine (3 to 4 times normal), the potatoes and carrots glossed in butter, and the rye bread on the side. Ask for the meat and cabbage without the starches and you've ordered a Stage 1 plate at an Irish pub.
The Shamrock Shake is the sneakier problem. A medium at the drive-through is 530 calories and 72 grams of sugar, more than two Cokes. Your brain links March with mint-chocolate-chip flavor because of decades of marketing. The homemade version below satisfies the craving completely.
- Order corned beef and cabbage, skip the potatoes and rye bread.
Ask for extra cabbage. You've just ordered Stage 1 at any Irish restaurant.
- Make your drink sparkling water with lime.
In a pub glass, no one notices. In a pint glass, even less.
- Know your limit before you go.
Decide on the way. "One drink tonight" or "zero drinks tonight." Don't decide at the bar after the first one.
- Eat dinner before the pub.
Never drink on an empty stomach. Not just for hangover reasons, for decision-making reasons.
- Hold your drink with both hands.
Sounds silly, but it slows you down. Also makes it harder for someone to top you up.
- Bring a friend who knows the plan.
Accountability is a secret weapon. A quick text to your coach or a partner also helps.
- Make the on-plan Shamrock Shake in the morning. Having it in the fridge means you never reach for the drive-through version.
- Have your corned beef-and-cabbage order ready. If you're going out, pre-decide. If you're cooking, plan the plate.
- Skip the bar early. Irish pubs on March 17 are a full-contact sport by 8pm. An early dinner with friends beats a late night you'll regret.
- Put on something green and feel festive without the beer. The outfit, the earrings, the scarf. You can celebrate visually.
- Wear your before-you-started pants for comparison. Feel the progress in your own clothes. It's a visceral reminder of why the shake is worth it.
- Plan a morning walk for March 18. Proof to your body that you're still on track.
A medium Shamrock Shake from the drive-through is 530 calories and 72 grams of sugar, more than two full cans of Coca-Cola in a single cup. Saint Patrick's Day is also one of the top five US drinking holidays, behind only New Year's Eve and Mardi Gras for bar attendance, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The drink in your hand is the bigger factor than the food on your plate. A vanilla Ready-to-Go blended with a cup of spinach and a cup of ice tastes remarkably similar to the drive-through version, with none of the cost.