I saw an article today about how Chipotle has good organic food and grass-fed meat. However, if you still eat one of their burritos, you are getting over 1,000 calories in one meal. If you get a burrito there and have everything in it…the beans, the rice, the guacamole, etc.–it comes out to be over 100g of carbs. That is the most you should have in a whole day if you want to lose weight.
I have written about this before, but I get double salad in a bowl, and I choose to not have the rice and beans (adding up to about 40g of carbs, all by themselves) and I have the cheese, the meat, sour cream, salsa, etc. You have to pay attention to what you are ordering and what you are eating.
Here is the Chipotle calculator here, but I would think that the numbers are pretty much the same wherever you go. http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/nutrition_calculator/nutrition_calculator.aspx
I had a client who wanted to lose weight, who brought a giant chicken burrito into my office and she ate the whole thing. This is why she has not lost weight. It was two to three times the portion that she should have had. She should have split it with her daughter, at the minimum! It was there, so she ate it. But, if she keeps this up, not only will she never lose weight (will gain), but her daughter will eventually have weight issues too if she emulates mother’s overeating style.
Restaurants make big food. You should always break down your food, put half in a box and then it is out of sight–out of mind. Then, just eat the half in front of you. It really is the right size portion that you should have had in the first place–unless you are a very active long-distance runner, an athletic man, etc. But, most people are sedentary and not that large. There is NO way they should be eating those adult-sized portions. It is ok to order from the children’s menu, which actually is the appropriate size portion for the average eater.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE CHIPS: Each chip is about 2g of carbs. If you eat the bag of chips that comes with it, it is an extra 63g of carbs–empty calories!
And don’t forget, you can make your own burrito by using low-carb tortillas. Here is the brand that Costco and other stores has, and it is very low carb. Tastes good too.
Choose wisely!! Don’t suffer and miss out on foods, just realize the restaurants are giving you high calorie crap and you have to be smart and pay attention to what you are eating.