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Most Chipotle meals are over 1000 calories and a day's worth of sodium (NYT)

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A Fish Aficionado

I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Charging what, a dollar for guac? Del Taco has their avocado buritto for $6 or El Pollo Loco for like around $7.


El Pollo Loco has a version of Taco Bell's crunchwrap but with better quality ingredients.
 
All this article says is don't get guac or sour cream. Anyone paying $3 for guac is already dumb, but the sour cream is something you should leave out anyway because of how much of the flavor it overpowers. Doing a bowl with rice, beans, veggies, meat, salsa, lettuce, and some cheese is a totally normal meal. The issue will always be the insane amount of salt.

I hardly eat fast food anyway, but it's always annoying when I see "healthy" people recommend Chipotle because it's "soooo different" than other places and then get all this crap plus the chips. It's the gluten free people all over again.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
I usually get a bowl and I load it up with chicken, fajita veggies, both kinds of beans, two kinds of salsa, cheese, the works.

But, unlike most people I usually don't eat it all in one meal. That's very, very rare.

I'll eat half of it, then eat the other half later that day. I live near a Chipotle so yeah. Just pop it in the fridge.

I can see why people see all the calories and freak out. But it's not like you are eating something bad for you. All their ingredients are high-quality and I don't feel guilty at all for eating there. Because it's real food.
 
Only retards won't understand the difference between healthy carbs and empty carbs.

Slapping a general "carb is bad" label is just stupid. This is just propaganda.
 

highrider

Banned
Not surprising at all, but I have a physical job as opposed to sitting at a desk so one of the benefits is you really don't have to worry about counting calories as much.
 

oti

Banned
I wish there was a Chipotle in Hamburg Germany. Getting Mexican food (including any kind of knockoff) around here is pretty difficult.
 

kirblar

Member
Agree w/ earlier posters- you naturally eat only 2 meals on Chipotle days because it's so damn filling. Calorie count isn't a real issue.
 
Luckily I don't eat there that often. Probably haven't had a burrito for 4 months at least. Had one of their tofu burrittos and it was pretty good. Luckily I work out regularly, only a fool thinks that stuff is healthy.
 

A Fish Aficionado

I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Only retards won't understand the difference between healthy carbs and empty carbs.

Slapping a general "carb is bad" label is just stupid. This is just propaganda.
So is sodium. Depends on individual factors that are very nuanced.


The problem of this article is that it assumes they assume a case rather than provide alternatives.

Fuck their anti gmo stance, but c'mon, have a little transparency.
 
You're doing it wrong. My chicken salad bowl is < 600 calories. Avoid cheese and guac and your calories should be cut by a lot. I would never get a burrito there and fortunately I've always hated sour cream.
 

oti

Banned
Guacamole sure has a lot of calories but it's still healthier than red sugar aka ketchup, isn't it?
 

highrider

Banned
Only retards won't understand the difference between healthy carbs and empty carbs.

Slapping a general "carb is bad" label is just stupid. This is just propaganda.

Yeah, I don't understand the reactions to this. The thread reads as if it was discovered that Chipotle was actually selling blobs of gum arabic.
 

A Fish Aficionado

I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Guacamole sure has a lot of calories but it's still healthier than red sugar aka ketchup, isn't it?
Depending on the recipie, as with ketchup.

Avocados are healthy, contain healthy fats.

Guacamole can be many different variations.
 

Superman00

Liverpool01
I eat chipotle like twice a week and getting it under 650 calories is real easy. I get the bowl with brown rice, no beans, half steak and chicken, tomatoes, extra corn, no sour cream, no cheese, and lettuce. The tortilla, sour cream, and cheese is where a lot of the calories are anyway.
 

Eidan

Member
My standard burrito is brown rice, chicken, pico de gallo, black beans, and lettuce. Comes in under 1000 calories and under the daily sodium intake .

But yeah, a lot of the variations have far more calories and sodium.
 

SmokeMaxX

Member
I think you can definitely go on a diet and eat Chipotle. It's one of my preferred restaurants. I order a Chicken Salad with brown rice, no beans, fajita veggies, green tomatillo salsa, and extra romaine lettuce and it clocks in at under 430 calories.

Of course most people I know order huge burritos with sour cream and guac and whatnot, but that's not a problem with the restaurant. That's a problem with whoever's ordering it lol.
 

Hypron

Member
Unless you eat there every day it doesn't really strike me as an issue. Eating tons of calories every once in a while won't make you fat.
 

sohois

Member
Here we go again with the calories.

I'm gonna go ahead and make 2 assumptions. 1) You are an adult male - pretty fair given NeoGAF's demographics. 2) Average breakfast consumption is a lot lower than the other 2 meals - consider that 2 slices of buttered toast with coffee looks to be around 300 calories (from a quick search).

If this is the case, then your RDA of calories is still about 2200 short, with 2 meals to fill it. In other words, an average of 1100 calories per meal. Suddenly the '1000 calorie' burrito doesn't seem so bad, in fact it's pretty much necessary for an adult man to get their rda. And that's assuming that both lunch and dinner are both equally large, which is probably unlikely and one meal would need to be quite a bit larger.

This isn't including drinks and snacks that a person might have which could throw things off. And there is still the massive salt levels in Chipotle's food.

But I think the calorie scaremongering here is nonsense
 

Halcyon

Member
I get my chicken bowl without sour cream or quac. It's a great after workout meal. Double steak when im bulking.
 

bchamba

Member
Low carb high fat day I get a salad with double chicken cheese sour cream and guac. High carb low fat day I get chicken bowl brown rice black beans mild salsa and 3 soft corn steak tacos.

The amount of calories in food you order from anywhere is always dependant on what you order so I guess this article is for people who know nothing about nutrition and assume food from restaurant A is always healthier/less caloric than food from restaurant B.
 

Kyzer

Banned
I never get the burrito, cheese, or sour cream.

A bowl of chicken rice beans tomatoes and guac is good as fuck for you
 
A chicken bowl without sour cream or guacamole was in the 650 calorie range - had that all the time. It's not like you get those sides for free either, so why are they included in every meal like they come with it for free?

Yeah, this is what I always get. Brown rice, black beans, chicken, corn and tomato salsa, lettuce, cheese. Probably not super low in calories, but nothing terribly unhealthy in that mix either.
 
That's why I usually get a bowl (no tortilla, which is like 340 calories alone), very light rice, no sour cream. Get dem gainz baby.
 
get a bowl and skip the sour cream and cheese, guac (they overcharge for that anyway). easy healthy meal.

but I understand that most people would get a fully loaded burrito.

Even without those, the calories and sodium for what it is are crazy high. Their rice alone seems to be cooked in butter and salt instead of water
 
Such a new article, much wow. It's such utter BS too, the only way you are getting that amount of calories is if you are adding guac/sour cream. No doubt the sodium is high, who would have guessed.

Avg bowl I get is 655 according to their calculator (its probably closer to 800). This is normally the only meal I have for the day when I eat it, who cares. It is healthier than going to a traditional fast food place and getting a burger/fries.

Chipotle is much healthier than standard fare fast food lunch/dinner. Comparing it to hitting up mcdonalds, whataburger, etc. is what people are doing when they say it is healthy, least I am.
 

Futureman

Member
1000 calories isn't that much when my ideal intake to maintain my 180 lbs (6'1" male, 31 y/o) is ~2400 calories per day. Plus I only eat Chipotle maybe once per week or two weeks.

Though for everyone saying "NO DUH" I don't think it is so obvious to everyone considering what, 50% of our country is overweight?
 

b4mv

Banned
Damn! The meal I usually get is only around 600 Calories, which isn't bad.
Then I look at the Salt content.. and I won't be going to Chipotle anymore :/

1800 mg Sodium in 3 tacos? WTF.
 

j-wood

Member
The problem isn't chipotle, it's all the shit people want on their stuff.

Steak/chicken, rice, black beans, hot salsa, cheese, lettuce. 600 calories and a perfectly healthy meal.

Stop with shit like sour cream, mayonnaise, guac, etc (on all foods, not just chipotle), and you drastically reduce what you're eating.

Prime example, girlfriend and I went to jimmy johns because I said I needed a light calorie meal. She was like, how is that light calorie! Every sandwich I get is at least 1,000! I asked if she got mayo, the response was well yeah of course. Well, there your additional 400 calories while my normal sandwich is around 500.
 
1000 calories isn't that much when my ideal intake to maintain my 180 lbs (6'1" male, 31 y/o) is ~2400 calories per day. Plus I only eat Chipotle maybe once per week or two weeks.

Though for everyone saying "NO DUH" I don't think it is so obvious to everyone considering what, 50% of our country is overweight?

2400 calories a day? What do you allocate to food per month. I only average 1250 a day and my food bills are already $200/month. Couldn't imagine spending almost twice that.
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
I'll still eat there. If you don't stuff yourself through the rest of the day, 1000 calories isn't bad. If you're planning on having something 1,200-1,300 calories, have a salad for lunch, and a light breakfast.
 
These stories are so annoying. No shit if you eat a ton of food and pick obviously unhealthy options it's going to have a lot of calories. Why does anyone need to be told that? Why is there a news story twice a year where the writer acts like they're uncovering some shocking truth?
 

Jayof9s

Member
I can't pretend to be surprised - they have a pretty good breakdown of the nutritional info on their site, including toppings, extras, etc. Most of the people I know who tout it as healthy do it right and get pretty much just meat and veggies without rice, cheese, or all the other extras that add in the calories.

That said, I mostly go after I've run 15-18+ miles and just burned 1700+ calories. And that's the best time to eat a giant burrito.
 

rambis

Banned
2400 calories a day? What do you allocate to food per month. I only average 1250 a day and my food bills are already $200/month. Couldn't imagine spending almost twice that.
That's probably because you are only limiting yourself to certain foods.

There are certainly very cheap ways to get lots of calories.
 
Are you like 140 lbs?

165 lbs last I checked. But I've been coming down from 230 lbs, so I'm still losing.

...wait you only spend $200 a month?[That's pretty damn impressive.

Yes. I lived on $50 a month when I was on foodstamps. I buy all fresh ingredients now. Also I get a lot of free venison from my hunting family.

Are you training to be a fireman?

No, though oddly enough last weekend I was considering joining my local volunteer department.
 
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