I’m a huge fan of Mexican food and of burritos in particular.  For anyone who hasn’t had one, a California style burrito means a large tortilla, a lot of beans, rice and cheese with a load of meat mixed in.  It’s utterly unlike anything actually eaten in Mexico and it’s incredibly delicious.

Now most people will tell you that Mexican food is pretty darn healthy.  After all, it’s typically not too processed, simple, no heavy sauces and no fried potatoes on the side.  Which is technically all true, but then again, it’s also incomplete.  So today, I want to do a little analysis of the average burrito to teach you a lesson or two about seemingly healthy Mexican food.

Welcome Our Guest: The Burrito Analyticator!

To help me in my lesson I give you one of mankind’s greatest inventions, the Chipotle Burrito Generator! Ok, so maybe not a defining moment in human history but definitely up there.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Chipotle, it’s a chain of Mexican food restaurants, mostly on the west coast of the US.  They use relatively good quality ingredients and, best of all, they standardize their burritos.  So, let’s start.

The Average Burrito

First, the average Chipotle burrito:  A 13” tortilla, some rice and beans, a bit of carnitas (spicy pork!), tomato salsa, cheese, sour cream and lettuce with a few chips on the side.  This sounds like a lot but it’s pretty much the average burrito you’d find at any corner Mexican joint.  Grand total: 1545 calories.  HOLY CRAP!

Add in the usual coke and a side of rice and beans and this is pretty much your meal for the day.  Sadly enough, most people will consume this at lunch and then think nothing about adding a breakfast, some snacks and a large dinner to their daily consumption.  No wonder our average ass size is growing!

Let’s Operate!

Now, I’m not about to give up on burritos and switch to nothing but green salads.  I love burritos.  Actually, let me correct that.  I LOVE BURRITOS!  With the possible exception of Lindt Truffles, burritos are in fact the perfect food as far as I’m concerned.  So, what to do?  Well, since 60 in 3 is all about fitness for smart people, let’s be smart about this and see if we can perform a bit of surgery on our burrito.

First, do I even need to tell you to forgo the coke and drink water?  I hope not.  Second, that side of rice and beans is a no go, especially if you intend to spend time in polite company after this meal. Unfortunately, that still leaves us with 1545 calories.  No worries though, cut out the chips and you’re down to 975.  Cut out the rice and add in fajita vegetables instead and you’re down to 865.  This is already more reasonable but we can do better.  Cut out the sour cream and you’re at 745 calories.  All you’ve removed are some empty calories from the rice and chips and a bit of unnecessary fat from the sour cream.  You still have an incredibly filling and tasty burrito on your plate.

The point of all this is that fitness for smart people isn’t about eating less, it’s about eating smarter.  Don’t give up your burrito, just make it healthier with a few simple changes.  These ideas can easily be applied to other foods as well.  Cut out the empty carbs that most restaurants insist on adding (rice, bread, chips), cut out the extra fats (sour cream, butter) and the non water drinks and you end up with a seriously healthy meal.

By the way, those of you on the paleo diet (who are less traditional than me about your burritos) will notice that you could take this a step further by eliminating the tortilla and ordering a burrito bol.  At that point, you could add some healthy fats from guacamole and still end up with a dish that’s healthy and under 605 calories.  Watch out for the salad dressing though, Chipotle loves to add those to burrito bols for absolutely no reason.