When people think of chipotle one of two things come to mind, E-Coli or “Chipotle is my life”. If you’re anything like me your obsession with the glorious bowls is too far gone to let E-Coli stop you. While we may think Chipotle really isn’t that unhealthy – its all situational. Don’t fear! I am here to help you construct the healthiest Chipotle bowls while still filling that craving.
Step 1: Go to Chipotle.com and use their “Nutrition” tab to calculate how many calories your normal order is. This was quite eye opening for me and made me immediately alter my order.
Step 2: Understand that while we all love a warm tortilla, it automatically adds 300 calories in addition to of all your fillings. I promise you that a bowl is just as satisfying. You actually get more food in bowls anyways…#lifehack
Step 3: Get your chips and guac on the side! Your portion will be smaller which means less calories that you are tempted to consume. When they slap it on your bowl you’re getting way more than what they fit into the plastic cup.
Step 4: Make a salad! Chipotle recently added a more health conscious option of replacing your rice bed for a lettuce bed. They also provided a delicious dressing. This automatically brings your bowl down by 420 calories that come from the rice! If you need rice (like me) just ask for a small scoop on top of the lettuce. Chipotle will give you smaller scoops of everything if you just ask. Moderation is key.
Step 5: Stay away from sour cream and cheese! Sour cream alone is 115 calories and cheese is 100 calories. If you must get sour cream and cheese, get it on the side like your guac. Having it on the side will let you see just how much you’re eating and allow you to stop when you get full and not just finish the bowl without even noticing.
Step 6: Moderation. We all understand that its so hard to not just finish the bowl when its staring at you in the face and you mouth is watering – but try. You can save half of it and eat it for lunch the next day! But split your calories, don’t over indulge just because you can.
In the end, I would never want to dampen your chipotle experience. Obviously, these tips are for frequent visitors (such as myself) so they don’t go too crazy all the time. If you rarely visit chipotle and want to indulge, DO IT! I apologize for any of you whose mouths were watering while reading this, go satisfy it with some warm, healthy chipotle!