America is fat. This shouldn't come as breaking news to anyone, and it makes sense that fast-food restaurants are turning to healthier alternatives to attract an American public trying to lose weight.
"Fresh-mex" restaurants are no exception. What's interesting is the nutrition information accompanying their burritos and other offerings. As it turns out, ordering a burrito is terrible for you (who knew?!?). Surprisingly, one of the least healthy ingredients in the burrito is the tortilla. So Qdoba, Chipotle, and all the other fat distribution centers have taken it upon themselves to offer tortilla-free-burrito "alternatives" (read: burrito without the bread for Atkins semi-compliance). Being health conscious, but still wanting an unnecessarily large meal, I ordered one such Naked Burrito today.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that given the prospect of not having to fold the burrito, risking tortilla breakage and subsequent rewrapping, the employees tend to be more generous with the portion sizes. Significantly more generous. I felt as if I'd eat two wrapped burritos when I'd finished my naked burrito (yes, I understand that the mentality of 'finish what's in front of you' should not apply at fast-food restaurants but its been ingrained). I felt gross. Still do.
Most of these places also serve alcohol, in case you were wondering. I have yet to see a "light" beer or beer-alternative to match the naked burrito idea.
So you can get fat and drunk and then wonder why it happened - fast food tastes good, but eating it is still a choice.
Friday, May 26, 2006
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2 comments:
Quit believing the BS that carbs are bad for you. Sure, there is some merit to the glycemic index and the like, but there is only one fundamental law of physics:
Net = In - Out
Apply this law to caloric intake. If In > Out, you Net positive and gain weight. If Out > In, you Net negative and you lose weight.
That's all there is to it. There are of course details when it comes to the complexities of the human metabolism, but in the end every body must obey this simple fundamental law.
So, if America is to get thinner, they need to EAT LESS. Exercising more would help immensely, naturally.
Counting calories and limiting them is ultimately the only way to lose weight. Watching caloric intake on a day-to-day basis and keeping a balanced diet is the only way to keep the weight off.
I can see how you'd think that I was trying to stay Atkins conscious by not ordering the tortilla on my burrito, but that's not the case. The fact of the matter is that the tortilla is actually almost as bad for you as the rest of the stuff they put in the burrito itself. Case in point is the nutritional information on burritos from Chipotle.
Let's assume that your regular fare is a chicken burrito with black beans, red tomatillo Salsa, and cheese. Per your argument, accounting only for caloric intake you'll be eating a full 1057 calories (327 from fat). Now subtract only the burrito and you're left with 727 calories(257 from fat).
So your options, if you choose to eat the burrito in a more healthy fashion, are to either throw away one third of the burrito, or just take away the tortilla - this has absolutely nothing to do with carb counting.
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