healthiest choice at a Mexican restaurant?

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herky
herky Posts: 68 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm going out to eat for a friend's birthday tonight and we are going to an authentic Mexican restaurant. I LOVE Mexican food and this is a treat, but I still want to meet my calorie goals for today...what is the best option? I've heard that chicken fajitas can be relatively healthy...

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  • raindancer
    raindancer Posts: 993 Member
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    Chicken fajitas is what I eat, I ask them to cook them with as little oil as possibe. If they have them I order charro or black beans.
    I usually don't eat the tortilla.
    I count my chips and eat only 7 with my hot sauce.

    Have fun
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    They usually smother the crap out of everything with cheese, so watch that or you'll take in a ton of fat. If I were going to a mexican place I would leave my carbs way short through the day so I could enjoy chips and salsa before hand and a burrito or two. Chicken fajitas are good because the chicken is usually grilled, where as the shredded chicken you get in most chicken dishes probably has more salt, and of course the grilled veggies are good. Just watch your carbs with the tortillas.

    Mexican food is tough because there are usually so many different types of sauces, which can shoot the salt up pretty quickly. Probably another reason fajitas are a good choice.
  • eriny
    eriny Posts: 1,509 Member
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    i always get chicken or beef taco corn ( not hard shell )
  • YVONNEWATTS
    YVONNEWATTS Posts: 2
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    I think that would be a good choice - watchout for the extras eg, sour cream and guacamole...
  • chugglebunny
    chugglebunny Posts: 63
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    Do you know if the resturant has a webiste? Most places these days have a nutritional part online so you can see calories etc of all dishes and choose before you go. :) That way you wont be tempted with all your friends around to encourage you to eat something not as healthy.
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
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    Yep I go for the chicken fajitas minus the cheese and tortilla. Maybe even ask for a bowl of lettuce and make a salad out of it, using salsa as the dressing? Or sometimes I get a big bowl of chicken tortilla soup minus the cheese and tortilla strips. Then I eat about ten tortilla chips and maybe a bowl of black beans on the side. Have fun!
  • angietennisfreak
    angietennisfreak Posts: 1
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    Take your own whole wheat tortillas, order sliced avacado (the really good places will make fresh avacado at the table) and pico to eat instead of chips and salsa. I then order a chicken burrito with lettuce, and instead of cheese replace with pico, remove the tortilla if you need....really good
  • dlrcpa
    dlrcpa Posts: 114 Member
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    I just looked at the nutrition/calorie info for Chili's menu as an example. Pretty frightening. The best bet looks lie a bowl of chili, or an order that is mostly plain meat of some sort. Maybe fajitas but skip the tortilla?
  • herky
    herky Posts: 68 Member
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    Thanks everyone!!
    I think I will stick with the fajitas and avoid eating the tortilla. I love guacamole so I will eat it in moderation :)
  • Mellie13
    Mellie13 Posts: 424
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    I ditto the chicken fajitas (Dr. Oz agrees, too). Just watch out for sour cream, etc.
  • DeeJayTJ
    DeeJayTJ Posts: 355 Member
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    i eat a Beef and Chicken Fajita salad, its amazing. probably a good 700 calories or so but AMAZING with queso on top hahaha but it hasnt kept me from losing my 36lbs and i eat one 2 or 3 times a week! but thats just me...
  • Buppie
    Buppie Posts: 43
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    I get carnitas (roasted pork) - they come with corn tortillas, and I eat one of those... Get pico, little quac (or fresh avacado), limes and some lettuce and you are good to go! Very filling and yummy!
  • FunkBunny
    FunkBunny Posts: 417 Member
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    Water...with lemon!

    No, if you stick with grilled chicken, go easy on the beans, rice and cheese, heavy on the veggies. You'll be fine! Salsa is great as a salad dressing, stay away from sour cream or cream based salad dressings.
  • JGrinwis
    JGrinwis Posts: 14 Member
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    I'm with DeeJay TJ

    I usually get a "Fajita or Taco" Salad but, I ask them to use they're grilled veggies instead. Then, I tell them to keep their high calorie dressings and I use salsa for a dressing. If there's no shell, I only take a hit for the calories on the cheese, guac, and sour cream which leaves me some play to eat a few chips and salsa.

    I used to do this at On the Border and when I was on weight watchers the salad was like 4 pts and it's VERY filling. 40lbs on Weight Watchers and 8 lbs off since leaves me believing that Salads can be amazing, if you know how to have fun with them.
  • amg_89
    amg_89 Posts: 184
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    I get the veggie fajitas but only eat what they bring out on the skillet. It usually comes with like 3 plates of crap, but I don't like mexican rice or anything, so I offer that to other people. The skillet of sauteed veggies is huge and very filling. the only problem is they use a ton of oil, but if you don't eat the sides or anything you're fine. plus, tortilla chips are one of my biggest weaknesses, so i'll skip refried beans to save room for chips

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