Chipotle, for less than 500 cals...

DavidCHobby
DavidCHobby Posts: 53
in Food and Nutrition
I am a huge fan of Chipotle Mexican Grill, and with a few tweaks I can get a very satisfying meal (i.e., my big meal of the day) for less than 500 cals. Which is awesome because this feels sooo like I am blowing the calorie budget.

ChipotleFan.com (a third-party site) has an interactive (i.e., you build your meal one click at a time) calorie calculator here:

http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=nutrition_calculator

If you are willing to go burrito bol (instead of the 13" tortilla, which BY ITSELF is nearly 300 cals) go fajitas instead of beans and choose cheese OR sour cream (but not both) it doesn't matter what meat you choose, you'll be under 500 cals.

Tomato, green salsa and lettuce round it out for a big plate of oh-so-delicious food. It's a splurge that doesn't cost like a splurge. The thing is, you can rack up a LOT of cals there if you are not paying attention. But a little careful choosing gives you pretty much the same experience without the damages.

#MakeMineCarnitas

Replies

  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
    Bump
  • myownadvice
    myownadvice Posts: 95 Member
    I love Chipotle! And you can make it gluten-free if you choose a salad or bowl too! Thanks for the nutrition link.
  • DavidCHobby
    DavidCHobby Posts: 53
    You're welcome. And it is probably a good thing my local Chipotle was closed for the night when I finished writing the post . . .
  • jhuver
    jhuver Posts: 13 Member
    I as well am a big fan of chipotle. When I looked up the calories the first time I almost had a heart attack. Ever since then I stopped going there, but I'm glad to see that I can make it healthier by choosing some better options.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    No rice, Fajita veggies, steak, beans,2x pico(refuse to call that mild salsa), and guacamole and you're at the healthiest way (IMO)to include meat and be under/at 500 cals.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    No rice, Fajita veggies, steak, beans,2x pico(refuse to call that mild salsa), and guacamole and you're at the healthiest way (IMO)to include meat and be under/at 500 cals.

    I skip the beans, add double down the lettuce. If they are not too crowded, sometimes you can get sliced avocado instead of guacamole...
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    Really wish they had white meat chicken though...Accoring to MFP, the chicken is as fatty as the beef (neither are bad though).
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
    Chipotle is my go to healthy meal but I don't eat meat and cheese. I love that they have brown rice now but they always give a ton. I ask them to double the black beans and tomato salsa and took guacamole on the side. I then eat half a bowl as one of my meals. I estimate my bowl, as-is to be about 700 calories so half is a good meal.
  • Pinkgurl13
    Pinkgurl13 Posts: 47 Member
    L♥ve Chipotle!

    Thanks!!!
  • Fergieberg
    Fergieberg Posts: 92 Member
    bump
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    There's been way too much Chipotle hate on the forums lately. We needed a good dose of Chipotle love.

    Thank you for some Chipotle love.
  • Jizes318
    Jizes318 Posts: 409 Member
    Holy moly! The way I use to eat is 920 calories!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Huh, I like this one better where you can adjust the size of the stuff you add.

    Because I'll ask for 1/2 the rice, black beans, and fajita vegetables as normal in a chicken bowl, and even with sour cream, under 600 calories for big meal days where breakfast is skipped.

    http://www.nutritionix.com/chipotle/nutrition-calculator
  • n0ob
    n0ob Posts: 2,390 Member
    My chipotle is right next to a yogurt bar place (Tutti Frutti). I usually get 2-3 servings of beef a la carte then get coconut yogurt piled to the brim with coconut flakes.

    No white meat chicken choice makes steak the best meat to get there...
  • ChristyRunStarr
    ChristyRunStarr Posts: 1,600 Member
    There's been way too much Chipotle hate on the forums lately. We needed a good dose of Chipotle love.

    Thank you for some Chipotle love.

    I agree :heart:

    I love Chipotle and have no problem going and having half my meal there then half the next day for lunch :bigsmile: You can find out the calories as well on their website
  • allifantastical
    allifantastical Posts: 946 Member
    The bowl I get is 705 calories and I think that is very reasonable considering Chipotle leaves me full for ever.
  • Anthonydaman
    Anthonydaman Posts: 854 Member
    good choices are out there in the fast food market, Chipotle is definitely one of them
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
    definitely bumping this!
  • ashprather
    ashprather Posts: 227 Member
    bump
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    If you go directly to the Chipotle website...they have a meal builder/nutrition calculator.

    http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/menu/nutrition_calculator/nutrition_calculator.aspx

    Might be better to use the actual Chipotle website because they will update their info sooner if anything changes.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    If you go directly to the Chipotle website...they have a meal builder/nutrition calculator.

    http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/menu/nutrition_calculator/nutrition_calculator.aspx

    Might be better to use the actual Chipotle website because they will update their info sooner if anything changes.

    Well that's a bummer, they don't allow doing half sizes either of the rice or beans or whatever, can only change the serving size of the meat.

    I guess considering they didn't even have that last time I checked, perhaps they'll make another improvement.

    Do agree do a spot check from time to time with a standard build, which I just did, so this site was still valid as of today on the items I selected, which was everything optional.

    http://www.nutritionix.com/chipotle/nutrition-calculator
  • DamnImASexyBitch
    DamnImASexyBitch Posts: 740 Member
    I always get the 3 crispy tacos with chicken, tomato salsa, guacamole, & cheese for 620 calories. If I'm going there, I budget my calories for the day to accomodate.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    ...
    ChipotleFan.com (a third-party site) has an interactive (i.e., you build your meal one click at a time) calorie calculator here:

    http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=nutrition_calculator
    ...
    I'm not overly-worried about cals/fat cuz I can always counter with cardio. However, I'm a friggin' sodium Nazi, so I kinda quit Chipotle cold turkey last year. Wasn't a big deal cuz nearest one with 10-15 miles away in a direction I rarely travelled. A few months ago they took over an old Waffle House location a few miles away... close enough to be an issue.
    Thanks for the link. I just calculated and alternative meal for less than 50% DV sodium.


    ***The following is reference for myself:
    Original meal:
    13" Tortilla, white rice, black beans, pinto beans, fajita veg, steak, corn salsa, hot salsa, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce
    1075 cals, 46g fat, 2540mg sodium (106% DV :noway: ), 35g fiber, 64g protein

    Alternative meal:
    Hard taco (3), brown rice, black beans, fajita veg, steak, cheese, sour cream, lettuce
    855 cals, 36g fat, 1090mg sodium (45% DV :wink: ), 15g fiber, 52g protein
  • titanium2012
    titanium2012 Posts: 64
    Love Chipotle! When I started to get healthy, I was freaked out over the sodium too, but if you cut out the tortilla and use tabasco instead of their salsas that takes a good amount of the sodium out.

    My go to is a steak burrito bowl that usually runs me around 460 calories. You definitely have to be careful of the portions though, because obviously the people making them aren't always measuring carefully.
  • jackieomara
    jackieomara Posts: 119 Member
    this is old but bumping for future reference

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