Cinco de Mayo

julesaz
julesaz Posts: 12 Member
edited October 11 in Food and Nutrition
We are going to a Mexican restaurant on Thursday that has no available nutritional information. What would be my best bet for a filling dinner that won't annihilate my calorie count for the day?

Thanks for your ideas!

Replies

  • riley22
    riley22 Posts: 27
    Good question! I'm going to a birthday party at a Mexican restaurant Wednesday. Hopefully someone will help us.

    I usually get Chili Rellano's a la carte but I'm not sure if that's a good choice or not. It's always the chips and salsa plus or minus a margarita that gets me!
  • chefchazz
    chefchazz Posts: 427 Member
    tacos....
  • autumn130
    autumn130 Posts: 48
    I LOVE Mexican food. Something to think about when eating there is... stay away from anything made with flour! I get the beef fajitas minus the tortillas with extra lettuce, quac, and sour cream! I also eat the beans... but no rice. It is more filling them you think.

    Hope this helps.
  • oshmom
    oshmom Posts: 78 Member
    Street tacos- small soft corn tortillas and ask for grilled chicken, with cilantro, onions and salsa. No cheese. You can have 2 or 3 of those. If they come with 2 tortillas per taco, take one off. Ask for a side of whole black beans if they have them.

    Good Luck!
  • hamiltf
    hamiltf Posts: 5
    I follow 'eat this not that' on twitter and they tweeted this right after I read this message! 10 ways to eat healthy at the mexican cantina. Hopefully this helps!

    http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/10-ways-eat-healthy-mexican-cantina
  • oshmom
    oshmom Posts: 78 Member
    oh, and try to stay away from refried beans, sour cream, guac or cream sauce.
  • hamiltf
    hamiltf Posts: 5
    Typically you can "create your own meal" from the a la carte menu. I usually try soft tacos made with corn tortillas and plain chicken. Add some onions, cilantro and maybe a little salsa and you have a pretty low cal/fat dinner that is really yummy. I used to order 2 or 3 of these at the mexican restaurant when I was in school! I agree with skipping on the refried beans and maybe substituting black beans instead. Easy on the guacamole because they usually load it with sour cream to make it creamier. TRY to stay away from the chips..but I know its hard!
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    Bring your own lunch…

    :-)

    I like many different cuisines, including Mexican, so it's frustrating that Mexican food is, generally speaking, very high in calories, carbs, and fat. I'll generally go with carnitas. Fajitas are good too - steak and veggies.

    One of my "aha moments" about how I ended up at 295 pounds was when I looked at the nutritional info on the back of a package of 12" tortillas - I stopped reading when I saw that each tortilla had 300 calories!

    Oh, something I learned during my annual wine buying trip this year. A margarita is a calorie ambush but most of the calories are in the mix, not the liquor. A margarita without the mix is called a "skinny girl margarita" and they're actually quite good!

    Bon appetit!

    :-)
  • julesaz
    julesaz Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks for the quick responses. I like all the ideas. My plan is to stay far away from the margaritas! I like the fajitas without the tortillas and the small tacos sound good too.
  • Bjornulf
    Bjornulf Posts: 29
    True Mexican cuisine is naturally low in calories; Tex-Mex on the other hand has a lot of fats and cheeses and foods fried in oil. So the best thing would be to watch what you eat. Soft flour and corn tortillas are fairly low in calories, chips have been deep fried, so they have a lot of added oil calories. Real Mexican food does not have rich creamy sauces, you might want to avoid those. Cheeses, you can tell fat content (more or less) by color. The more orange a cheese is, the higher it's fat content. Watch out for 'creamy' refried beans too. Some restaurants add lard to the beans to make a creamy richness that shouldn't really be there. Salsa is very LOW in calories.

    Mexican food in America usually has almost no vegetables and so gives a very imbalanced meal. A friend of mine counters this by eating a large salad at home beforehand. Filling up with vegetables and so not overdoing it on meats in a rich and cheesy cream sauce.

    I hope this helps, even a little.
  • captainlindarg
    captainlindarg Posts: 229 Member
    Perhaps chicken tortilla soup?
  • dustyhockeymom
    dustyhockeymom Posts: 537 Member
    I usually have a taco salad or tostada without the shell. I have lettuce, meat (either chicken or beef) black beans, cheese and salsa and then ask for sour cream on the side. I mix one tablespoon of sourcream with the salsa to make a dressing. My whole family loves mexican, so I had to figure out a way. I usually can't eat a whole serving. Also I have had a burrito without the tortilla, just rice or beans (both is too high), meat, and salsa.

    Avoiding the chips is the hardest part. I think about meals past when we used to eat two baskets of chips for just the three of us. I love fresh tortilla chips.
  • mursey
    mursey Posts: 191 Member
    Mexican food is tough! For me I just won't eat the taco shell or tortillas but I'm a low-carber. I guess if you're not a low carber then stick to grilled meat and avocado (I know it's fat but it's "good" fat) if you can.

    Someone mentioned Chili Relleno. . that used to be my favorite but where I have eaten that, it's a deep fried pepper stuffed with cheese and also breaded. That would be the worst menu item for pretty much anyone on a diet.

    Also- I LOVe margaritas but rarely have them after I read an article that said almost anything with sour mix in it adds something like 400 extra calories. Now, I can't recall what size drink that was, but you never know what you get with drinks that have ingredients like sour mix or syrups. It could be fresh squeezed limes and sugar, or it could be processed crap with tons of corn syrup. That's why when you go out you want to eat and drink things that you can sort of deconstruct in your head.
  • t_rog
    t_rog Posts: 363 Member
    Try and stay away from the chips, tortillas and taco shells. I've researched a little on this(i LOVE mexican) and fajitas seems like the best bet. Just the meat and veges. And very little beans and sour cream!
  • corsayre8
    corsayre8 Posts: 551 Member
    I generally do the chicken fajitas. Eat the chicken and veggies, beans and guac. If I have the extra calories/carbs, I will also have one tortilla. High protein, low net carb (even though i don't follow a low carb diet in general). A bit high in fat, but that isn't something I tend to be low on on a daily basis. I do stay away from chips or anything else fried. Also many Mexican restaurants have good salads, just make sure you look at the ingredients, they can be higher in calories than you may think for a "salad".
  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
    We are going to a Mexican restaurant on Thursday that has no available nutritional information. What would be my best bet for a filling dinner that won't annihilate my calorie count for the day?

    Thanks for your ideas!

    Have you tried looking online? Seems like a silly answer maybe, but I just found nutritional info for a restaurant I didn't know was available by plugging it into google. I just put "nutritional info for XXXX restaurant" and poof! Even if it wasn't 100% accurate, it was a heck of a lot better than I could have guestimated.
  • BombolinaM
    BombolinaM Posts: 561 Member
    I LOVE Mexican food. Something to think about when eating there is... stay away from anything made with flour! I get the beef fajitas minus the tortillas with extra lettuce, quac, and sour cream! I also eat the beans... but no rice. It is more filling them you think.

    Hope this helps.

    That sounds so good!!
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    Por Favor in San Diego County makes these awesome veggie fajitas......black beans make them healthier and do corn tortilla or none. Fajitas even chicken. shrimp or beef are great. Take to avocado as it is a good fat but leave off some cheese and sour cream.
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    mmm mayo
  • denise_earheart
    denise_earheart Posts: 354
    fajitas without tortilla and a light mexican beer is my yummy favorite :)
  • monicanicoletta
    monicanicoletta Posts: 176 Member
    get a skinny girl marg.... just 1 is 100 calories and all you need is 1 :)

    for food:

    get a mexican shrimp cocktail (VERY low in cal/fat/sodium) and or get a cup of tortilla soup...sodium might be a little high but calorie wise its great
  • julesaz
    julesaz Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks again for your help - I think I am prepared to tackle the Mexican place and do well!

    Gracias!
  • momma2rubyfay
    momma2rubyfay Posts: 6
    Chicken Fajita salad no cheese beans or shell~ extra tomatoes, lettuce, onions (top with Salsa)
    CHicken (shredded or fajita) Tacos on corn tortillas.....
    Salsa & corn tortillas...rip your corn tortilla and dip it in the salsa....Kinda like chips & dip but without the greasy fattening fried chips!
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Tortilla soup

    Shot of patron with club soda, juice of 2 limes and a salted rim. YUMAROO
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    I always get Fajitas, no tortilla.
  • jenmsu83
    jenmsu83 Posts: 185 Member
    What about a taco salad without the fried shell and crunch up a few tortilla chips on top? Then use salsa for dressing.
  • jenmsu83
    jenmsu83 Posts: 185 Member
    And I just noticed the original post on this thread was back in 2011...haha oops!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    5 years later, perhaps the OP has figured out how to navigate the complexities of dining out with no calorie counts available... but likely there are newer members who will benefit from the suggestions...

    I usually eat the chips and salsa (and queso) but only split a single basket with the family. If they get refills I try not to partake of the second rounds.

    I usually get chili verde pork, use one small flour tortilla but eat the rest with no tortilla. I use beans and sour cream or guacamole. It doesn't usually come with cheese and I don't miss it - the pork is always so flavorful.

    I'll have one margarita if it is a place where they make them by hand, if they are pouring them out of a machine I find them to be too sweet and I usually just get a corona light.

    We eat at mexican restaurants once or twice a month and it is usually 800 or so calories for what I described above, and not that hard to fit into my day/week.
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