OK, so one of my favorite foods isn't very healthy. Your point is....?

Jazzy G posted the link to the Chipotle nutrition calculator on her site the other day, and I bit the bullet and checked it out. Sure enough, my usual burrito (chicken, rice, pintos, corn, cheese) is pretty calorie-laden, but I was none too surprised. I mentioned last year about how the Food Police had declared open season on Chipotle and its "fresh-Mex" brethren; that didn't change my eating habits, and neither will seeing the stark reality of the caloric content of my Tuesday night dinner. The fact is, I went there over once a week last year, and I haven't gained a pound (in fact, I'm a few less than a year ago). I must be doing something to burn it off, be it the extra walking I often do when shopping, running around between schools with my horn and a load of music, or the all-too-infrequent racquetball games.

We did find out some interesting things when Halfling and I compared our respective burritos (mine out-calories his by about 300 or so). I have the pinto beans; he has no beans. I have the corn sauce, while he has the green tomatillo. I expected the beans to add calories, but, as the site owner points out, sometimes the fat is what gives food its distinctive taste. (I've tried the black beans, which have less calories and fat, but I can't hang with the taste or the mushiness, though Dingus is a recent convert to them). I was surprised, however, to find that the corn salsa alone adds nearly 200 calories; that's even more than the sour cream I recently jettisoned from the mix.

So we haven't really come to any big conclusion here; none of us is exactly gonna give up the big burrito anytime soon. The site is interesting in that it lets you figure out the fat/calorie content of any possible combination of their ingredients, so it is possible to decide what to leave out if you're trying to cut down a bit without sacrificing flavor.

Oh, and doing all this also drove home the point that there is no way I could actually ever be on some sort of regimented diet. I do want to lose some weight, but I'll do so by increased activity and moderating portion size. If I had to actually count (or even worse, log) my daily calories...umm, no. The day that eating becomes math is the day that eating stops being enjoyable.

Blow out the candles: Happy very-slightly-belated birthday to Steven I., my old bowling buddy and former Combo Too-er (it was technically yesterday, but as I always say, it's still "today" to me until I go to bed).