Lose Weight Eating Burritos?

Team Jared, all the way!

i have to admit that i go by a similar concept. josh is eating one calorie dense meal a day while eating very light the rest of the day. unfortunately, since i'm on the phone all day with customers, it is difficult for me to eat a full meal for lunch or get in those 2 snacks a day; often times i eat 3-5 small, light snacks throughout the day that only total to little more than 500 cals- but i always make sure that when i do get to settle down and enjoy a meal, dinner, it is worth my while. unfortunately, i eat so late at night that this doesn't help my cause!! Jared's subway diet is a much better way to go and more efficient in aiding fat burning.

When I was a grad student in my twenties, I spent four months in Kidsgrove, UK working at a laboratory of ICL. It was winter, and while I had a good time, I was a bit lonely and dug into the local cuisine - great beer, mushy peas, farmhouse cheshire cheese, fish and chips, mixed grill, and so on... I packed on the weight, and when I returned, I was around 200 lbs (my normal weight is in the low 160s).

When I returned, I went on a diet of grapefruit, brioche, and coffee, and stuck to it until I dropped back into the 160s. It's an awful diet, nutritionally, but it worked for me.

I think, now, I would have done something like Jared or Justin. And, it would've been easier with a daily burrito than with a sandwich...

On the other hand, I was playing squash an hour or two every day back then - which shortened the regimen, and relieved stress (I could imagine the squash ball being my disseration, or my advisor, or other sources of stress). Jared did a lot of walking during his regimen.

What do I think? I think he should exercise.

But he is at least in better shape than Jared, the epitome of skinny fat!

chipotle is really no better than mcdonald's (who also happens to be their parent company). their burritos are HUGE and leave you feeling heavy and lethargic for the rest of the day. i've eaten there probably 5 times ever, and even when i cut their burritos in half for my meal, i still feel like crap after eating it. i agree that subway's is slightly better but only if you get a low-fat/calorie 6-inch sub (like a turkey sub).

I think a doctor should be encouraging obese people to lose weight rather than complaining that someone's weight loss method isn't "ideal" even when it's working.

I personally lost over 100 pounds. I'm sure the doctor would complain about my diet because I didn't just eat low fat food and salad all the time. I would eat fast food fairly often and pizza and cookies. Eating all the foods I like, only in smaller amounts, was one of the keys to the diet's success.

Being 100 pounds lighter (and no longer "obese") is clearly better for me than eating salads and all the rest of the foods I don't like.

And, as for exercise, it's a lot more enjoyable to exercise after losing weight. Exercise is difficult for a fat person. If you tell people they have to start exercising to lose weight, it'll be another factor in them giving up on their diet.

The weight-loss program that people seem to advise is to "choke down foods you don't like and torture yourself with long unpleasant exercise ordeals every day". And that advice keeps people fat.

Burritos? Really? I don't know, I've never had success with any fad diets, and I certainly don't know that burritos would be the best way to lose weight.

I found an easy, fast way to lose weight tho, and I've never felt better. Check out my story:

http://healthyover40.blogspot.com

That's funny, but I hope he isn't malnourised.

"The rest of his Chipotle diet consists of eating only fruits and salads for the rest of the day."

Hmmm...it's really not the burrito. So I could claim I lost 30 pounds by eating 3 industrial size Snickers while eating fruits and vegetables the rest of the day.

Ben said:
Ben[...]

I don't think eating a massive meal of 1300 calories once a day is all that healthy, no matter what you're eating...a burrito, a Snickers, a sub sandwich, anything. I lost 90 lbs by substituting my fatty, unhealthy meals with healthier options (ie, instead of a donut and cappuccino for breakfast, I had a bowl of oatmeal, an apple, and a cup of coffee). I don't know that I'd WANT to eat a burrito that "keeps me full for 24 hours". It sounds like a real gut-bomb, but whatever. I make my own burritos using small corn tortillas, fat free refried beans, and a little salsa. They're AWESOME!!

I love mexican food and actually get to eat a lot of it in the diet that I have been on for a while now. I have wrote about my expierences in my blog.

Paul Young said:
"The rest of his Chipotle diet consists of eating only fruits and salads for the rest of the day."[...]

Well done! I think the fact that this individual diets by eating light the rest of the day makes his one 1500 calorie meal irrelevant ... it could have been McDonalds or as Paul puts it - Snicker Bars.

I'm going to post this story on meddlinks.com, they have a good diet section there

So this Chipotle's is like Qdoba? Which is pretty much a Mexican foods Subway, as you order a stock burrito and go down the line, telling them what fixings to add.

In that case, they'll probably do the same as Qdoba, where you can get it without rice. They'll let you substitute rice for extra beans, which is nice for the carb-conscious such as myself.

I think it's a great advertisement for Chipotle.

On a serious note, it sounds quite unbalanced, and you're right, processed foods just aren't going to get you the health benefits of whole foods. I'd be interested to know how the guy felt eating like this...truthfully, how much energy did he have? Thing is, he might not tell you, especially if he's being picked up to do commercials for Chipotle now.

One more thing....if he wasn't exercising, what was he losing? I'm betting he didn't lose just fat and water, but also muscle.

I dont think it sounds unbalanced at all, especially compared with other diets out there.

The burrito has plenty of protein, around 60g (above RDA) in cheese and beans and possibly meat.
There's veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro etc) in the burrito as well as dairy. He's also getting in his fruit servings for the day seperately.
He's getting in 16g dietary fiber in the burrito even with out the extra fruit in the day.

The only negative is it might be high fat if the sour cream isnt low fat, but theres lots of scientific proof coming out now that fat is not neccessarily so bad. Avocado is a positive fat if he's getting guacamole...lowers cholestrol.

Its unrefined sugar thats terrible for the body, health and aging and he's not having that.

Go Justin!

This may work for a while, until they get down to a more normal weight. It is great, though, that they are at least trying. As long as they are exercising, nutrition doesn't have to be perfect to lose weight!!

I just looked it up and he just has chicken fajita burrito with 2 scoops salsa & cheese...no sourcream or high fat condiments. This is SO healthy! Wheres the processed food? Its seems pretty unprocessed to me...far healthier than diet frozen dinners or shakes.

Regardless of what "new" diet, drug, rub, lotion or potion comes over the media/internet, there remains a few questions which very few in the general public ever ask: What hidden/not-readily-apparent consequences/harms to my own physiology will this new diet, drug, etc. cause over time?...high cholesterol, clogged arteries, intestinal polyps, cancers, high blood pressure, etc.? Will any of these harmfull effects cause irreversible chronic conditions? Since I only have one body and one life, do I really want to take that chance and experiment?
NOTE: If YOU do not care about your own body, why the hell should any health care provider.?! It's YOUR body. It's YOUR responsibility. Live Smart. Live Healthy!

Honestly, I've had Chipotle several times, and it's my favorite fast food. I only call it fast food because they make it fast. Yes, the parent company is McDonald's, but that doesn't mean that they're following the same concept as the frozen, grade D, greasy hamburger. It was independent before McDonald's bought it out, and the original CEO/Chef remained. The meats are all bought from smaller farms, are all free-range with no hormones, and the condiments are organic and vegetarian. The foods are prepared according to the original recipes, which includes slow roasting and cooking (the barbacoa itself takes at least 8 hours of slow cooking to achieve the taste; the recipe for it has been published). Yes, the portions are ridiculously huge, but that doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing all at once! If he's getting chicken fajita burrito he's cutting out the rice, sour cream, and other higher fat content items on the list, and getting fresh vegetables, low fat protein and fiber in the bargain. The only thing I would change if I did this is change it to a burrito "bol" and eliminate the tortilla, because they add about 450 calories extra to the meal.

The company's website has a calorie counter on it that lets someone add up all the calories, sodium, protein and such of what they're eating prior to even ordering it if they want. www.chipotle.com

Man, now I want some Chipotle! :D

Here's the pdf from the website explaining all the nutritional info for each ingredient.

http://www.chipotle.com/ChipotleNutrition_Oct07.pdf

They HAD a calorie counter at one point, but now I can't find it.

It sounds like a lot of people commenting have never been to Chipotle or even had a burrito ... Chipotle is actually incredibly healthy, though perhaps high in calories. If you eat enough salad, that will be high in calories too. A burrito has beans, rice, perhaps meat, cheese, salsa, lettuce ... maybe guacamole or sour cream. That's actually an incredibly balanced and nutrient-rich meal. Much better than a carb-heavy disgusting subway meal any day.
And if the guy lost weight doing this, great for him. I love Chipotle -- it's the only fast food I'll eat.

He's probably okay if he avoids the sour cream and cheese. But I think there's still a lot of sodium in the meat.

Chipoltes is not healthy only by the size of their servings. By no means does ANYONE need a burrito that size, they have a calculator online you can google that shows one of those burritos contains nearly 1,200 calories with your choise of topings, pretty much your calorie intake for the day.

I do like Chipoltes but they do give you two servings at once, so the best thing to do is to break them up. The food itself is great and by no means can be compared to McDonalds, which I dont even want to get started on. I still dont understand why people think that if their served something as big as that burrito they have to eat it all at once...

Despite their serving sizes, Chipoltes is one of the few actually healthy fast food places to eat. Grats on your weight loss!

If he's not exercising he's not improving much. Exercise is key.

Yikes! I only eat half a burrito at a time, but even so, this is ridiculous.

How tall is this guy? I am a 5' tall little old lady, so I have to do with one refried bean. lol

Just a heads up - McDonald's is no longer the parent company and hasn't been for about a year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipotle_Mexican_Grill

Whatever floats his boat, I'm happy he's found something that works for him and that is easy for him to stick to. I hope when he gets to his goal weight he switches over to some healthier fare.

My vote is for Subway because I like their sandwiches and never ate at the place Justin getting his swag *grin*

It's funny that this is even a story, eat less than your body needs and you lose weight. Dude is eating well under his daily needs so he's losing weight. That report acts like he's doing something so special and the media cracks me up like their reporting the second coming or something.

Hello everyone. It's Justin the Chipotle Diet guy. This is crazy. I didn't even know this blog existed. Anyways, for some of you curious, last week was officially 50 pounds. I'm still going. My doctor took me off of high blood pressure medicine a month ago and I'm feeling better than I have in a long time.

Whether you agree with my diet or not, I'm losing weight and eating my favorite food while doing so. This Friday will be my 100th Chicken Fajita since starting this diet. I do realize eventually I will have to put exercise in my routine. However, I'm a new father, I go to evening school trying to get my MBA, and I'm establishing my career. A change in eating habits is all I could try for now. 1 more year left of school which may mean 1 more year of the Chipotle diet. Don't know when I will stop, but I'm still trending down nicely. So until then, I eat burritos. Have a safe Halloween everyone. I'll try to stay away from my daughter's candy.

Justin said:
Hello everyone. It's Justin the Chipotle Diet guy. This is crazy. I didn't even know this blog existed. Anyways, for some of you curious, last week was officially 50 pounds. I'm still going. My doctor took me off of high blood pressure medicine a month ago and I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. [...]

You may be losing weight but you aren't healthy. As soon as you stop the diet you will explode again unless you are exercising with resistance.

SCal said:
You may be losing weight but you aren't healthy.[...]

Justin,

Good luck to you! I wish you all the best with being a new father and furthering your career. Not everyone's lifestyle is the same, and it seems to me you found a good fit for a diet that is showing results.

Having been down a similar road, and as you have read from many comments posted above, you will have to think carefully about the diet changes you will make once your life changes. If you put the same thought and effort that you are putting into your MBA, I am sure you will be successful.

All the best!!!

All I am really going to say is thank God I am not a burrito fan as I could never eat this much. I think I will stick to my high protein and right portions of carbs and fats.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where you're never more than a stone's throw from a taqueria. Our local favorite is a ten minute walk from our house; we call it our "second kitchen" because it's cheaper than eating at home.

Two years ago I started a diet plan to lose 30 pounds. I didn't want to give up burritos at our second kitchen. So, I knocked out the free chips, got rid of the cheese and substituted sliced avocado for guacamole. So, my burritos were: rice, black beans, pico de gallo, sliced avocado on a whole wheat tortilla. I had these twice a week and managed to lose the weight. To this day, I don't miss the chips and I certainly don't miss the cheese. Whenever we walk into our local taqueria we're taunted with "no chips, no chips, no chips.... ha ha ha" in broken English. Hey, at least they remember us. ;-)

I think burritos are one of my downfalls. I live in SF's Mission, land of fat burritos, and I can do without meat and guacamole and sour cream, but not cheese. It's not unhealthy, they're just huge. I am eating no more than 2 a week (down from 4), hopefully that'll help. If I only ate half it would be one thing, but they taste so good I usually eat it all.

Seems I'm exercising enough to burn it up regardless, but we'll see what happens

I think it it works for him, that's what matters. the easiest time I ever had losing weight was eating a double 1/4 pounder and fries from McDonald's for lunch every day, and a scoop of crunchy peanut butter for dinner every night. Lost 4" off my waist in a couple months like that. It is hard to argue with success, and nothing satisfies like fat.

For a runner or competitive athlete, eating burritos is an easy way to provide the protein and carbohydrates that the body needs. they are great when eaten to fuel-up before or after a workout.

I eat at chipotle probably 5 days a week. I love the place. But my weight is getting out of control. I used to be 180 pounds, fit, weightlifter. Now Im damn near 3 bills and even though I still lift weights, Im not losing any weight. I try to tell myself maybe its just all muscle, but i may be lying to myself, you know? I never get any play from hotties anymore either. Please help!

I've been on the Chipotle Diet since August 27, and I HAVE LOST 51 POUNDS so far. I eat a Chipotle burrito bol twice a day, every day. I've been logging my progress at www.ChipotleDiet.com if you are interested in seeing exactly what I eat.

All the food is fresh, natural, raw and mostly organic. No growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides or other junk.

Go Justin!