What Food Could You Give-up for a Month?

Alright – this will be brief, but it was really just a passing thought concerning my health and eating habits.

I am an avid Chipotle Fan.  I eat there 3-4 times a weeks, have been to most of the locations in my city and would love to eat it everyday if possible.  Seriously – it’s that delicious to me.  And I’m not alone.  While Chipotle isn’t the kind of male fast food choices in America, it’s are least in the top consideration set…

Great info from a study released back in June of 2011. CLICK THE PIC to see the full larger infographic as this is just an excerpt relevant to this post. Here's the source if you care to read anything: http://blog.lab42.com/american-dudes-and-fast-food

All that aside though – it hit me, “I’m aware Chipotle is chock full of calories, but how many?”

To answer my question, I did what any self-respecting blog writer would do: I went straight to their site and researched the numbers for myself.  Now assuming that the numbers presented reflect the portions that are actually given to you in the store (which I’m guessing they don’t) — here’s what my avrage burrito shakes out to be…

CLICK THE PIC to see Chipotle's Nutrition Breakout in a larger view that's easier to read...

That’s right – if you look straight at the bottom 3 lines of this chart, one of my burritos (I highlighted everything I get on it in yellow & I go with half steak, half barbacoa) takes up about half of my daily caloric requirements (the typical suggestion is a 2,000 calorie diet).  That’s not that bad really considering I only eat lunch and dinner most days, but there were some other interesting stats:

• One burrito (the way I eat them) meets 89% of my suggested daily saturated fat intake.
• A “Johnnie Burrito” is also 92% of my recommended daily sodium intake (again – this is assuming that the portions they give me are correct).
• Plus there’s a slew of vitamins in these things — e.g. 97% of my daily Vitamin A requirements!

Here’s the blunt truth of the matter: although I love these burritos – I probably don’t need to be eating these things all that often.  Once or twice a week is probably great considering the fat and sodium intake levels – but at the 3-4 rate I’m eating it, I’m surely killing myself slowly.  Haha – if you’re the glass half-empty type – I guess I’m really killing myself faster eating Chipotle the way I do.

So here’s the rub.

I’m going to give up Chipotle for a month starting today and just see how I feel when everything is said and done.  I won’t update you on this on a daily basis or anything like that, but I just wanted to tie you all into my food thoughts.  This isn’t an attempt to bash Chipotle.  I really do love the food and the brand, plus there are plenty of other alternatives which are much worse for my health.  In fact I’m going to do an “experiment” this Summer involving Chipotle that I will tell you all about when the time comes.  I’m just pumping the breaks for now.

But enough about me, how about you? As the title says – what food could you give up for a month?  Share your thoughts in the Comment Section below.

Peace and thanks for reading.