Eating Out: Chipotle Mexican Grill...Mexican with a (Guilty) Conscience?

Vegetarian soft tacos from Chipotle. Mmmm...

Weight Watchers is a weight loss program that tracks your daily food intake through a point system.  You're allotted a certain number of points per day based on a few different factors, weight and gender being a couple. You even get some weekly bonus points to use as you'd like.  There is definitely a thrill in calculating points for someone like me.  Also I stay on track with any diet when I'm writing what I eat down. The paper trackers were great and I delighted in saving up points for a special treat at the end of the week, like a frosting-filled doughnut (I think it's clear now why I've needed WW in the first place).  These days, you can also track your points online.  I definitely preferred the paper format.

Anyway, many Weight Watcher members are elevated to guru-like status, calculating points for every food imaginable and posting their findings on websites for the enlightenment of other Weight Watchers.  Dottie's Weight Loss Zone is an example of a site created most likely by someone who has to be super skinny because how can she possibly have any time to eat when she's calculating points for every food on the planet.  This individual calculates points for food items from seemingly every existing restaurant.  I mean, Old Country Buffet is on there with its gazillion menu options.  And since Weight Watchers recently upgraded to a Points Plus system, she went in and included points based on the new system too. In the eyes of many an individual with a few pounds to lose, the woman is a saint.  Her efforts allow dieters to eat out, without having to calculate the points themselves.

I digress.  My main point is that one day I went to Dottie's site to see how many points a vegetarian burrito from Chipotle  is worth.  I have loved vegetarian burritos from Chipotle for a long, long time.The smoky black beans, the creamy guacamole, coupled with the cilantro-lime rice--it's heavenly.  Chipotle lets you pick what you want in your food, so Dottie's site only offers points based on the different options, not the overall item.  This is very misleading for those of us who optimistically assume that since 3.5 oz of guacamole is only 3.5 points and a flour tortilla (burrito-size) is 6.5 points the whole burrito is not going to be too much.

But I did a bit more digging online and found another site that listed total WW points for Chipotle menu items.  I was in shock.  The vegetarian burrito, with black beans, rice, cheese, guacamole, and salsa weighed in at a hefty 25.5 points!  For those of you unfamilar with WW points, 25.5 points was more than I was allotted per day. To enjoy a vegetarian burrito from Chipotle without guilt, I'd need to eat nothing else all day and then save about 4 points' worth for the next day.  And if you really must know, this site states that the veggie burrito equals 42 grams of fat. Why, Chipotle, why?

The veggie soft tacos, pictured above, aren't much better. But some days, I do indulge. I cannot always resist their call.  I know Dottie would not approve but is it so bad to enjoy tasty food now and again, even if it's not low-fat or Weight Watcher-friendly?

Chipotle Kids' Meal, Quesadilla with side of rice, side of black beans, chips, and low-fat milk

Fast forward to motherhood.  The kids' meal above, which I've fed to my LOs on a few occasions, contains about 18.5 grams of fat, based on the nutrition info on their website.  That doesn't include the milk.  They love the food as much as I do but this is definitely one meal we need to eat in moderation.  Chipotle can be a very enticing fast food option, given that their motto is "food with integrity".  I like the idea that they care about the animals that go into their meals and the people who raise the produce and animals they use.  And the food is just so delicious.  Again, is it so bad to feed my kids Chipotle once in a while as part of a overall diet that aims to be healthy? At this point in my food adventure, I don't think so.I feel as long as most meals we eat are home cooked, low-fat, low-sodium, packed with vitamins, minerals, proteins, healthy fats (which the avocado in guacamole has, by the way),we should be OK.  I don't necessarily want my LOs to grow up fat and unhealthy but I also don't want them to grow up stressing about every detail of every meal or counting anything obsessively.  But maybe it is time for me to start writing down meals again, to get a better sense of exactly what we're eating and how much...What's your guilty food pleasure?