I used to really, really crave Mexican food a lot. Especially during pregnancy, so you can imagine the heartburn. But even pre- and post-pregnancy. Recently, though, it hasn’t seemed so appealing. Good, but not “can’t live without”. I stopped and got Taco Bell for lunch today (actually, it was a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, so Quinn got pizza because my kids won’t eat Mexican – even fake Mexican). It was ok. Maybe being over my Mexican cravings means I shouldn’t go to Taco Bell anymore, and I think my heart would thank me for that.
At any rate, and for whatever reason, I start thinking about nutritionally what are the best items to eat there. I mean, obviously it’s not diet food (even their “Fresco” menu), but there are certainly better and worse items. You know, the difference between and single and triple bypass? (Incidentally, I have a book called Restaurent Confidential that talks about restaurant food. It’s quite persuasive.) So I went to their web site and found their nutritional guide. There weren’t many surprises. I suspected chicken would be slightly better than beef, and that was indeed the case. I might switch to chicken, because frankly, when I really start thinking about the beef, it scares me. How do they get it so fine? Why does it ooze? Yes, chicken might be better for several reasons. But, and here was the biggest surprise, the single worst item on the menu for you (fat and calories)? The Fiesta Taco Salad. Yup, it beat out nachos Bell Grande by one fat gram and 70 calories. It’s not a surprise that a salad could be so bad for you (hey McD’s, not everyone wants bacon on their salad!), but a surprise that it took the very top honor.
And so, 45 minutes on the bike this morning was not nearly enough. Probably 4 hours would do it. Darn you, Taco Bell.
