Veggie Burrito - How Many Calories?

I try to stay away from fast food, but there are just times when I need something quick and convenient, you know? Nonetheless, a busy lifestyle is no excuse for ordering a double bacon cheeseburger -- when you're on the go, you owe it to yourself to make the healthiest choices possible. For me, that often means choosing the vegetarian option -- it tends to be lower in fat and overall calories than the meat option, and you don't have to deal with those icky 'where did this cheap meat come from' questions in the back of your mind.

One veggie option I love is a vegetarian burrito from Taco Del Mar. It's got rice, beans, cheese, salsa and enough flavour to make my meal a delicious one. But just because it's vegetarian, doesn't mean it's healthy. So ...

The answer is 870 calories, plus 24 grams of fat and 1830 grams of sodium in a Mondo cheese burrito from Taco Del Mar, according to their official website. Um, yikes! That's one heck of a calorific lunch. With meat? There's 1070 calories in the beef burrito of the same size and 1030 calories in the chicken. And that's without sour cream.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that the Mondo burrito is the big size -- you can get what they call the Mondito, which will run you about 460 calories for the veggie variety. Or you could stick to a taco -- they're even smaller and have around 270 calories in each one.

Taco Del Mar offers a bunch of ... er, 'helpful' tips on how to cut calories while still frequenting their establishment -- things like eating slowly and getting your meal without cheese -- but as for myself, I'm limiting my trips to Taco Del Mar to extreme taco emergencies only.