How a "Virtual Burrito" Can Help You Lose Weight

To better understanding how different foods items affect your caloric intake-per meal, snack, and eating--this Chipotle calculator lets you both visually, and mentally see how this works.

Iowa Avenue is "agnostic." We offer recommendations-when we occasionally do--for only those things that we think can help you, and on those particular occasions, we don't "push" it on you, or try a "hard sell." We do so with the sole goal of giving you our professional opinions about what's out there in the marketplace so you can make informed decisions.

But, I do like their interactive calculator. If you use it, you can gain a better understanding of the relationships between what we eat, and how it affects our caloric intake. So, hit the link and experiment: Chipotle Calculator

This particular widget allows you to add or subtract different ingredients to your virtual burrito. Click the different buttons.

I'll bet that you will find it interesting to discover how the calorie numbers go up and down, depending on what you add or not.

If you add cheese to your virtual burrito, the calorie total increases to 728 from 628. Also, the % of fat with the cheese increases from 6% without to 36% with "having it your way."

On the other hand, by adding romaine lettuce calories only increase by 6 while Vitamin A increase by 18%, Vitamin C by 10%, and Iron by 2%, all from just adding a little lettuce.

Sometimes small changes equal large results. Here is a great example.

So if small changes have such a dramatic increase in the amount of fats and calories in you diet, next time you're making a salad, sandwich, or dinner recipe, think about what you're putting in it.

Add something healthier and take out something that adds too many calories and fat. You'll still enjoy your favorite foods, but customize it for what suits you best because,

After all, it's about a healthy lifestyle!

Iowa Avenue