I like tacos. The fact that you are reading this post means you probably like tacos too. Let’s be honest here, who doesn’t like tacos? Tacos are delicious. Taco Bell has been a staple in my diet for quite a few years starting with my years in college where I began my everlasting quest to save both time and money. I was a music major and there was a Taco Bell less than 500 feet from the music building. It doesn’t take much to deduce further that I should probably own shares in Taco Bell with how much I had eaten there in college. As I became a “real” adult and I developed the desire to eat well, Taco Bell was there again to quell my cravings for fast food while staying healthy.
In this post, I’m going to show you how to make choices at Taco Bell that will allow you to continue hitting your health and fitness goals.
Two words: Fresco Menu.
In a move to make available more options for health-conscious consumers Taco Bell created the Fresco Menu in 2008. This has made it one of the best options for healthy fast-food. Each item on the fresco menu is 350 calories or less. My favorite options are the chicken soft taco and steak soft taco. Each of these is only 140 calories! You can get 4 of these tacos and it will only be 560 calories. I usually plan my meals and exercise so that I have about 1000 calories left for dinner, so if I decide to eat Taco Bell for dinner, I am WAY under that. Sometimes…I even get 5 tacos.
Let’s say you are not a fan of any of the items on the fresco menu. You would order fresco if you could get a chalupa, a crunchwrap, or something else. What if I told you that you could order nearly any item from the Taco Bell menu in ‘Fresco Style?’ An item ordered fresco style replaces any mayo-based sauces, cheese, sour cream, or guacamole with pico de gallo. Taking away these sources of fat and replacing them with vegetables can cut down on anywhere from 50-100 calories per item. For example, if you order a Chicken Chalupa, you are looking at 340 calories. This item comes with both cheese and sour cream. If we approximate that the cheese and sour cream add up to 80 calories and the added pico de gallo adds a very small amount of calories, your chalupa now comes in at 260 calories. You could eat THREE chicken chalupas fresco style and have eaten 780 calories whereas you would have eaten 680 calories for only two standard chalupas. That’s only 100 calories more for an entire extra chalupa!
Now there’s that. You can say “Fresco Style. I got it. That’s what I’m going to do.” However, not everyone is satisfied with the fresco menu. I know several people who order their Taco Bell with no vegetables. They’re just not fans of Taco Bell’s vegetables. These people are also thinking “I need to have my cheese and/or sour cream on my tacos.” That is totally okay. You can still eat healthy at Taco Bell. You just have to eat LESS Taco Bell. Many of the items on the Taco Bell menu come in at between 250-500 calories. You can typically order 2-3 standard menu items and still be under 1000 calories for your meal. If this is what you want to do, you should take a look at the full nutrition info on the Taco Bell website. Taco Bell restaurants have calories printed on the store menus as well so that you are aware of calorie content as you order.
So there you have it. Three different valid approaches to eating healthy at Taco Bell. Overall, it’s not that hard. Like anything related to healthy eating, you simply need to stay aware and be mindful of your decisions.
Be Well,
Cory
The Well-Fed Man 