Mexican Food Tonight!

One of my favorite foods is Mexican food, well TexMex. All that cheese, all that salsa, all that great flavor. What's not to like? It's also one of the most 'loaded' meals when it comes to calories, so it's not one of those kinds of meals you want every week.

But tonight, my husband and I will be joining a friend at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. That's where my little calorie counting book from The Calorie King, www.CalorieKing.com comes in handy. Even though the book doesn't have any calorie counts for this particular restaurant, I can still look up Mexican food and get a general idea of what I'm going to be facing. For example, it lists the "average enchilada" as 330 calories, an ounce of tortilla chips are listed as 150. (An ounce worth probably being about 17-20 chips.) About a half cup of refried beans are 160. These are all going to be guesses, yes. But it at least these numbers give me an idea, something to go on so that I don't throw caution to the wind and go crazy scarfing down all the chips and salsa before diving into a platter of 3 enchiladas, rice and beans followed by a dessert of flan or sopapillas covered in honey.

This is where portion control also comes in. Have a taste of everything, just don't devour everything. Will I go over my allotted days worth of calories? Perhaps. Will I beat myself up for it? Nope. Will I get right back on the horse tomorrow and start the day fresh with a clean sheet of paper to list my daily foods and calories? Absolutely.

Remember, this isn't so much a diet as it is a way of life. Some days are a little more difficult than others. The important thing is to stick with it, never give up, and be sure that you are the one in control, not the food.