What Next

So what am I doing now that my Chipotle Challenge has ended? That's a good question. And the answer is, eating giant sandwiches.

In addition, I will be participating in an all day eat-a-thon tomorrow commonly known as Thanksgiving. I'm no dummy. Chipotle is amazing but there's no way I was going to devour a burrito on Thanksgiving instead of a giant pile of turkey & spuds.

Maybe that'll be the big new thing in store for Chipotle. The turkey burrito! I guess I have some marketing to do. I'll have to polish up a bit, hunker down for another month of burritos, and give Chipotle marketing a call. Jared from Subway better tighten his belt because Chipotle's Patrick is about to enter the national scene!

Signing out from the Chipotle spotlight,

Patrick

Week 4

No more corn for me. I stand tall with Carnita burrito in hand, pinto beans nearly busting out of the shiny aluminum foil wrapper!

As you may recall, I had a little burrito loving lull in week 3 but week 4 made me proud to be somewhat of a burrito aficionado. With only 6 days to go the fine folks at the Plymouth Chipotle were kind enough to give Sara and I "his and hers" burrito bowls! Where were they when we were scouring the jewelry stores for wedding bands I thought?

I even got butterflies in my stomach and let my emotions get the best of me in a weak moment at home.

Was it day 1 or did I have 22 strong days under my belt? Nobody could tell me anything on that day.

A few days later it was all over. After 28 days of backbreaking burritos, a wallet $327 lighter, and 52 round trips to Chipotle, it had all ended. Just as quickly as it began it was time for my 28 days of burrito-ey goodness to come to an end.

For such a monumental day I of course compiled some statistics. I managed to polish off 52 different feedings from my favorite fast food establishment in just 28 days. Only missed on 4 occasions; once on the account of being in Alexandria, MN, once due to a required lunch meeting at work, once because I was too full from lunch to stammer through dinner, and once because I was simply too lazy to wake up in time for lunch after a late Friday night out. Of the 52 burritos, chicken & barbacoa tied in the popularity contest with 16 of each. Then there was 10 carnita, 8 vegetarian, & 2 steak. A well balanced diet indeed! The categories consisted of 44 burrito bowls, 5 burritos, & 3 sets of tacos. Sara ate with me on 5 occasions and 3 of my meals were free due to phone donations to charity as well as a special Halloween promotion.

And most importantly I finished big, losing 3.4 pounds in week 4, averaging only 1,116 calories & 32 grams of fat per day for the final week! Thus bringing my total weight loss in only 28 days to . . . 11 pounds even! Went from 190.8 to 179.8 in just a month! That's 0.39 pounds per day if you were curious.

Enlarged photo at: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2722/4126143478_b44e141471_o.jpg

And for comparison purposes, some side by side pictures from day 1 & day 28.

I guess I proved a handful of things these last 28 days: 1) I blew my 5 - 10 pound weight loss hypothesis out of the water, 2) It was almost possible for me to tire of Chipotle but nothing could keep us separated, not even a plethora of corn 3) My intestinal fortitude is stronger than ever, and 4) I've got the coolest wife on the planet for putting up with this nonsense!

So how did I do it you ask? Well, it was simple. I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. But after my pants are on, I eat Chipotle burritos.

Signing out . . . until my next Challenge!

Week 3

Ah, the Challenge continues! It was an adventurous week with some ups and downs but an ultimate weight loss of 1.8 pounds! See below or, for a closer examination of the lovely feet some of you viewers have been commenting on, feel free to check out the following link: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4107416484_3c3cb28b57_o.jpg.

The weight loss is decreasing each week but I'm happy to report that there's still a loss even in week 3! Man wins again in the battle of burrito vs. man.

As you can see, I was pretty pumped about burrito # 32.

Who knew that so many burritos in such a short time frame could taste so good?

And such tasty little tacos they have. Look at these guys.

I even scored a couple free burritos by donating some old cell phones to charity this week. Win/win!

The opposite of a win/win, too much corn. Nobody likes that.

I hate to say it but the corn fiasco marked the beginning of my tiring of the diet. I didn't think it was possible but Chipotle fatigue is beginning to set in. I was going strong until all that corn. No turning back now however. A guy can't just quit after losing 7.6 pounds in 3 weeks. No sir, not this guy anyway! I'm looking for a strong finish next week. I got a little lazy in week 3 with the calorie intake at an average of 1,431 per day but the eyes are on the prize and it's time to focus. Only one more week and I'm shooting to make it a big one. Stay tuned for the gripping conclusion!

Week 2

The competition continues! Halloween has past and we're now into November but the Chipotle Challenge is still very much on.

It's hard to believe I've been doing this for two weeks already but having my wife doubt that I would continue probably provides some good encouragement to forge on. No, actually it's been really easy to continue since Chipotle is just so damn good!

There's so many options! I think proving that it's not possible for me to tire of eating Chipotle is pretty much in the bag. Too early to say for sure with two weeks left but you would think that would be enough time to prove utter disgust or true love. As for the weight loss, there was some fluctuation this week although the end result was a 2 pound loss. Not as much progress as the first week although good results nonetheless.

See enlarged picture at: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4087515636_4c13250fb2_o.jpg.

The accountant in me made me calculate the averages again which proved I consumed less in week 2 than week 1. 1,324 calories & 34.25 grams of fat on average. Seems like I would have lost more weight than in week 1 although I did have slightly less exercise in week 2 and snack on a few more junky things this week.

All in all, things are looking good at the mid point. I'm down 5.8 pounds in 14 days and I haven't gotten sick once!

Week 1

Well, the first week of the Chipotle Challenge was very successful. The daily pictures are not very flattering but I'm down 3.8 pounds! Although I don't encourage close examination of my face/profile/scale pictures, for a closer look you can see a larger version of the picture below at: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4062380188_714e4f4231_o.jpg.

Some people are still a bit skeptical about my Challenge although I have more optimism than ever. The only hindrance I see is the fact that today is a chocolate filled Halloween. I'm expecting a bit of a weight loss lull early next week but progress should keep on rolling a few days in.

As for the menu, it's been quite diverse. Despite the difference in ingredients for each burrito, the pictures look quite identical so I've only shown a few below.

As a true accountant, I used a spreadsheet to compile some statistics. You may remember from my first post that I'm to consume no more than 1,994 calories & 66 grams of fat per day to be at my ideal weight. To sum up week 1, I averaged my daily calorie & fat intake and ended up consuming roughly 2/3 of my ideal requirements. Average of 1,345 calories & 41 grams of fat per day. Not too shabby! I did notice when I actually track this stuff it makes it kind of a competition with myself. Each day my burrito's gotta be less fatty than the last. After a week of eating Chipotle twice a day, the desire to eat one more burrito is not surprisingly still going strong. And I haven't clogged an artery yet so things are going well! We'll see what happens in week 2!

28 Days

Most people I associate with know that I am no stranger to Chipotle. This will be especially true for the next 28 days. With the wife's reluctant approval I've decided to embark upon a month long Chipotle binge! Every man's dream if you ask me.

Ask college students about the "Freshman 15" and most will acknowledge that lounging around the apartment, drinking like a fish, & snarfing down T-Bell Grande Meals is a quick way to put on 15 pounds of solid love handle. Nothing wrong with a little love handle right? Well, I'm a guy and I typically don't care about these sorts of things, but in the three and a half years since graduating from college I've spent a considerable amount of time sitting around office buildings, gulping down coffee, eating on the run, and drinking away the stress of 50+ hour work weeks. Turns out that's a really excellent way to pack on 25 extra pounds. The Young Professional 25, if you will.

The solution? Chipotle . . . twice a day! Despite common belief, Chipotle is good for you and I plan to prove it by eating it for both lunch & dinner every day for the next 28 days. After determining my ideal weight (about 25 pounds less than my current weight), I calculated the number of calories (1,994) and amount of fat (66g) I should consume daily to maintain this weight. A typical fajita burrito bowl (without guacamole or sour cream) has around 500 calories & 21 grams of fat while a fajita burrito has approximately 800 calories & 30 grams of fat. In either case you can see how eating this twice a day while consuming a standard breakfast would be less calories & fat than required. The best part is that a meal from Chipotle is very well balanced and definitely fills a man up.

Everyone gives me a hard time about my love for Chipotle so, my hypotheses are: 1) I will lose 5 - 10 pounds over the next 28 days, & 2) It is impossible for me to get tired of eating Chipotle. I will do my best to photograph my daily burritos in action and will take a picture of my face, profile, and feet on the scale as a way to track progress. My ability to continue the study should prove whether or not I get tired of eating Chipotle. Fortunately I have such a cool wife that she's willing to put up with this experiment. To minimize posts & maximize suspense, check back weekly for updates!