Mexican food...any suggestions?

Sooo I am going out tonight for a friends birthday and we are going to a Mexican restaurant. Any suggestions on how I can watch my calories and still enjoy myself?

 

Thanks guys!

 I absolutely LOVE mexican, but I always want the quesadillas and enchiladas, haha not your best option calorie-wise.

I'm pretty sure the best option is fajitas. Usually where I go you can order them and then make them yourself. If you're really going for low cal, just add veggies, salsa, and beans/meat to your pita. 

Skip the cheese, sour cream, go easy on the rice (if you have any at all) and try not to eat those chips they serve! They're so addicting, but are like 500 calories for the whole thing...Or something way up there haha.

Avoid the chimichangas and the margaritas!

I always get chicken fajitas and leave off the tortillas and the dressings. But if you are going to splurge on drinks, sangria is healthy and not too high cal and really great for the heart!!

My family eats Mexican food a couple times per week.  I am on a very low carb diet (as per doc) plus I am allergic to dairy.  I have found fajita meat and grilled onions on a shallow bed of lettucetopped with a mound of guacamole and a whole chopped tomato plus a side of black bean soup is the most satisfying way to eat Mexican food.  (No rice, chips or tortillas) If you miss the crunchy chips pack a few cold baby carrots.

I have been eating like this for six months and I don't think I will ever go back to the mindless gorging of chips and queso followed by tortillas in motiqua (melted butter) and fajitas loaded with cheese and sour cream.

I never leave the resturant regreting how much I ate or feeling like an over stuffed burrito.  Instead I enjoy the rest of my evening without a case of indigestion.

Make a few alterations to what you normally eat - laugh, talk and have a great time with your friends.

That's always a tough one.....Mexican is my favorite and it's sooooo easy to overload! 

hmmmm....definitely check too see if the restaraunt you are going to has an on-line nutritional value on their website. 

Otherwise, defintiely stick with chicken.  Maybe chicken fajitas with just the meat and veggies.  Try to skip the cheese, guacamole, etc.  Or order what you want too but only eat half.  As far as chips and salsa, the salsa is ok, it's the chips that are a killer. I would sneak in a baggie of your own baked tortilla chips.

bean soup! and side salad with salsa as your dressing. i get it everytime!!! (I'm vegetarian, but it's also lowest in cals!)

 

ps. on the salad, they usually put avocados, which are good for you, but in moderate amounts =)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions..I feel a lot more prepared for dinner tonight!!

The only thing I've found that is consistently pretty low calorie at a Mexican restaurant is tortilla soup.

If you must have more (and I certainly understand that) order chicken or fish, corn instead of flour.

A typical Mexican food dinner with chips and salsa too is over a 1000 calories.

I know it's a little late for your evening out, but I always try to see if someone wants to share something... the servings restaurants give you now days is WAY too much for one person.  My husband and I share the fajitas... usually chicken... that way we do not eat too much rice, beans, meat, or tortillas.  Mexican is my absolute fav. so it has been hard for me to eat it on 1200 cal diet.  But I have lost 15 pounds in about 5 weeks.

Choose grilled chicken instead of beef, eat salsa, not guacamole, ask for half the cheese, skip the sour cream. Ask if they have any whole grain taco shells or wraps.

Yeah I also eat smaller portions. Some days I don't however, but those days are normally "holy crap I slept until 6 PM and have to go to work at 2 AM and will only eat one meal and be up all night" days so things end up balancing out anyway -laugh-

I am about to go on a tangent but.. go ahead and read if ye' want. Those of you who live near this part of Kentucky might share my feelings. :)

I love getting like platters at a Mexican restaurant and sharing them with friends. That way we save money and don't eat too much. My favorite Mexican restaurant is oddly in the town Lebanon, Kentucky (Los Mariachis) and their shrimp/chicken fajitas are amazing. 6" tortillas too, but they give you about 4. I usually have leftovers for 1-2 days after that.

I also usually have them take off any and all sour cream, replace rice with an extra serving of black beans, and actually I don't eat the tortillas. They bring this sizzling plate of peppers, onions and shrimp to your table worthy of being eaten as a stir fry so you can cut carbs there if you want, most places probably serve fajitas piled high on a sizzing plate.

Cool thing is this place will bring me a bed of lettuce to put my fixins' on so I effectively make a shrimp, pepper and onion salad.

...And tangent done. Sorry my stomach wanted to talk for a while, I can't WAIT to go back to Kentucky for vacation.