Healthier Taco Bell Options

This title probably made you do a double take, but you were right the first time: Taco Bell. I am still a college student and food for cheap is always in demand. Most fast food restaurants have updated their menus to include healthier and more nutritious options and Taco Bell is no exception. Their version of this is called "Fresco", which means no cheese but additional lettuce and a healthier pico de gallo salsa of diced tomatoes, onions and cilantro is added. While there today, I found out that you can get almost anything on the menu prepared "Fresco" style. For anyone that knows me, sacrificing cheese is a HUGE deal for me, but I didn't really find myself missing it too much. If anything I would say that the taste was even better with the addition of the salsa.

For my meal I got a Fresco Chicken Soft Taco and a Fresco Crunchy Taco; both of these items together were only 290 calories and 11.5g of fat. I understand that this is still pretty high, but in comparison to the rest of their menu, it's pretty damn good and just as tasty.

Just to compare:

Regular Meal
Burrito Supreme with Chicken = 390 calories and 12g of fat
Crunchy Taco = 170 calories and 10g of fat
Bean Burrito = 370 calories and 11g of fat
TOTAL = 930 calories and 33g of fat

Fresco Meal
Burrito Supreme with Chicken  = 330 calories and 8g of fat
Crunchy Taco = 150 calories and 8g of fat
Bean Burrito =  340 calories and 8g of fat
TOTAL = 820 calories and 24g of fat

You can see that you cut more than 100 calories and almost 10g of fat by making the switch to Fresco. This may not seem like a significan difference but over the course of the day...even the slightest excess of calories can add up. I'm not saying that you should eat this at every meal, but just a reminder that there are HEALTHIER options at your favorite fast food locations. And who doesn't love something that is both cheap and delicious?!

YOU CAN CHECK ALL THEIR NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE TACO BELL WEBSITE  http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition

ENJOY!!