Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 20

Today I only had one burrito. I worked this morning, got off at 2 pm, went home and packed everything up, and drove to our new (temporary) place in Fairview, UT.

New place totally has no fridge. I'm not complaining. The place is beautiful and I'm grateful to the guy letting me crash there. Just saying, we're still on fast food for a little bit.

We drove around a bit and found this place El Mexicano in Mount Pleasant.

Had a Shredded Beef Burrito. It was pretty good. Best horchata I've had in a while, and I've had a lot lately.

Even though the burrito was so good, I still feel miserable over the nutrition, or lack thereof, the thing must have had, and the cost. Eating out this much is taking a toll on more than just my arteries.

I had such high hopes a few days into this thing of trying to not only finish the challenge, but to total blow it away by making it healthy, economically sound, and even tasty! That last part would have been the easiest.

I still believe that it's pretty simple to make a cheap, healthy burrito diet if you're picky with ingredients and wise about beverages, but the circumstances surrounding my move just haven't allowed me to explore that as I would have liked.

So this thing has got to come to an end at some point. I'm going to scan and email some verification to Yishan tonight. I'm going to keep going until Day 24, get two solid years of Gold, and go have some sushi (japanese burrito? Does that still count?).

Even after this is done, though, I think burritos will still form a decent chunk of my diet.

Maybe just not ones like I had today...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 19

Day 19.

What am I doing? I've just... I've got so many tortillas. Like a whole head of lettuce still. None of it seems to be going away because all of our cooking whatnot is packed up. We've been getting a lot of fast food. Were moving into a temporary spot tomorrow. Gonna cook up some real burritos before the food goes bad.

Today I was at work. I had almost resolved to just eat whatever they served and put this thing to bed.

We had burritos...

Tortilla. Corn. Cheese. Salsa. Sour cream. Hot sauce. Beans.

The universe itself seems to spur me on! To what end, I know not!

Still, I have no idea when I will be able to cook my own food again, and if I'm going to be eating out, it might as well be burritos. Practicality almost demands I continue. 

Supplies are abundant.

I want for nothing.

I am well fed.

The horror...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 18

So I almost didn't eat anything at all today. I woke up at 5:30 am, clocked in at 6:00 am, worked until 2:00 pm. Went and looked at an apartment I'm trying to rent. Came back to worked from 4:00 pm - 8:00pm. Went and ran errands. Got home around 9:30 pm.

I was so busy today I didn't even get hungry. I just wasn't thinking about it.

In fact, I wasn't even really hungry when I got home, but I felt like I should eat because I haven't all day, and a huge burrito may fight off the soul-crushing anxiety of maybe being homeless in two days.

It worked. Rancherita's works magic. Can't go wrong with a Shrimp Burrito and a large Healing Potion Horchata.

Except it totally had a huge gaping wound in it side!

Eating this burrito was an act of mercy! I had to put it out of its misery! It was bleeding shrimp and not nearly enough salsa!

I'm such a good person...

I've got to stop going for take-out. Sure does help with the soul-crushing anxiety, though.

In addition, my original plan was to go until I ran out of burrito supplies, but I'm in the process of moving and all my kitchen gear is packed away, so I can't fix up any burritos. So I'm not running out. I could just call it quits, but then what am I gonna do with all that burrito stuff? Am I gonna keep at this until I get done moving?

Oh man, I'm trapped in an eternal, homeless burrito nightmare...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 17

Today I worked all day. I actually went in to work early. Left home around 10:30 am, got to work around 12:30 pm. Worked until about 10:00 pm.

I never thought I'd miss the things, but I realized half way through my shift that I left my disgusting frozen burritos at home. I want to finish them so that I can stop eating them.

Anyway, ran to a Maverick gas station after work and got.... The Bomb!

It was just so huge! It was like one of those ultra legit burritos from Rancherita's or Beto's. But oh, how disappointing. It was like an XL Taco Bell Bean Burrito.

I didn't see anything inside except a little bit of cheese and a strange brown paste which may have contained some kind of anything, but looked like one of the factory workers had eaten too much of their own product and couldn't make it to the restroom...

On a side note, I have written statements from several people who have spent a significant amount of time with me lately saying that I did abide by the requirements of this challenge for the required amount of time. 

I will be scanning these and sending them to Yishan!

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 16

Today started out being all full of hope and cheer and whatnot. We ended up going back to Costa Vida one last time before the big move.

Grabbed me some Sweet Pork Burrito.

After that we went home and finished packing everything up. A few hours later we finished and got in touch with someone who was gonna help us haul our crap. By then, I was a bit hungry again and decided to have another burrito! Contained refried beans, lettuce, salsa, and hot sauce.

After that it was all down-hill. We got to the new place and, long story short, found out that our new spot was basically given away to someone else. We were told this after we moved all our stuff in.

So we came home, disappointed and almost homeless, and in need of comfort food. Rancherita's. Shrimp Burrito.

Sad day. Good food is good, though, and good friends helped us through a lot of stuff. Part of me feels guilty about all the money we spent on food today, but I think it's OK since it balanced out all the crap. 

See you tomorrow.

Hopefully we'll find a place to live...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 15...

So the challenge is over. All that's left now is to send Yishan witness statements that I followed the rules. I contacted him earlier to ask what method of verification he would prefer and he did get back to me. I will be working on that over the next few days and emailing it to him, rather than posting it here.

I'm going to keep going with the challenge for just a few days, though, just because I bought so much burrito crap when I started this that I still have a lot of it laying around. I figure if I'm going to keep eating this stuff, I may as well keep getting Gold for it.

Today I had a McDonald's Breakfast Burrito at about 1:30 am.

If you've never had a McDonald's Breafast Burrrito, don't. Disgusting.

I was hanging out with a friend later on and we went back to Costa Vida in Orem, UT. Had yet another Shredded Beef Burrito. I don't have a picture available at the moment, though one was taken, but I do have a video of me eating it.

That burrito filled me up pretty well, so I was good for the rest of the day. I did have one more burrito today, but not because I was hungry. I've been living in Provo, UT for about a year now and the whole time people have been telling me I need to try Beto's in Orem. I'm moving this week so I thought I'd run by and grab a burrito from there, too, since I may not get another chance for a while.

I got a Shrimp Burrito because I wanted to be able to compare it to the Shrimp Burrito I got from Rancherita's the other day. 

I actually liked the Rancherita burrito better. But Beto's does let you grab your own salsa, so I stocked up pretty good. Grabbed me some guac, too.

I also got a whole lot of the sweet nectar of the Olympian Gods Horchata.

It was a pretty good burrito. Tomorrow will be spent moving, mostly. I may end up going through a few more of my microwave ones. Can't wait to be done with those. I do have plenty of stuff left for the home-made ones, which I love, but it'll be a busy day. 

We'll see.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 14!!!

This is it. The big day. Less than two hours till midnight and I can say I go out with a clean conscience and a filthy, filthy gastrointestinal system.

Woke up pretty late today. Made myself a burrito for lunch.

It had refried beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, and onion.

Later on, around 10 pm, I ovenned up some of those microwave burritos. I'm really tired of the microwave ones, but I feel like I have to use them up so I can just be done with them.

I only had a little bit of my hot sauce left, too, so I decided to use it up on these burritos. I've been using this hot sauce on basically every home-made burrito I've had over this two weeks. I didn't think it would be too bad. 

I start out pouring a little on each bite, and I'm thinking, "This isn't too bad," but by the time I finish the first burrito, I'm really feeling it. I still didn't mind it too much. In fact, I prefer it that way. Why on Earth do you eat hot sauce if you don't like the burn?

So I'm like, "This is actually pretty good," and I keep going. I'm not sure if you can see it on video, but pretty soon into the second burrito I start sweating and it really gets to be burning pretty bad. I start having doubts, but I've got so little left in the bottle. In fact, at one point  look into the bottle to see how much is left and i'm a bit disappointed that there's so much still, but I did manage to finish it off.

I tell you what, though, soon as I was done with the burrito, I went straight to the fridge for some milk.

About 90 min. until midnight, and I'm feeling good.

Veni, Vidi, Edi.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 13

Today I actually ate a healthy amount of food.

First, on my way home from work, I stopped at one of my favorite restaraunts. Wheeler's, in Mount Pleasant, UT. I got a burrito, of course.

You can't fool me, Styrofoam plate and
tiny container of not enough salsa...

Wheeler's food is typically stupid delicious, but I actually wasn't too impressed by the burrito. It was good enough that I didn't regret the purchase, but fool me once...

Let me explain the whole shoving-this-whole-burrito-in-my-mouth-all-in-one-piece thing. The burrito itself was about the same quality as the frozen ones I stick in the mirowave. It was pretty hard.

In addition, the cheese was clearly microwaved. You know how microwaved cheese turns into a solid sheet of vaguely edible rubber? Yep.

To make things worse, I got no knife, and a fork that was clearly made out of the same stuff those rubber slappy hands you get in vending machines are made of.

In short, cutting this burrito was a nigh impossible task. An obstacle of Herculean proportions.

Here you go...

Majestic.

Later on in the evening, I had a home-made burrito. By far, these have been my favorite. They may not look like much, but they're delicious, filling, substitutions are allowed, and what they lack in tiny containers of salsa, they more than make up for in a complete absence of economic/nutritional guilt.

This burrito had ground beef, refried beans, lettuce, onion, salsa, and shredded cheese.

A few seconds into the video, I start looking around for my bottle of Beware Hot Sauce that I've been using this whole week. Little did I know that this would lead me on an epic, life-changing quest to find my beloved hot sauce...

Later on,  I had one more burrito, same ingredients as before...

A moment into the video, I find my lost hot sauce behind a basket of something. Thus ended my quest.

It was a good day.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 12

Worked all day today. Woke up at around 5:30 am, clocked in and worked until 10 pm. Just heated up a few more of those microwave burritos.

And the video...

These were actually the last two burritos in this package. That's exciting. As soon as I run out of food, I'm going to go shopping again and we'll see what changes I can make.

I think the reason I'm not getting as hungry is just because I've been too busy to think about it. I'm glad to be out of these microwave burritos. I only have one more package. I'm also glad that tomorrow morning is my last shift for a while. I'm most likely going to head home and make myself a real burrito.

That'll be nice.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 11

This one is going to be quick because it's 1 am and in 5 hours I start a 16 hour shift.

I only had one meal again today, but boy howdy was it a good one. Sure filled me up.

I went to Rancherita's in Provo, UT. It's amazing. It's one of those places that serves up all their food in Styrofoam containers and they have that amazing hot sauce in the tiny, clear containers. I know you've seen places like this. They're everywhere and they're always named after some person.

Back in the Bay Area we had Adalberto's, Alejandro's, Baldo's and hundreds more. Here in Utah, I've seen Juanita's, Beto's, Rancherita's. I think the only exception to this pattern I've ever seen was La Charrita in Fairfield, CA.

Anyway, I love these places.

Had a Shrimp Burrito and, of course, a whole mess of Horchata. Should have asked for more of that salsa. Why do they even come in containers that size? They know I want more!

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 10

So I woke up today and went straight to work. I had to clock in early to cover for someone who had to take off. So I didn't eat for most of the day. No breakfast. No lunch. I worked from 2 pm to 10 pm, clocked out and heated up some of my microwavable burritos.

I've been eating two per evening shift, and this is my second week on the same box. I still have another box at home. I'm starting to think I'll keep going after the required 14 days simply because I overstocked and I'll still have all these burritos lying around.

Anyway, here's dinner.

What's more nutritious? The burritos or the paper towel?

And the required video.

I filled up on a lot of water today. I'm thinking if I go another two weeks, I'll probably just pig out on the rest of my microwave burritos and then start bringing burritos to work. I already have a few ideas for making these burritos healthier, but I don't want to go shopping again until I use up what I have, and I went shopping for two weeks. I think my goal for the second two weeks would be to apply all the stuff I've learned this time around and try to figure out a viable, long-term, 100% burrito diet.

Might not be possible, but I'm curious now...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 9

I'm not getting tired of burritos (Sorry, Yishan), but I am getting tired of fast food. I've been eating quite a bit of Taco Bell lately simply because of convenience and because of the way my schedule works out. Had more today. I didn't feel like having any more of those bean burritos, so I got a Burrito Supreme and a 7-Layer Burrito. Variety is the spice of life. Also, cinnamon.

Some of the stuff in the 7-Layer Burrito looked like actual food, but considering the source, I doubt it.

Tastes like "meh".

Also, went back to Costa Vida today. Went to dinner with family from out of town and they just can't seem to get enough of that place. Oh well, one more Shredded Beef Burrito.

I go to work again tomorrow, so it'll be back to the microwave for a few days...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 8

Today was a pretty filling day. Started off with a snack just after 1 am. Contained refried beans, salsa, hot sauce, shredded cheese, lettuce, and onion.

Woke up somewhere in the afternoon. Went and walked around the Univeristy Mall a bit in Orem, Utah. Stopped at a Taco Bell for a quick snack. Bean Burrito. Anyone know how to flip a video?...

 Later on, met up with some family visiting from out of town. Went back to Costa Vida. I'm actually kinda getting tired of this place, but they loved it last time they were here and just had to have it again. Heck of a lot better than Taco Bell, at least. Got off the Shredded Beef Burrito and had Grilled Chicken instead.

Hung out for a few more hours and ended up having dinner at a Village Inn, also in Orem. Had a Sante Fe Breakfast Burrito.

All the food was good, except maybe the Taco Bell, but it had three packets of fire sauce in it, which helped. By the end of it, I definitely felt like I'd eaten way too much today. I guess it'll balance out, though. I've got a pretty busy day tomorrow and probably won't have much time to eat at all...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 7

Ok, so no breakfast today. I don't know when I woke up, but it was well past noon. Got up and made myself a real burrito. Contained ground beef, lettuce, onion, salsa, shredded cheese, and hot sauce.

And some video...

For dinner, around 9:00 pm or so, I made myself a burrito with the same ingredients, plus refried beans.

And some video, with projectile juice squirting, for those of you who sprung for the 3D glasses!

Oh man, the look on my face is just priceless...

So that was my food for today. In the meantime, I've been looking into ways to make this diet as healthy as possible.

For example, I've been thinking about switching out the ground beef for lean turkey, switch out lettuce for cabbage, corn torillias instead of flour, brown rice instead of white, and making my own salsa, among other things.

What do you think?

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 6

Came home from work today. Worked 6 am to 2 pm. Got home at around 5 pm. Went out to dinner. Back to Costa Vida in Orem, Utah. Had the same as last time. Shredded Beef Burrito. I discovered they also give free refills, so in addition to my burrito, I had an absurd and probably unheaalthhy amount of that sweet, sweet horchata.

Mmmm, Tapatio.

And the obligatory video...

And an empty plate...

So with only a few minutes left until midnight, that's my one meal for today. Still not terribly hungry, but I may cook one up in a bit just cuz I feel like I should be eating more.

More on that tomorrow, I guess.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 5

Today was another day when I pretty much went hungry. I'm actually starting to worry about how fine I feel. I'm really thinking I should look into why I'm just not hungry. I'll be the first person in the history of medicine to go to a doctor complaining that I feel fine.

Anyways, as I predicted yesterday, I did end up having a midnight snack. Somewhere between midnight and 1 am, I had a bean burrito from Taco Bell.

And the relevant video...

I finally went to sleep at some point, woke up around 11 am, went to work at 2pm, worked until 10 pm, and had a few more of those microwavable ones from the other day because I don't go home until tomorrow afternoon.

And the video...

Let me say at this point that I feel a little like a hypocrite because I was so excited the other day to see if I could find a healthy way to do this, and then I spend the next two days shoving stuff in the microwave and eating fast food.

In my defense, it's mostly due to my work schedule. I usually don't have a whole lot of time for real meals anyways. But tomorrow I go home and I don't work again for a few days, so I'll have a chance to really see what I can do.

One of my motivations for finding a healthy way to do this is because Yishan has pushed my competitive button, and so not only do I have every intention of finishing this challenge, but I'm going to see how long I can go after. I don't plan on stopping until Yishan and a licensed cardiologist beg me to stop.

I'm coming for all your Gold, Yishan ... if I can find a way to survive the effort...

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 4

Only had one burrito today. I literally haven't eaten anything else. I had a glass of milk for breakfast, and a large soda for dinner, but this was my only lunch...

And the required video, now with digitally enhanced throat clearing and gulping sound!

I think I should be hungrier than I am. In the past 36 hours, I've basically had three microwavable burritos while I was at work. I've had a lot of liquids, but still, shouldn't I be starving?

I mean, I'm a little hungry, but not even enough to overcome my laziness and lack of desire to go cook a real burrito.

Guess I'll just have one in the morning, or a midnight snack.

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 3

I've eaten very little today. I woke up at around 11 am and headed off to work. Got there at 2 pm and clocked in. I worked until 10 pm. I just had my first meal of the day a few minutes ago, at about 10:10 pm.

I drank lots of fluids throughout the day. I had a few cups of root beer, a ton of water, and I'm finishing a Dr. Pepper as I write this. I don't normally drink that much soda. It just kinda happened. Long story.

But still, by the time I clocked out, I was pretty well starved. I had a box of microwavable burritos in the freezer and had two of them.

Las Campanas brand "Red Hot Beef"

And here's the obligatory video.

Now, I've been thinking today about the health implications of eating nothing but burritos for two weeks. I started thinking about things that typically go into burritos. Meat (usually beef, it seems like), lots of veggies, a little dairy, and forced portion control.

I'm not saying I've been eating healthy over the last few days. I've had take-out twice, and microwave food once. I've only had one home cooked meal in three days, though I have stocked up on supplies.

What I am saying is that I think this has potential and if I can approach it in an intelligent manner, it could be a good thing. 

Time to do some research.

Wish me luck!

Two Week Burrito Challenge: Day 2

Had no breakfast today. Tried to find a Taco Bell, but they weren't open yet. It was, like, 11:30 am! What kind of Taco Bell isn't open at 11:30 am!

Went to a Del Taco across town for lunch. Had three Bean and Cheese Burritos and a Jacked Up Bean, Rice and Cheese Burrito.

I could have taken a picture of used, soggy paper towels
and you'd be none the wiser.

So, as required by the conditions of the challenge, here's some extremely exciting video of meeating some burritos. May not be suitable for children or non-children.

Dinner was at home. Had two home-made burritos. Contained ground beef, lettuce, refried beans, shredded cheddar, salsa, sour cream.

Fluids for the rest of the night.

I don't mind the burritos so far. I think the worst part of the challenge so far is these videos. Super exciting, I bet, watching me eat a burrito...

Still going strong, though. Tomorrow will be interesting because it's my first day of work since I started this and I'll be away from home for 24 hours. I picked up some of those frozen microwavable burritos.

Wish me luck!

Two Week Burrito Challenge : Day 1

Only had one burrito today. Slept in until about 2 pm, so there wasn't a whole lot of breakfast or lunch going on. Dinner was at Costa Vida in Orem, Utah. I had a shredded beef burrito.

Aww, yeah.

Now, you'll be treated to video confirmation of me eating said burrito. Majestic...

And the result...

Planning on fluids for the rest of the evening. Still pretty stuffed. I should be fine. See you tomorrow!

Reddit CEO Challenge. Eat nothing but burritos for two weeks.

This challenge was issued by Reddit CEO, /u/yishan, in the subreddit, /r/GoForGold. The challenge is to eat nothing but burritos for a minimum of two weeks.

Conditions:

This does not count.

1. I may eat as many or as few burritos as I wish in a given day.
2. All solid food must be a burrito.
3. It must be a real burrito, not just arbitrary food in a tortilla.
4. Any beverages are allowed.
5. Also, I must blog about this experience daily, including the video of me eating the burritos.
6. At least one other friend must attest that I adhered to the rules of the challenge.

Reward:

1.  Reddit CEO, /u/yishan, will personally award one month of reddit gold for each day of burrito-only diet that I successfully accomplish, once I complete at least 14 days of burrito-only diet (e.g. if I only get to 13 days and quit, I get nothing).
2. This gold will not come from reddit's coffers; he will personally pay for it himself.
3. Yes, I can earn over a year of gold by completing this challenge - and more if I go for longer. 
4. Other spectators may pledge gold too, at their discretion.

Today is day one and since I have no burritos, I guess I'm going hungry until I can go shopping later.

Wish me luck!