I have to chime in as another horribly guilty burrito lover! I started out by counting calories fairly closely, trying to keep it around 1400 per day. Then I went on vacation, and it was impossible to try to keep an accurate count for 11 days with no computer / book / anything, so I've been doing more of a mental thing. I will probably get back into the swing of keeping a more controlled count of intake and so forth in a bit, but since getting back I've been eating pretty much whatever I want.... as in, I have been to one of my favorite local burrito establishments (the closest Chipotle is 30 miles away! But we have other brands, sigh...) almost every single day since I got back. But at the same time, I have still lost over 5 pounds in less than two weeks, so I guess the burrito diet has some merits.
I am definitely a believer in allowing yourself a little more dietary freedom, if you are able to do so without having it be too strong of a test of your willpower. I still have a lot of candy and treats etc. around the house, but I find that I am able to have just a small amount (generally try to keep it under 100 calories) rather than going crazy and grazing on whole bags and packages until they're gone. So that's sort of like a cheat meal / day, but I really don't think about it as cheating. If I told myself that the things I wanted to eat were completely forbidden, I think it would have been a lot harder for me to reach the point where I'm at today). It seems like in the long run, it is a lot better to keep in a mindset that allows you to be comfortable and happy with your lifestyle, rather than setting yourself up for challenges that you know will be really hard for you. For me at least, it's better to not be too hard on myself at all, so that I don't end up feeling like I'm failing myself.
And in specific defense of burritos: They really aren't that bad for you! Especially if you: a) have someone to split one with, and/or b) closely regulate the ingredients they put in. I like the proper ratio of the delicious ingredients, so if I just make sure that they use less of all of them the burritos end up with a reasonable calorie count and I get a tasty delicious and extremely filling meal... My personal favorite burrito is estimated at around 800-900 calories or so; it's a pretty big fraction of the total number of calories I try to eat for the day, but I'm also incredibly full so I don't want to eat much for the rest of the day anyway.
And along those same lines... yes, the burrito is hefty! When you step on the scale, it is not all that surprising that it's up 3 pounds from before. But remember that that is not directly going to fat: one downside of these delicious burritos is definitely the high sodium content, which supposedly goes along with increased water retention, and also you'll just have a not-insignificant weight of former-burrito hanging around in your digestive track until it's not there anymore. It's not really part of
your weight, right, but the scale's not smart enough to know that.