How do I make healthy choices in a Mexican restaurant?

With the queso, chips and margaritas that arrive within minutes of sitting down at many Mexican restaurants, you’re done before you ever get started. It's easy to down a full day's calories in one sitting at a Mexican restaurant but that doesn't have to be the case. To stick to your healthy diet, try these options next time you go out for Mexican food.
Skip the chips and start with a small vegetable salad or broth-based tortilla soup or posole. If you’re lucky the restaurant might even have ceviche or jicama salad on the menu for a refreshing, low-calorie start to the meal.
When it comes time to pick an entree, try these healthier for you options: 

• Escabeche (marinated vegetables)
• Tamales
• Fresh fish of the day with grilled vegetables
• Pollo a La Parrilla (grilled chicken)
• Camarones a la diabla (spicy shrimp) 
• Carne asada (grilled skirt steak)

Go easy on the rice. Use extra salsa to top your meat, chicken or fish dishes instead of sour cream, cheese or heavy sauces. And it's fine to have guacamole, just ask for jicama, red pepper or cucumber sticks instead of tortilla chips for dipping.

Not all Mexican food is bad for your heart, but cheese-laden nachos and gargantuan burritos filled with steak, rice, sour cream, and cheese sure can be. It all comes down to how you dress your tortilla, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD, CDN, author of Read It Before You Eat It.

For a heart-healthy meal, choose chicken over steak, black beans over lard-filled refried beans, brown rice instead of white, and vegetable condiments such as salsa, pico de gallo, and guacamole in place of sour cream and cheese. At home, try substituting sour cream with plain, low-fat Greek yogurt. If you don't trust yourself to make healthy substitutions when eating out, order the sizzling chicken or shrimp fajitas instead.