Shape Up Series: Taste Testing Tacos + More at Anna's Taqueria Boston

By: Finance Foodie

First off, so sorry for the delayed Shape Up Series post this week -- Team Finance Foodie thought meeting the VS Angels was more important than my weight loss update .  Anyways, some happy and sad news to report....

Happy: I've lost all 10 holiday pounds and hit my GOAL WEIGHT!

Sad: No more Shape Up series (at least for this year!)

Let's look at my progression, starting from Week 1 to this current week.

Height: 5'1''
Goal Weight: 130lbs
Week 1: 140lbs (Starting Point)
Week 2: 138lbs
Week 3: 137lbs
Week 4: 136lbs
Week 5: 137lbs (HORRORS!!)
Week 6: 134lbs
Week 7: 133lbs (v. surprised -- 3 LBS TO GO!)
Week 8: 132lbs (down down down!)
Week 9: 131lbs (Oh-em-gee! One more lbs left!!!)
Week 10: 130lbs (DONE!)

Goal Body Fat: 20.0%
Week 1: 25.0%
Week 2: 24.0%
Week 3: 24.0%
Week 4: 23.5%
Week 5: 24.2% (DOUBLE HORRORS!)
Week 6: 23.2%
Week 7: 23.0% (YAY-YAY!)
Week 8: 22.8%
Week 9: 21.5%
Week 10: 20.6% (ehh...close enough!)

So 10 pounds lost in 10 weeks... not too shabby I must say (although last year it only took me 7 weeks to lose my Holiday 10....increased age= lower metabolism)! Obviously, this doesn't mean I can go "hog wild" (well, until holiday season 2011), but it's nice to have my pants fit properly again! For those who just started reading Finance Foodie now, here's a historical recap of all previous 9 weeks in my Shape Up journey.

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So when I first moved to Boston three years ago, I asked a few of my Boston friends where I should go for affordable Mexican food. Their vote was unanimous --  Anna's Taqueria, a local "fast food" Mexican burrito and tacos joint. Being super skeptical of my buddies' East Coast-bred palates (translation: lack of good Mexican food experience) and aghast to the places I had actually ended up trying (read: the Casa Romero Episode), I decided not to heed their advice and continued to satisfy my Mexican cravings only when I went back home to Texas

Until....

A few weeks ago, I found myself around the Beacon Hill area during lunch time. Uninspired to have the usual Au Bon Pain sandwich, I remember the advice of my East Coast friends and decided to give it a shot.

WOW, was I surprised -- the grilled chicken burrito I had was super tasty!!! My friends were right (a fairly rare occurrence : ) -- the food was good and most importantly, tasted authentic! So when I was invited to attend a  tasting at Anna's Taqueria with the chain's founder Michael Kamio to try some of their new (and old) menu items, I happily obliged (I also viewed this as a mini celebration for losing all my holiday pounds)!

Below were some of the highlights:

The Lengua (beef tongue) taco was actually quite delish -- even though the thought of eating a cow's tongue makes me slightly nauseous, the tongue was actually very flavorful and had a smooth velvety texture. Seeing how many TV game shows make contestants eat beef tongue as part of their "extreme eating challenges" -- I now say "sign me up!"

So Anna's super large burritos are certainly not great for the waistline (especially if one lacks the willpower to eat them in moderation), so I was super glad to see that salads will soon be introduced to the menu line up. The avocado salad topped with a deliciously lightly and refreshing cilantro dressing is not only totally yummy (and I don't even like salads that much), but it's also a healthy option for veggie-tarians.

And of course, I had to wash everything down with some warm fresh-baked cinnamon sugar cookies (only available for catering orders, but hopefully getting added to the dine in menu in the future)!

During the tasting, Michael (also a Finance Foodie I might add, as he used to work in banking prior to opening the Anna's) shared a few tidbits about the chain.

*Anna's is dedicated to serving clean and delicious food. They would rather do a few items really well, rather than having a ton of random items on the menu, hence the limited selection of menu items.
*The restaurant typically goes through 30 cartons of cilantro in three days.
*Anna's is not named after anyone, though the name "Anna" is suppose to connote a nurturing mother figure (Hmmmm.....not really what I think, but I'll go with it : )

Many thanks to Michael for hosting us and for Marlo Marketing for setting this up!

Anna's Taqueria
(6 different locations, check website for all locations)