A culinary endurance art piece by Andrew Hawryluk

For ... days in a row, I ate Chipotle at least once per day, totaling ... and ~... calories worth of food.

In case you haven’t noticed, I stopped eating Chipotle after 186 days in a row.

Exactly 10 months ago today, I texted my brother a mildly amusing idea which ended up becoming arguably (read: unfortunately) the most significant event in my life:

“I’m eating chipotle once a day for lent.” 

His response; a passive, singular “Ha” was enough motivation to lock myself into a 40-day gauntlet of gourmet Mexican cuisine, repetitive photos, and relentless documentation deemed #CHIPOTLENT.

I kept it up after the Lenten season because each post was somehow funnier to me than the last. When it came time to build the blog, I decided to ditch the religious connotation of Lent, but stick with something (admittedly less) catchy - Chipotlife.

In retrospect, I can singlehandedly point to the FAQ as the reason my story caught on. My brother remarked that the website appeared to be a press kit, and it was exactly that - complete with the who, what, why, and abs. 

Once Business Insider broke my story, I was able to witness the tremendous power of modern media firsthand. Before the article, Chipotlife would receive around 20 daily visits on average, most of which were probably me. 

One day after publication, it received over 20,000.

I was interviewed on live TV. Seth Meyers and Chris Hardwick made fun of me on their late night shows. I was on the news in Japan, and more excitingly, featured on multiple Snapchat Discover Stories. I met with talent agents, publicists, and lawyers. I was invited to a grand opening of ShopHouse to meet the founder. Friends and relatives would tell me how their coworkers and acquaintances from around the world were discussing my story.

However, none of it lasted - nothing this silly ever does. After the media whirlwind, there was almost no way for the joke to top itself, and I decided to stop eating Chipotle a month later. Nothing changed, and nobody really cared – including me. 

In the end, Chipotlife died just as thoughtlessly as it was created.

I’m going to Berlin.

Day 186 in a row

My friend is visiting from out of town, so I brought him to my favorite local eatery. Guess where.

Split the chips with Patrick and Henry.

Day 185 in a row

Perfect portion today, although the guacamole had a few unmashed chunks in it, yet again. Getting really tired of that.

Day 184 in a row

Forgot to take a picture of my meal before I ate it. Oh well. 

Maybe next time.

Day 183 in a row

I forgot to get a receipt today and didn’t have enough time to get another one due to dinner reservations at another restaurant. 

For today’s proof I took a photo of my phone with the date, value, and the last four digits of my card number all displayed as they normally would be on my receipts. 

Since it doesn’t display the address information, I’ll assure you here that it was the same restaurant as yesterday (101 W Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101)

Gaze upon my credit card balance, and tremble. I wonder how much of that is purely Chipotle-related.

Somewhat unrelated, but I took this photo inside of my room at the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado. Anyone who visits San Diego should really check this place out, because it’s incredible.

Day 182 in a row

On vacation in San Diego. Pretty sure this is my first time eating Chipotle in this city.

Restaurant is in a really weird spot due to construction. Was almost impossible to park and get inside. 

New restaurant: 101 W Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101

Day 181 in a row

Ate this during tonight’s Art Cafe, which you should definitely check out if you’re interested in weekly live chats with industry-leading artists.

If that sounded like an advertisement, it was one, but it’s okay because nobody’s paying me and I help produce the show.

Sorry I’ve been MIA for the past 8 days on this blog. Been really busy the past week with family visiting from out of town. I just went back and posted all of those missing dates for your scrutiny.

I’ll try to be better about posting as I consume these meals, but my mobile typing habits don’t promote the flourishing, wonderfully-written posts you’re so used to.

Day 180 in a row

My first time eating Chipotle on the road, like a disgusting slob. However, I’m not driving, it’s not my car, and it’s a rental, so who really cares? This is officially a traveling circus.

I tried to get a good photo with a view of the PCH in the background, but screwed that up pretty hard. Can barely read the date on the receipt since the sun is shining so brightly through it.

This was also on the way to eat dinner at a family friend’s house. Having to eat two dinners in a row is one of the main things I truly hate about this project, but such is the struggle of living the Chipotlife.

Day 179 in a row

Another bad batch of guacamole with hard chunks in it. 

At least they didn’t charge me for it this time. 

Complaint redacted.

Day 178 in a row

The first worker in the assembly line always gives overly-generous (read: massive) portions of rice and chicken, so today I requested “not too much” and ended up with a normal, perfectly satisfying amount of food.

Day 177 in a row

After posting on Twitter yesterday about potentially ending Chipotlife, I received a surprising amount of backlash. So now I guess I’ve been guilt-tripped into going until 200 days in a row.

Thank you, Internet for believing in me and supporting me through my ups and downs.

Today’s meal was generously paid for by my dear mother, who paid in cash. I believe that’s the first time a meal during Chipotlife has been paid for in cash. Cool.

Guacamole had a bunch of hard clumps in it, which has happened the past few days in a row. Not sure if it’s unripe avocados or if they simply weren’t mashed enough for the guac.

They were also out of shredded lettuce so I got the crummy gigantic salad lettuce leaves.

Life is pain.

Day 176 in a row

So much for yesterday being the last day. A glimmer of a business opportunity encouraged me to continue for one more day, so today might actually be the last day.

176 isn’t as nice and round as 175, but oh well.

They were out of guacamole, so I decided to get veggies for (what I think is) the first time since Chipotlife started. Really great flavor, disregarding the onion-breath after the fact. No guac with veggies as a replacement is a nightmare for dipping chips in. Falls apart every time ;__;

Day 175 in a row

Week 25 in a row

Have a feeling today might be the last day of Chipotlife. One last ride? Decided to eat this one in-store with Nick and Patrick, just in case it is. 

Solidarity, etc.

Day 174 in a row

Went all out today. Got the usual bowl, except with CORN (wow) in addition to splitting a steak quesadilla with my brother (he paid), as well as chips.

First time I’ve ordered corn since the beginning of Chipotlife, and probably the first time in well over a year I’ve had it at all. Really good addition to the meal, considering how sweet the ingredients are. Added texture is a interesting departure from the usual bowl.

Day 173 in a row

Painstakingly slow experience waiting in line at this restaurant. Must have taken around 40 minutes to get my food. 

I don’t mean to say this as a complaint, but I feel as though it is my duty as a documentarian of gluttony to take note of the experience. 

Took so long I decided to get corn for (what I’m pretty sure is) the first time since this whole project started.

Have a feeling Barstow gets absurd diner traffic Sunday night around this time, since everyone’s on their way back from Vegas. 

Speaking of which, it took us over 9 hours to get back to Los Angeles, Chipotle traffic included. Awesome.

Split the chips with Justin and Patrick.

New restaurant: 2590 Highpoint Parkway, Barstow, CA 92311