Chinese takeaway

bethanyjxx
bethanyjxx Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
we’re ordering from a chinese takeaway tonight and i’m trying hard to stay within calories, i’m trying to google the average calories of “Salt and Pepper Chicken with fried rice” but finding conflicting things everywhere.

The standard seems to be 402 calories for half the container of salt&pepper chicken and 365 calories for half the container of egg fried rice - total long 767, does this sound about right? or does anyone else have any suggestions?

or, can anyone suggest a similar meal with less calories (i have enough for the 767 but if it’s more i don’t)

Replies

  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    Restaurants vary, so what you just did (estimate based on other entries) is a decent way of going about it. I usually like to compare to calorie counts from chain restaurants, since it's possible to know the portion size. It's not going to be perfect, and that's okay as long as it's not frequent.

    767 seems about right for half of each, although "container" can be very subjective.

    If you want a lower calorie meal, I'd suggest chicken and vegetables rather than rice. If you want rice, white rice is lower in calories than fried rice. I'm not sure what salt and pepper chicken entails at your restaurant, but try to avoid breaded chicken, or get beef instead.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    Depends on the size of the container. The entries in the database may not all be the same size portion.

    If you can find a chain restaurant listing, and know that the serving size they offer is similar to what you're buying - then use that. Less rice, more veggies will help control the calories.

    And if this is food you really want to enjoy without too much trouble, you can always make your own next time.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    for eating out ... i go with an even 1000

    its either close enough or MAYBE over, if im lucky.

    works for me.
  • gewel321
    gewel321 Posts: 718 Member
    I love Chinese food take out but don't do it often. I input the calories like you do give my best estimate. I don't pick the lowest or the highest. I normally look at Panda Express calories and serving size and go from there.

    One thing to remember is that Chinese food has a TON of sodium in it. The scale will reflect that for the next few days. It's just water weight. If you are eating at your goals it will all wash out in the end!

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