Food suggestions in Chengdu?

leecu2016

Hello All!

My name is Courtney and starting this Friday (!) I will be living in China for the semester. I am studying away with my school and will be attending Sichuan University in Chengdu while also doing a small internship at a German Based Wine Company. So far I've lost 8 pounds and I would really prefer to not gain it back. Does anybody have like a general "clean eating" list of foods/dishes that I could maybe aim for? What does one eat for breakfast on the go? Since I'm living in a dorm I'm not going to have lots of kitchen access. Does China have some sort of equivalent of Smart Ones or frozen pre packaged meals? Is it really impossible to track calories? Someone also told me I could likely lose weight if I just stuck with a vegetarian lifestyle and avoided meats. What are your thoughts on this?

I want to enjoy China but seeing as I'm slightly overweight now I really don't want to return home more so. I'm thinking I would try and be "good" 6 days a week and then on the 7th just really try to enjoy new cultural delicacies. Haha thanks for your feedback and feel free to add me!

baisha2875

Hi, Courtney!
Welcome to China! I'm living in the Fujian province already for 10 months. I would like to answer few of your questions, atleast some what I've learned myself here. I'm using MFP for second year, fist year in Japan, and here in China for the second months. I'm alaso live in university, so I ahve a bit of idea, what kind of foods are served in university.

Does anybody have like a general "clean eating" list of foods/dishes that I could maybe aim for?
I don't have this list because, I didn't know the names and which ingredients they have been made. I just decided to cook myself, using Chinese ingredients. No need to much of equimpent, one wok（ 100元）, one cooking plate ( 电磁炉 -200 元） and rice cooker（电饭锅 about 200 yuans) thats enough. I think I gave you not a good answer.

What does one eat for breakfast on the go?
I eat porridges. Chinese porridges a bit plain of taste, but low in calories and keep you full till lunch. Sometimes, I eat together with fried bread, but it's exeption, only for treat. And drink a cup of milk.

Since I'm living in a dorm I'm not going to have lots of kitchen access.
Please ask about kitchen your dormitory stuffs, our dorm here have a kitchen for foreign students. Many of our foreign students are Musslims, so they are preffer to cook themselfs . Maybe your dorm do have kitchen as well.

Does China have some sort of equivalent of Smart Ones or frozen pre packaged meals?
I'm sorry, I don't know about Smart Ones, but you can find frozen meals and prepacked food in supermarket. Only, if you have no kitchen how you will warm up? Calories content written on the packages, don't worry about Chinese charachters. Usually its per 100 gram, and written in kilocalories or calories. So when I buy, for example baozi, I see this content. 克- grams
含量(每100克) This is 100 gram
热量 162.59大卡 162.59 calories(kcal) or 680.4 calories.
碳水化合物 25.17克 Carbs
脂肪 3.93克 Fat
蛋白质 7.66克 Protein
Is it really impossible to track calories?
It's possible, but need a bit more time, then at home. New food, also your feeling of how you satisfied with new food, strange food ( like a lizard meat or frog meat). By the way, you will be really busy with your new impressions of country, people, university and your study.You have to find way to log your food. Internet is usualy bad, so I try not to log during the day only at the evening. But I do write notes, what I ate directly after each meal.

Someone also told me I could likely lose weight if I just stuck with a vegetarian lifestyle and avoided meats. What are your thoughts on this?
I don't think so, atleast it's my one opinion. I had a friend who visited me here for a couple of days, so she is a vegetarian. It's a bit diffucult to be vegetarian here, many food includes meat and we found really hard to ask in the restaraunt food without meat. I don't have that good Chinese level, and in the restaraunts Chinese don't speak good English.
Chinese dishes usually contain meat, but its in small pieces, and shredded or prepared that way, that you don't have a real good bit of meat( like a steak).
I don't know how to suggest your protein intake, in the vegetarian case. Because with meat, its easier. Tofu, beans, boiled egg whites, it's all possible to find in the students cafeteria find but i found a bit diffucult. ( Tofu to oily, beens to sweet) Maybe your university have a big cafeteria with manty choices, I don't know. Usually, I do easy way. One leg of chicken or duck, rice and vegetables. Cost about 10 yuans, and give me energy from 12 to 17 oclock. I count this dish like 600 calories, a bit over but at least I do tell myself to go for walk after meal.
Good luck!