my dad's birthday....

pesimax

Argh, It's my dad's birthday tomorrow and the whole family is going out to the chinese. I gotta go, but I can't risk eating lots. Now i'm vegan and i normally order completely different stuff from the rest of the family. I'm thinking of just ordering the salt and pepper tofu on its own and having it arrive at the beginning of the meal and just eat slowly (i guess were gonna be there for two hours). But thats still loads of calories....i guess i could not have breakfast or lunch...ugh! They'll be lots of wine and booze aswell.

Martha_VH

You can still eat there.
Just like you said, order your tofu, or always stir fried veggies.
This is what I did when I last had Chinese.

I read in one of my cook books that a chinese tea cup is about 1/2 cup. So I used that to measure 1/2 cup of rice, then measured 1 cup of food, and asked to waiter to put the rest in a box.

dalenkim98

The tea cup is a great suggestion. Remember to order white rice instead of fried rice and to avoid dishes with noodles that have excess salt/sodium in them as this main leading to fluid weight gains. Also, never skip a meal! Your body's metabolism will decrease to conserve energy leading to problems with weight gain also. Maybe enjoy a couple of smaller snacks instead of full meals prior to the dinner to help with calorie consumption and keep your metabolism up. It never hurts to have a "special" meal once and a while, so don't feel bad if you go over your calorie allowance as long as you don't do this every day or every week. Have a great time with your family!

MakingAChoice

Measuring with a tea cup is a great idea, I will use that myself in the future. You could also look at the soups on the menu. Some can be really good and lower calorie. If it is a chain you are going to you can likely look up a nutritional menu for them online. They might have a nutritional menu at the restaurant too. Chinese food can be tough, I do not recommend not eating breakfast and lunch to 'save' calories though for dinner. The body does not work like that, if you eat all of your calories in one sitting the body is still going to store what it cannot use as fat. You will most likely feel like throwing up after eating that much at once too - lol

Just follow your instincts with the menu, you likely know what is good versus bad on the menu. Plus do not listen to other people about what you 'should' eat, they are almost always wrong.

elvb

I've noticed a few chinese places offer a steamed menu. When we order delivery at work, I'll get their steamed veggies. It's delicious....plus no added salt!

pesimax

well, didn't have much food, had tofu at the start of the meal and just chewed on it all the way though...however I have had lots of wine. Probably just had the maximum calories i should have...however decided to psychologically punish myself via myfitnesspal by saying i've gone 586 calories over...so i'll think twice about it again....the brandy coffees (without milk/vegan) were soo good.