Chinese Buffet.....! Calories?

mikey3061

Hi dieters. Hope you can advise.
I'm going to a Chinese Buffet for a birthday meal. How do you work out how many calories you have eaten? I think just the starters will put me near my daily calorie allowance if not over. Even doing some gym work and pushing my allowance up won't be enough. All those dishes NEED to be sampled! It's going to be a nightmare!!!!

What's HELP in Chinese?

mgreen10

Don't sample everything, keep portion size in mind, choose non-fried things, eat lots of fruit and drink water before the meal. Control yourself. And as for counting the calories, might as well forget about that.

heatherhart

oh no a buffet & its chinese you are in trouble!! lol Good Luck

toalwaysbeme

If you go to the food database and type in "Chinese Buffet" there are some examples. One of them is a little scary but it is the truth. But dont fret my pet, its ONE DAY its not everyday. You have to allow yourself some reward and know that you will work off the calories. As long as you dont keep going back to fully reload. I would actually just put 1 or 2 things on your plate so you have to keep getting up.

Good luck my friend and dont beat yourself up over it.

mckennamom

I am a Chinese addict so I certainly feel your pain. The last time that I went to a buffet I ate a protein bar before we left and then avoided the carbs as much as possible. I got to enjoy a little of everything, but I wasn't really hungry going in and I wasn't wasting calories on rice when there were so many other wonderful flavors to enjoy.

anna_sherry

Just about all chinse food is at least 2000cal for a portion....might just need to throw the day away, or eat a salad :-(

bheimbrock

At most buffet's you can order off a standard menu. Try to order brown or steamed rice and a dish with chicken and veggies. and ask for no sauce or on the side so you can control the amount. If you must to the buffet, they usually have a salad bar with fruit so eat that and try to pick protein to fill up on.

fayelein

Chinese buffets are dire!

I'd say stay away from the dishes you already know if you're up for trying the most you can. So if you normally would have sweet and sour chicken at the Chinese take-away don't have it on the buffet because you already know it if you see what I mean!

For each dish just try the sauce and not have a chunk of chicken/beef/etc. That way you'll get to try the sauces and flavours but cut down on the calories by staying away from the meat.

Don't have the extras like prawn crackers because like the first point they're something all Chinese food eaters know! Same with things like prawn toast etc on the starters section. If you do want these starter things to try get the ones you want but just eat half of each. You get to try but you cut down by half!

Stay away from the puds - if it's anything like the Chinese buffets i've been to they are not worth the extra calories. Though some have had chocolate fountains which is always hard to pass by!

Dafrog

sodium is the big kicker. i say go and enjoy yourself. you can do a walk threw and see what the choices are before you put anything on your plate. unless you abosolutly love rice, skip it. try to go with unbreaded meats. although general ty is my favorite. the main thing would be the desserts you consume, try to do none or just one. happy birthday.

MistyMtnMan

Oh shoot, that's a tough one. I would search the in the food and look at the nutrition and find the best otions and just eat those. You can add things to your diary before hand to see what it would come out too and you can always delete it if it looks to horrible. Good luck

fayelein

Oh and only try each thing you have once!

Maybe go up twice to the buffet. Once for starters, once for mains.

mikey3061

Thanks guys.....some great tips.
I don't tend to have the rice nor noodles....so that's no problem for me.
It's just the meat dishes that attact me and those sauces are so tempting.
I think a visit to the salad counter with some of the meat dishes might be my choice.
I've lost 10lb in 2 weeks......so I think I'll let this day slip.

Problem is...my birthday is at the end of the month and........we are going to another Chinese Buffet.......arrrrrgh!

This will be a trial run.
Again thanks for the tips.

Happy losing to all x

FaithandFitness

The last time I went I did one trip and I statred off filling half my plate with raw broccoli from the salad bar. I took a few of my favs and I ate slowly. It was wonderful, a great treat, and it didn't do any long term damage. Remember lots of water afterwards!

VeganInTraining

MMMMm Chinese buffet! I say it's your birthday enjoy yourself and just throw the day away! It wont minimize all you're progress just set you back a few days (for me it would be a FEW not just one, cause I KNOW what you mean about the stuff that NEEDs to be sampled) Life was not made to deprive yourself, just don't make a habit out of it. I'd say about once a month I give myself a "free" day, and I'm still loosing

stormieweather

I always just get tiny bite-sized samples and I log about 1500 calories for two trips. I also know that it will take about 5 days for all the sodium to work it's way out of my system.

Needless to say, I don't do it very often.