How many calories are REALLY in steamed chicken & veggies?

kaitgettingfit
kaitgettingfit Posts: 84
edited January 16 in Food and Nutrition
I ordered chinese take out today at work and I -THOUGHT- I was ordering the healthiest thing on the menu -- steamed chicken & veggies (no oil, no sauce, with broccoli, bok choy, baby corns, carrots & snap peas) I ate about 2.5 cups of it with a packet of soy sauce. Now, MFP is saying there's 120 cals per cup... and other sources are saying 270 cals per cup which is a pretty big difference. Can somebody PLEASE clarify this for me? What would YOU think the calorie count would be?

Replies

  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,661 Member
    I ordered chinese take out today at work and I -THOUGHT- I was ordering the healthiest thing on the menu -- steamed chicken & veggies (no oil, no sauce, with broccoli, bok choy, baby corns, carrots & snap peas) I ate about 2.5 cups of it with a packet of soy sauce. Now, MFP is saying there's 120 cals per cup... and other sources are saying 270 cals per cup which is a pretty big difference. Can somebody PLEASE clarify this for me? What would YOU think the calorie count would be?

    In one cup of soy sauce, there are 150 calories.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Probably somewhere between the two. Really depends on what made up that 2.5 cup...and how much did the 2.5 cups weigh...how much was veg and how much was chicken, etc. Just use your best judgement. Stuff like that, you can't ever be as precise as you'd like. It's all estimation anyway...in the grand scheme of things, the difference between 270 calories and 120 calories is pretty negligible and will probably wash out throughout the week with other estimation errors.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    If it's truly prepared steamed, no oils or sauces, and it's white meat chicken breast, it should be closer to 120 calories per cup but that really depends on the chicken to vegetable ratio. A cup of frozen stir fry veggies is about 40 calories. One cup of diced chicken breast is about 230 calories. A cup of them mixed together is going to lie somewhere in between based on the ratio of chicken to vegetables. It's always better to overestimate than underestimate the calories you eat, IMHO. If I'm going to be off I'd rather think I ate more than I did.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Totally depends on the amount of chicken and amount of vegetables in one cup. You'd have to pluck out all the chicken and weigh it to be sure.

    One cup of "Oriental blend" frozen vegetables that I get regularly is about 40 calories.
  • Thanks a lot guys -- I'm gonna work out later anyways just in case :P
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