Help! We are going to Japanese tonight!!!

greeneyes82
greeneyes82 Posts: 315 Member
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, I hope you are doing well! My husband & I are going to meet family at the Japanese restaurant Ichiban's in Asheville this evening. I need some advice on not overeating! I have so much willpower when it comes to exercising, but not much when I'm around food. I typically order the chicken & shrimp which of course comes with their fried rice & veggies. I don't use sauces so that won't be a problem. I was told just don't eat all the rice. Any other suggestions? Should I take my measuring cup?:wink: I also have plenty of calories & fat grams left for the day. We ate a light breakfast, jogged 3 miles, did 25 minutes on a cardio DVD, and ate a light lunch. Ourn reservations are not until 7 pm this evening though! :noway: I will most likely need to eat a couple of snacks in between now & then. Any suggestions on the Japanese?

Replies

  • pojo30
    pojo30 Posts: 62
    Order your meal without the rice or ask for a box and scoop half your meal in it before you start to eat. Then you won't feel the need to eat it all.
  • SouthernMomma25
    SouthernMomma25 Posts: 14
    You and your husband could share something, that way you both are not over eating. What i would do is look everything you plan to eat up on here and plug it in to you food for the day then go by that when you get to the restaurant that way youll know exactly what you can eat and you wont over do it. This is what i would do. Good Luck!
  • mvl1014
    mvl1014 Posts: 531
    First best option is to ask for brown rice, not fried. If they can't do that, steamed white rice is better than fried rice.

    White rice still isn't that great, so you'd be better off asking for double veggies, no rice.

    Let us know how it goes!
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
    First of all, if it is a JAPANESE restaurant, you shouldn't need to worry about fried rice. That is usually found in Chinese restaurants that serve "Americanized" Chinese food.

    As was mentioned before, concentrate on protein and veggies. One thing I recently learned is that SOBA noodles are better for you than other noodles because of what they are made with. I think the article said "buckwheat" but I can't remember. A google search could be informative.

    Your plan to go easy on the sauce is a good one. Have a good time, and enjoy the company and the food will just become a part of it, not your main focus.!!
  • greeneyes82
    greeneyes82 Posts: 315 Member
    Yes, we are going to a real Japanese restaurant where they cook right in front of us. I've kind of searched on here but not sure how to plug in what we eat afterwards. Does anyone have an idea on the nutrition facts?
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    I posted this on the other thread, but hopefully this is helpful. Enjoy your dinner!!!

    Not sure if you are into raw foods, but sashimi is the way to go if you want to have flavor and reduced calories. Sashimi is raw fish served without rice. Only shrimp, crab, and lobster are cooked; by cooked I mean they are flash frozen to kill the bad stuff. If you eat ginger slices to cleanse the palate, make sure it is white ginger. The pink ginger that is often served has tons of preservatives and calories in it as it is highly processed and pickled. If you like wasabi, make sure it is fresh wasabi grated from the actual root. Some restaurants serve powdered wasabi that is mixed with water to make a wasabi paste. The wasabi paste is full of sodium and calories!!!!! Another sauce to watch is soy sauce. Most good Japanese restaurants offer low-sodium soy sauce. It usually has a green cap on the bottle. Do not pour soy sauce directly onto your food. Ask for a small dipping bowl to pour soy sauce into and dip your food into it. This will reduce calories and sodium intakes.

    Stick with fresh ingredients, not overly cooked foods, brown rice or at least steamed rice if brown is not available, and watch the sauces and dips and you should be good to go.
  • amyholan
    amyholan Posts: 7 Member
    Hey! I love Japanese food, and have opted for Zaru Soba (cold buckwheat noodles) in the past, which is only like 200 calories, and nigiri sushi, which is only 80 calories per piece. Otherwise, if you are going the cooked route... I would suggest just opting out of the rice. White rice is empty calories, whereas brown rice has protein and fiber. Just eat the proteins, and stick with lean proteins at that (chicken, fish, etc). Good luck! :smile: You can do it!
  • greeneyes82
    greeneyes82 Posts: 315 Member
    Well I believe we stayed in under our calorie count! :smile: We feel full, but not miserably full. We also took over half of our meal home, which is great because we can usually finish it all! I didn't know exactly the name on here to search, but I input Japanese rice, hibachi shrimp & hibachi chicken in & got the calories that way. I'm still under & I know my husband is since he's allowed more. We feel good about it, but we are still going to go run tomorrow after church! :wink: Thanks for all your help everyone!
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Glad your evening went well. Thanks to all this talk about Japanese food, I ended up going to one of my fav's nearby with a friend who had never been. We walked around an indoor mall afterward, and she kept telling everyone she met how good it was.

    She is thin, and since I asked for a "to go" box, so I could divide my food and save enough for a second meal before I started eating, the counter guy assumed she needed one also. Was he ever surprised when she polished off her whole dinner:noway: , and waved the empty container at him!!:laugh: :laugh: . She had worked in her garden all day, since it was sunny and mild today, and after loading, hauling in a wheelbarrow, and unloading 4 loads of compost, she had no trouble putting all of it away.

    I had lots of calories, so I had a SMALL buttercream walnut truffle for dessert. :heart: Delicious.
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