Please help me with eating at a buffet...

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gmontess01
gmontess01 Posts: 2 Member
in Introduce Yourself
How do I measure my calorie intake at an asian buffet restaurant? Especially when I'm eating sushi.

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  • grum84
    grum84 Posts: 428 Member
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    It really isn't that hard to guesstimate the calories. You just record everything that you put on your plate separately. MFP has a wide food database and it shouldn't be too hard to pick one that is similar to what you are looking at.

    If you have white rice, estimate how much (.5, 1, 2 cups?) and add accordingly. Do the same thing for any meats, sauces, etc... if it is a sushi roll you are concerned about, and MFP doesn't have something similar, break it down into the ingredients. If you don't have the MFP app that makes it easy to do on the go, then take pictures of your plates. However adding everything up after you get done binging on the buffet, you may be surprised by how much you actually ate calorie wise.

    Staying away from buffets is pretty much a necessity for me as all they do is facilitate over eating in the first place. Sadly, that is how my family went out a lot as a kid, and it has been hard to break. Another idea is, many restaurants with buffets also let you order from a menu instead. This would help control how much you eat.
  • angel_of_harmony
    angel_of_harmony Posts: 188 Member
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    I have had a lot of trouble eating out, especially at Chinese Buffets. Normally I just go with a larger serving of Mongolian stir fry with extra veggies and then a smaller portion of my favorite chicken, rice, and a spring roll or two. Try eating slow and drink plenty of water to prevent yourself from over eating. I also enjoy using chop sticks because they essentially force me to take my time eating.
  • verhunzt
    verhunzt Posts: 154 Member
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    Maybe limit yourself to 3-5 foods you will eat, those you can then look up in the MFP database. It won't be 100% correct, but not too far off either.
  • osothefinn
    osothefinn Posts: 163 Member
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    I just assume everything like noodles, kung pao, etc, is 400 calories a cup. White rice is pretty straightforward. Hot and sour soup is fairly low cal, so I have that and a couple cups basically of whatever looks the tastiest and call it good.
  • Dsanders460
    Dsanders460 Posts: 12 Member
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    If I have been there before, so I kind of know what to expect food wise, I spend a little bit of time before hand looking up options in MFP's food database. Thankfully I LOVE the green beans that most Asian buffet's around here have, so I put a nice large helping of those on my plate first, then fill up the rest of the plate with smaller amounts of the more high calorie options. Thankfully I have never been one that feels the need to "get my money's worth" out of a buffet, so I am usually happy with one plate of food, then maybe some jello or fruit for dessert.
  • CarolinkaCjj
    CarolinkaCjj Posts: 622 Member
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    I made a wallet card for sushi. Many of the common rolls are in the data base. If there is not an exact match, I try to find something similar (the spicy girl roll is similar to a volcano roll, etc.) Practice measuring so you have an idea.
  • Alexandra_S
    Alexandra_S Posts: 41 Member
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    If I have been there before, so I kind of know what to expect food wise, I spend a little bit of time before hand looking up options in MFP's food database.

    Exactly! Nowadays every restaurant has a website. Go there and check their menu, maybe they even have info on calories and nutrition. If they don't, use mfp or other data base and choose the healthiest option.

    I know what you're talking about. Going to eat out on Wednesday and am a bit concerned about calories too. But I already know the place we're going to. So right now I'm studying their menu and trying to guesstimate calories.

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