The dreaded...chinese food!

purplishblue
purplishblue Posts: 135 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Occasionally I like to just order a bunch of chinese food and eat it all. I've definitely cut back on it and only do it once in a great while now, however it still sucks feeling the post-chinese food guilt. I'm curious what you lovers of chinese food do:

A. Just order what you feel like and forget about the calories
B. Don't ever order it
C. Eat a small amount of the high calorie dish you really want that would fit in to your daily calorie goals
D. Order from the Steamed part of the menu and try to pretend it's the real stuff
E. Cook your own at home

Replies

  • lisiloulah
    lisiloulah Posts: 125 Member
    I'm a definite E! It's much nicer, tastier and healthier than takeaway - and in fact is closer to the 'real thing' that they eat in China anyway!

    There's loads of recipes available either in books or online, but you can't go wrong with a stir fry (with or without meat) and rice or noodles. For a sauce I sometimes cheat and buy a jar in Tesco, but look closely at the labels and get one of the lower calories ones, but frying garlic, chilli and ginger in the wok before you add the meat and veg and adding some soy sauce towards the end is also very tasty!

    I order takeway about once a year (it's a long standing tradition for my brother's birthday!) and as it's a one off treat I go with A but I know it's not a regular thing so I'm fine with that route!
  • Squamation
    Squamation Posts: 522 Member
    Cook what I can at home and Fry as little as possible.

    For me having all of the sauces full fat and full flavor is more important than it being oil fried.

    Some things, like egg rolls, just don't work not fried so I don't eat those really anymore and stick with all of the deliciousness I can.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    My choice would be C and E.

    The bigger issue here is that you want to order ALL the Chinese food and then eat it all. I'd say that's the bigger problem. You could order every week, work it into your calories and eat something different each week - without the guilt of binging.

    Binging on Chinese is still caving to a behavior that will cause you problems. Moderation. Work it into your calories. Ditch the destructive behavior.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I'm not that keen on Chinese food but I love all kinds of other foods, and how I deal with restaurant meals depends on the situation:

    1. for a special occasion which isn't going to happen that often, I order what I want and sod the calories... I stop eating when I'm full and take the rest home and make another meal of it the next day.

    2. if it's a situation where I'm being more careful about the calories, or in the hypothetical situation that i'd have to eat there frequently, then I'll order food (including asking the waiter to leave off specific things if necessary) that is high in protein and low in fat and/or carbs, so the meal is much easier to fit into my macros.

    3. I tend to go to restaurants once a week/fortnight, just because I want to have a life, and these I don't count or track, but I limit the amount of carbohydrate I have with it, e.g. ordering a burger without fries and with tea or water to drink. I don't like fizzy drinks that much and IMO fries are overrated, so this suits me just fine. If it's that much of a special occasion I'd rather go somewhere more expensive than fast food anyway, so any fries and drinks will be that much better quality and worth the extra splurge on calories.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    We order Chinese some times when we can't be bothered cooking and I'll have something like prawns and veg in chili sauce, totally fits my calories. But then other times we order Chinese just because I want it and I have my lemon chicken and fried rice, because yum.
  • cokefloat1
    cokefloat1 Posts: 86 Member
    Takeaway/eating out addict here!

    I think I'm in the A category here *to an extent*. As a food fan I would never deprive myself of anything I was craving. I might be able to get away with it for a little while then I'd just get miserable.

    Once I've chowed down on what I want I log it then use exercise to work it off during the rest of the week. Not that I do this often but I figure as long as I'm working it off it doesn't really matter. Life is for living!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Occasionally I like to just order a bunch of chinese food and eat it all. I've definitely cut back on it and only do it once in a great while now, however it still sucks feeling the post-chinese food guilt. I'm curious what you lovers of chinese food do:

    A. Just order what you feel like and forget about the calories
    B. Don't ever order it
    C. Eat a small amount of the high calorie dish you really want that would fit in to your daily calorie goals
    D. Order from the Steamed part of the menu and try to pretend it's the real stuff
    E. Cook your own at home

    a variation of C - save a 100 cals from each of the previous few days, do a bit longer a workout and enjoy loads of food that roughly fits your macros.
  • ashlivesjk
    ashlivesjk Posts: 7 Member
    I would have to say E on the regular. But I cave in every so often, case in point this past Sunday. I still try to stay lite, I really like the sesame tofu. I just hate the amount of sodium that is in everything.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    I like the steamed side of the menu. /kicks rocks

    I eat what I want, as I want, and generally don't have issues with it.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    I don't dread chinese food, or any food I like for that matter.
    When I want it, I eat it, try to make it fit into my weekly macros, and move on.
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  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Chinese food isn't that bad if you only eat a cup of it and a half cup of the rice. I take mine home for left overs sometimes, but sometimes I don't like to look at second-day food.
  • Barry0611
    Barry0611 Posts: 8 Member
    When I want Chinese food, I eat Chinese food. Steamed food depresses me. My strategy:

    I tend to start with hot and sour soup (meatless) which cuts my appetite. I stay away from the gloppy sweet sauces. Usually go for something spicy with lots of veggies. Then I eat about 1/2 of the dish with minimal amounts of rice and take the rest home for another meal.
  • Cerakoala
    Cerakoala Posts: 2,547 Member
    I fit it into my calories. :) I usually order bourbon chicken since it has no breading and ask for extra broccoli instead of rice and skip the egg roll. Still hits the spot and about 400 calories compared to the others :)
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    My biggest downfall is dim sum and we happen to have a restaurant here with fantastic dim sum for lunch and on weekends. My advice is to allow yourself an IDGAF meal once a week or so. That's a meal, not a day, and I'd still not binge through it, just allow yourself to order what you want until you're reasonably satisfied (works for some not for everyone).
  • pbbagel
    pbbagel Posts: 53 Member
    I choose E. Chinese food can be really healthy if you cook it at home yourself and it's easy to find the ingredients in the supermarket. Stir fry + rice + soup is a filling, balanced meal so I don't dread Chinese food at all.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
    A combination of C and F. F is the even more dreaded Chinese buffet.

    I will go to the buffet and get a small serving of what I love (mu shu pork) and fill up on things like orange slices, steamed broccoli, and the baked fish. I can't really eat much mu shu pork because it's so rich in flavor, and I skip the pancakes. Sometimes I skip the rice if I don't have a lot of calories left.
  • zenalasca
    zenalasca Posts: 563 Member
    I like the steamed side of the menu. /kicks rocks

    I eat what I want, as I want, and generally don't have issues with it.

    This. I like my Mongolian beef, fried rice and honey pork too! But it's hard to beat steamed veggies that actually taste good with rice... lol
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    I like egg drop soup and pork egg foo young. Those are reasonable calorie wise. Occasionally I splurge on one egg roll.
    I do have to watch out for the fried noodles.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,994 Member
    If you like asian stir fries, you could try some other cuisines which typically use less oil. Vietnamese and Korean come to mind.
  • Flab2Fab27
    Flab2Fab27 Posts: 461 Member
    My personal choice would be not to order it at all. My favourite dish is worth a few thousand cals and I have no willpower to not eat it all after ordering it. And I always have the guilt afterwards.
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    Occasionally I like to just order a bunch of chinese food and eat it all. I've definitely cut back on it and only do it once in a great while now, however it still sucks feeling the post-chinese food guilt. I'm curious what you lovers of chinese food do:

    A. Just order what you feel like and forget about the calories
    B. Don't ever order it
    C. Eat a small amount of the high calorie dish you really want that would fit in to your daily calorie goals
    D. Order from the Steamed part of the menu and try to pretend it's the real stuff
    E. Cook your own at home

    A. / C. / D./ E.

    I'll order whatever I feel like ordering but just fit it into my macros and use the leftovers for the next day so I don't have to worry about cooking or doing meal prep for one meal. The steamed menu is actually my go to lunch if I forget meal prep because the steamed chicken is absolutely amazing tasting, and I can use it to make my meal prep super easy. I spend 5 bucks for a large order of steamed chicken, steamed broccoli and get 2 pints of brown rice which turns into 4 nicely portioned meals.

    Of course I'd much rather cook it at home, and since I love asian food, I tend to do this more often than not....but then again it never tastes the same as the chinese restaurant so screw it I have a little fun lol

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