Rice?

Every single thing that you put in your mouth that has calories is technically "fattening".

The calories in a cup of plain, white, med grain rice is 242. Calories in a cup of Trader Joe's Jasmine rice is 180 per cup. I prefer the Jasmine and will limit myself to 1/2 to 3/4 cup and just add extra vegetables.

Quinoa is great and it has a nice taste, but to me is isn't a substitute for rice all the time. I do use it sometimes, though.

Brown rice is different tasting and I like it well enough, but it has a firmer texture that feels like it just isn't 'done'. You just have to get used to the firmer texture.

No clue why it's so high calorie. It's a grain. I'm pretty annoyed that good bread is extremely high in calorie, but that's just the way it is.

My vote goes to.....total bull. Rice is calorie dense....not the same thing as fattening.

Rice is a huge staple in many countries.....yet it's Americans with the biggest weight problem....not the Chinese or Japanese.

Brown rice is less processed.....it has more fiber & nutrients....but the same calories. I love rice, but I have to manage portions.

It comes down to lifestyle changes....I won't be giving up rice forever. So it's still part of my weight loss program.

EquestrianLark135 wrote: »

And mind you, I'm not eating steamed rice either.

Ok...do your best to not judge me here...how else can you eat rice? I've only ever had it steamed. I honestly had no idea there was any other way.

Also, I'm newish here so apparently I did the quoting wrong.

You need to remove the "/" from the first "[/quote]"

Most "frequent" food on my food diary--white rice. My husband is asian too. I do eat less than I used to--maybe 1/2 cup or 1 cup with a meal instead of 2-3 or whatever I used to eat before I started logging everything. And I try to eat more veggies with my meals. But there's no way I could do without it, and my husband would never agree to brown rice or quinoa. I've still managed to maintain my loss of 45 lbs for about 2 years now despite eating rice all the time.

Um, my regular recipe:
1 cup of Jasmine rice
1/2 tomato
1/4 onion
1/4 green bell pepper
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp chicken bullion
2 cups water

I sautee the veggies first in the oil, then I add the rice to toast it a little, then I add the water. Let it boil uncovered, once the water has evaporated, I cover it and lower the fire to low for 10 minutes. And it's ready to eat. Makes about 4 servings. My version of fried rice.

I rarely eat rice anymore....but if I do, it's wild rice/brown rice mix....I don't eat white rice, pasta, very little bread and not a lot of quinoa either....rarely eat white potatoes either....to me it isn't worth the calories

EquestrianLark135 wrote: »

I've recently discovered that white rice is WAY more high calorie than I was expecting. My boyfriend is Asian and we happen to eat rice with just about everything, but goodness it takes a chunk out of my calories to even have a cup of steamed white rice. I did a little research and found it can actually be fattening...maybe that's total bull...but that's why I'm asking you guys.
Is rice good/bad/ok? And why is it so high calorie??
Also, I know brown rice or quinoa is a healthier alternative, and I have yet to try either. I found that they're both equally as high calorie, though. Again...why?

Hey, I would recommend just having a slightly smaller portion of rice.

Should be about a palmful dry to create a fistful-sized portion once cooked, ie. 1/4 of your plate. (The other 1/4 being protein, with 1/2 veggies)

If you have a kitchen scales, a portion of grains (rice/quinoa/whatever) is 50g pp.

I spend about 300 calories a day on 90 grams of rice per day. Sometimes I change it out for pasta, or quinoa or couscous. It is worth the expenditure to me. I mix it with a ton of veggies and garlic. I find it very filling. Other times I will add legumes, onion, avo, cilantro and sriracha and make my own burrito bowl. Again, it is well worth it and I won't be giving it up anytime soon.

stuffinmuffin wrote: »

However I think where you've heard it's fattening is that white rice is quite high on the glycemic index which can peak your blood sugar levels.

In the context of a meal the glycemic index of white rice (or any food for that matter) is a moot point. It can only be fattening if you eat too much of it...