How do you count your Chinese food calories?

2kidsandatrip
2kidsandatrip Posts: 98 Member
edited November 18 in Food and Nutrition
I am a lover of Chinese food and as I begin again on this journey of a lifestyle change and counting calories I wonder how do you count your calories correctly when you eat it. There seems to be no true nutritional info on Chinese food, so how do you know how many calories you just consumed. For lunch today I order the steamed shrimp and mixed veggies with the brown sauce on the side and the only place I knew to look was on the MFP database, but there was only a few options and all of them were so different from each other for had additional things, I feel like I'm cheating if I just guess.

Replies

  • MamaJ1974
    MamaJ1974 Posts: 443 Member
    I've learned how to prepare a lot of my Chinese food favorites, so I know exactly how many calories are going into it. I'll eat it from the restaurant too but try to limit it to once a month since I really can't know how many calories I'm eating.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I look in the database for what I am eating.

    Spring rolls, noodles, wontons etc.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
    I just kind of wing foods like that from the database. It's hard to be exact with this sort of thing. It's like when I order a bowl of "seafood bisque" from my favorite restaurant. Who knows what's really in it. I just picked one that looked suitably high-calorie from the database and went with it. I don't eat it that often so it's not a big deal.
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  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    The plain steamed dishes I usually just calculate the amount of protein and the amount of veggies, then I add 50 calories or so for a tablespoon of the sauce.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I found an entry in the database for 159 calories/cup. It's probably close to being accurate based on 1/2 cup of steamed shrimp and 1/2 cup of steamed mixed vegetables, so I'd go with it, then add in more for the sauce and/or rice.
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
    I generally choose one from the database and eyeball it. That being said, it is hard, and chances are you won't be 100% accurate (heck, you might not even be 90% accurate), but as long as your try and don't completely binge on the stuff you should be fine. I have definitely cut back my consumption of take out Chinese due to the struggle with logging it (not even to mention its sodium content), but just use common sense - if you're ordering lo mein and see an entry for one cup of noodles at 100 calories, you know something is wrong!
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    We eat our meals from home so it's easy to know what's going into them. I just guesstimate if I have to eat out, even the listed calories on restaurant sites can be way off.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    Choose a high calorie entry out of the database- Especially for anything breaded/fried. A box of orange chicken is not just say, 300 calories.
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  • tanowicki
    tanowicki Posts: 60 Member
    With an abacus.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I just use whatever is closest in the data base... Working so far for me.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    Like some of the other posters, I look for the closest thing in the database, and if there are several I pick the highest calorie one (unless it's a huge outlier; then I'd go for second highest)

    If you could actually tell what each ingredient was and estimate the portions well you could put it in the recipe builder, but unless it's a dish you eat often, that's probably overkill (and won't necessarily be accurate because of the variability in amount and type of cooking oil and sauces).
  • 2kidsandatrip
    2kidsandatrip Posts: 98 Member
    Thank you everyone for your input. I don't eat Chinese food too often, but wondered if there was a way that I wasn't aware of to figure the calories out. It appears we are all on the same page on this one. :smiley:
  • agreenid
    agreenid Posts: 218 Member
    I just had Chinese take out with my family for lunch... did my best guess on calories. It was white fish stir-fried with veggies and hot peppers. SO SATISFYING.
  • fish2find
    fish2find Posts: 221 Member
    Pick up Stix and Panda Express plus a few others are listed here:
    http://www.nutritionix.com/restaurants
  • kickassbarbie
    kickassbarbie Posts: 286 Member
    Often while cringing, but I usually try to find a chain resturant selling a similar dish and look up their nutrition on their website.
  • Curtez
    Curtez Posts: 62 Member
    Id be worried more about the sodium vs the cals
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Curtez wrote: »
    Id be worried more about the sodium vs the cals

    Why? Sodium will cause a short term weight gain due to water retention, however over indulgence of calories will cause weight gain.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    I don't think my answer is going to be too helpful lol... I simply stopped buying it. I can make steamed meat and vegetables with soy sauceat home, and all the other stuff is crazy fattening. :/
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