Its impossible!
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It is hard but you can do it.. it is just making the change and getting used to a new routine. All i know about chinese food is that it is doubled fried many times in the wok. I'd stop doing that.. ditch the oil. (use chicken broth). and then I think it would be pretty healthy. At that point just count the calories of the ingredients. Once you get your rice, noodles, and vegetables added into your diary it will be easy.
Oh, and for eating out.. you have to exercise and save up extra calories.. and truly.. try to limit going out to restaurants so you can be in more control. If you eat out all the time.. it will be almost impossible because restaurant food has hidden calories ..and you'll get frustrated.0 -
Eating less means nothing. Yiu dont kniw the hidden crap thats thrown into these dishes i can be completely off.
I can eat half a dish of somethng and it may still be ovee 1000 calories
Then eat a quarter of it.
Clearly if you are consistently gaining on what you're eating, you need to eat less of it in order to maintain.
Likewise if you are maintaining on what you're eating, you need to eat less of it in order to lose.
Eating less means a lot when it comes to weight loss.5 -
So, how often do you eat out? If it's once every week or two, then keep back 200 exercise calories per day, eat lightly on the day before the meal, then don't worry about it. Avoid obviously deep fried dishes and let the fact that you've learnt to eat smaller portions guide you as to when you're full.0
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Eating less means nothing. Yiu dont kniw the hidden crap thats thrown into these dishes i can be completely off.
I can eat half a dish of somethng and it may still be ovee 1000 calories
Are you actually eating half a dish at each meal? If so and you are not losing, eat a quarter as suggested above. You don't have to know the calorie counts to eat less. If your lifestyle includes a lot of restaurant meals then you go by portion size and your weight gain or loss. If you want to use exact calorie counts you stop eating out so often. Your choice.3 -
Try it for a few weeks. Be as accurate as you can. You may surprise yourself.
Oh, and go take a look at all the success stories. It may be uncomfortable, or take you out of your normal way of doing things, but it's hardly impossible.0 -
My two cents:
Don't MFP rule your life. Use it strictly for between 3-4 weeks to get an idea as to food values (i.e., how much fat, carbs, protein, sodium, etc.) of different foods. If you are anything like me, then you may tend to eat the same, or similar, meals each week. I happen to eat very similar lunches every day. Even if you go out to eat semi-regularly, after 3-4 weeks, you will likely have a really good idea as to what you can, and can't eat, in order to stay on your goal. Then, use MFP every few days to make sure you are staying on track, or if you are going to a new place to eat.
If I go to a restaurant that I don't know anything about or can't look up, I order something sensible, but I don't let it get me down because I know I'll be on track the next day.
Diet is like working out. If you don't work out or run for one day, that doesn't mean that all your hard work is out the window - it means you get your butt out of bed and get back to it the next day. If your diet crashes and burns for one day, no big deal. Don't guilt yourself over it. Enjoy the meal and get back on track the next day. Just don't make it a habit.
'nuff said.3 -
If it's impossible then how come all of us have lost our weight????
It seems as though you using this as an excuse. If you want to lose weight then you will. Eat less then you burn. Calories in calories out.
If you don't want to weigh and log then don't. Just eat less then you are now. It's really not that hard.8 -
What, no Princess Bride clips?
I have breakfast at home, which I cook. I have dinner at home, mostly, which I cook.
I have lunch at work, and it consists of junky snacks provided by the workplace. Portion control is key.
I haven't tried to track foods at a Chinese buffet. The only buffet I've visited on this journey was a breakfast buffet and I guessed at remembering what I ate and I know that I logged inaccurately.
That was back in July and I've lost 13 lb since then.0 -
silverfiend wrote: »Learn what is being added to the foods when you eat out. If it's breaded or coated, don't eat it. If it has a sauce, it's probably a safe bet that it's not going to work on your diet. There are always plain meats available.
If you counting calories, you should know how to eyeball the amount close enough for those dining out times. If you are low carb then learn to spot things that are likely to have added carbs into them.
I mean, you can still be in shape, attractive and successful--and eat a reasonable amount of breaded, saucy stuff (and the like) from time to time. It just takes educating yourself (calories in vs. calories out), practice and control--and not being a gross, pitiful glutton with a lot of laughable excuses. I mean, we're human; not savage animals!3 -
Sounds to me like no matter what anyone says, you're going to come back with an argument on how impossible it is.
I've lost now 27 lbs just logging all of my foods. MFP didn't take over my life because I like to pre plan and pre log my foods. I was miserable being as heavy as I was, so logging is nothing to me. You have to choose your hard.
Anyways... You mention restaurants. You can do your best to calculate foods based on meals that mfp already has in the system if that restaurant does not have nutrition info. I personally stopped going to restaurants like I used to. I prefer to make home cooked meals because that way I know exactly what is in them. It has worked for me so far. I have now got the hang of my correct portion sizes, though I will still be logging for a very long time because I don't ever want to gain the weight back.6 -
queenliz99 wrote: »
I agree with this.
If you primarily eat restaurant food simply learn how to eat the foods you choose and monitor it over a period of time (like 3 - 4) weeks and see how your weight does. If the scale is not moving, perhaps change the amount of food being ordered/served, split the entre with a friend or take home the other half.
Sometimes one of these meals out at a restaurant really is all a person can have for day and perhaps a little more (snacks or small meal at home) and be completely out of calories at the end of the day and stay within their calorie deficit to loose weight.3 -
I'm still trying to figure out how being Chinese makes it harder for you??
We all have to figure out a way to eat well and still stay within our calorie allowance, no matter if that is Chinese food, Italian food, Indian food, Mexican food???....2 -
If you are insistent on eating a lot of meals in restaurants, I don't because I want to cook it myself and KNOW what's in it, but everyone is different, why don't you google "healthiest Chinese restaurant dishes". At least that will give you an idea of meals that are typically prepared healthier/lower calorie.3
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Ask for sauce on the side. And eat out less. Sorry, but that's what it is.0
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Are you speaking about Chinese restaurants specifically? I don't know about how Chinese restaurants are everywhere else, but here in the Midwest USA there are always choices of steamed vegetables, shrimp, rice, etc on Chinese restaurant menus. .it isn't difficult to go in and choose lower calorie options, and add soy sauce or whatever you want accordingly. Eating out doesn't mean you always have to pick the deep fried options with tons of sauces. What exactly are you ordering at these restaurants to make your counts so difficult, OP?1
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you have to make up your mind to do it, I know if I can anyone can, down 40 lbs for 4 years. Others have done it also, just keep reading those success stories!
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Anything you do in life is as possible or impossible as you make it! I have lost 44 pounds by logging faithfully and using common sense. If I go out, I try to eat what I know is a lower calorie alternative, but if I want something else...I just eat less. I use the calculator that MFP has, then look at items that are similar and pick one that seems close. I usually use the count that is in the middle, but know it won't be exact. I then make my next few meals a little lower. Losing weight requires changing your life some, no matter what method you use. If you are not ready to do that...maybe this is not the time to start. Seems like a little change in attitude might help.0
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I agree that it is a pain in the butt to log at a buffet so I find if I quick count 1000 calories in for the meal I go out to eat at it works for me. I find whenever I go out to eat no matter how hard I try it is around 1000 calories average from soup to salad to entree. And that's only eating half the entree. Good luck. Just find what works for you. There are a lot of good suggestions in this thread.2
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A lot of my Chinese friends have mentioned what you have. I've also noticed that I now eat less often at ethnic restaurants when I want to be more accurate with my caloric counts.
So does this mean that a lifestyle of eating out with your family and friends all the time makes it harder to lose weight? Absolutely.
It is up to you whether you will turn harder into impossible.
In your case your caloric allowance on mfp will be even more of a guess than it is for most people.
However if you log consistently, in other words the same way on a continuous basis, and if you follow your weight on a trending weight app, you will be able to eventually figure out how many of your consistently logged calories you can eat to lose.
In the meanwhile you may want to adopt more traditional weight lossstrategies.
Fill up on congee or broth soups. Avoid dishes with a lot of oil. Cut down on rice and noodles portions, including dumplings or noodles in the soups. Increase steamed vegetable portions. Order your vegetables steamed, or boiled, not fried. Avoid dumplings, or breadings, or rich sauces.
In other words if you don't want to reduce the volume substitute lower-calorie stuff for higher-calorie stuff.
Or if it is impossible to change the way your family has their meals, then aim to eat about three-quarters of what you used to eat. And if that doesn't work reduce to 60% and keep going till it works.
Note that you should give "a" change at least three weeks before you make a determination as to whether things are working or not.
Especially when eating out water weight changes are way bigger then your underlying weight changes and if you don't give a consistent change enough time you will have no clue whether something is working, or not.
Cutting too many calories for rapid weight loss, in my opinion, especially in the longer term, may have undesirable side effects, so it is usually better to be accurate so as to create a controlled deficit in the 10℅ to 20℅, 25℅ if obese, range.
MFP, weight watchers, other diets are all tools that can help you create a deficit.
If your weight loss needs are cosmetic, being a little bit more careful with what you eat and moving a little bit more may help you control things.
If your weight loss is a lifestyle/ medical necessity, as the case was with myself, the answer is that your lifestyle will have to change, and it is up to you to figure out how.
The concepts are simple. The tools imperfect as they may be can still be made to work. The implementation takes a bit of effort.6 -
It is only impossible if you are unwilling to make changes in your eating habits. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is.
I eat chinese food fairly often. I also eat pizza and Greek,and pasta and burgers. I only have trouble losing weight when my calories in exceed my calories out on more than an occasional basis.4
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