How do you log chinese?

mmccloy12 · February 2017

Hi there, I had a meeting at a chinese buffet today...ugggh. I tried really hard to make good choices. I can't eat lettuce or some salad items because it tears my stomach up, so I had to chose something else. I chose what they call a chicken stick, some of the spinach (had cheese in it) and took some mushrooms from the chicken and mushrooms, and had a crabmeat stuffed mushroom. So how in the world do I log this?

StaciMarie1974 · February 2017

Sometimes you just do the best you can. You can look for things in the database that seem similar, or try to log ingredient by ingredient. Its a guess, in terms of calories, when its food not prepared by you. But some days are like that. Just do the best you can and move on.

mmccloy12 · February 2017

Ok, thank you! I searched for chinese buffet and some of the items were comical...lol. But I did my best to plug in similar items, thank you! A walk and lots of water to help with all that sodium is in order:)

150poundsofme · February 2017

I do not know but I think you made great choices.

mmccloy12 · February 2017

Thanks! I was proud of myself, because I always over do it at buffets!

__TMac__ · February 2017

Chinese buffet is one of those things I can't do much anymore. Hard to control my intake and hard to track. Sounds like you did well!! Maybe I'll give it a try soon.

mmccloy12 · February 2017

It was difficult...everything looked so good! So most likely, unless I have to, I will avoid as well!

Tacklewasher · February 2017

Just be sure to double the sodium

kshama2001 · February 2017

I've been doing this long enough that I know what a 400 calorie meal feels like vs 600 or 800. So I look for an entry in the database that matches how full I feel. I only get Chinese once a month so no big deal.

Unknown · February 2017

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VintageFeline · February 2017

I look up the dishes in the database and just pick something that experience tells me is fairly reasonable. I eat Chinese quite a lot (and other take out food), hasn't hindered my losses so far so I'm doing okay with the guessing!

cwolfman13 · February 2017

Pretty much anytime I go out for anything, anywhere, I just log about 1200 calories in my head.

everher · February 2017

VintageFeline wrote: »

I look up the dishes in the database and just pick something that experience tells me is fairly reasonable. I eat Chinese quite a lot (and other take out food), hasn't hindered my losses so far so I'm doing okay with the guessing!

This is what I do. There's a Chinese buffet near my house that I like. I don't go all the time, but when I do go it hasn't hindered my weight loss. A lot of sodium, to be sure, but typically, the water weight is gone by my next 'official' weigh in day.

kgirlhart · February 2017

I usually just use entries from Panda Express and guess the best I can.

mmccloy12 · February 2017

Cool! This site is awesome!

Queenmunchy · February 2017

I estimate each dish or components as best I can. I try to overestimate and rarely go.

aelunyu · February 2017

Hahaha being Chinese, this post caught my eye. Don't you dare try to log us =D

But in all seriousness. I usually log raw materials used in cooking (which sort of requires you to know how it's cooked), and then I add about a tablespoon of oil to all of them. Restaurants are notorious for having a heavy hand with oil.

Chicken on a stick (per stick)

2oz chicken thigh
5 gram corn starch
5 gram sugar
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil

Spinach al a cheese?

I'd log this as being pretty damn close to spinach artichoke dip. (Which you can find on here)

As to the crabmeat stuffed mushrooms. They're mostly mushroom and starch binding agent (usually corn starch and cheese and very little actual crab...sometimes no crab as they use imitation crab). Honestly. we can break things down to the quarter ounce, but there's no point. They were probably just about 50-70 a pop depending on their size.

Add to that the 2 tbsp of oil. Because honestly, Chinese buffet.

You did real good! I would have bee-lined it for the chicken wings.

newheavensearth · February 2017

I look up USDA Chinese restaurant listings. They come out very reasonable.

markrgeary1 · February 2017

Chinese? UNICODE of course.

catgerm · February 2017

I feel like there was a generic listing in mfp for "Chinese food plate" or something for like 800-900 cals. I just logged it as that. Seemed to be about right!

Unknown · February 2017

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newheavensearth · February 2017

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

Generic listings of "chinese food plate" could be anything... how do you know what they ate? how does that compare to what you ate? a plate of food for one person could be double in size for someone else. I can fit 3-4 egg rolls on my plate... maybe the one listed only had 1... if i ate 3 plus everything else i wanted.. i dont think 800-900 calories would be anywhere close to being right.

Agreed. Better to itemize your foods.

kcj1023 · February 2017

If it's not at a restaurant and it's packaged Chinese food, you can use the app's barcode scanner which is incredibly convenient.

kermax39 · February 2017

Like someone else said if I cant possibly get accurate calories at a resturaunt I try to guess by how full I feel and I do a quick add entry.....I know when iv eaten a big 1000 cal meal versus 500. If its deep fried, added cream, oil or butter or with added fries I know its gonni be be nearer 1000....I usually do a quick add of 700 if im at a party buffet....prob not accurate but it doesnt happen too often.

mmccloy12 · February 2017

All great suggestions! Thank you...I went with logging things that were similar. I think it was a fair estimate of what I ate. I didn't over due it for once!

How do you log chinese?

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