Can't Count Chinese Food Takeout Calories

patprince8
patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
edited December 25 in Food and Nutrition
How many calories do you think are in a takeout order of general tso chicken with egg fried rice?
I actually don't bother counting it because how can I?
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Find a reasonable database entry for the specific items you ate. Estimate, to the best of your ability, how much of the item you ate. Log it.

    It won't be perfect, but it will be more accurate than not logging it at all.

    Major chains typically have calorie counts on their websites - when I'm eating at smaller places, I will find similar looking dishes on the website of a major chain and use that as a point of reference. The two dishes you've described are very common ones and I'd be very surprised if someplace like Panda Express doesn't have examples you can work from.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    That order?
    1200
  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Find a reasonable database entry for the specific items you ate. Estimate, to the best of your ability, how much of the item you ate. Log it.

    It won't be perfect, but it will be more accurate than not logging it at all.

    Major chains typically have calorie counts on their websites - when I'm eating at smaller places, I will find similar looking dishes on the website of a major chain and use that as a point of reference. The two dishes you've described are very common ones and I'd be very surprised if someplace like Panda Express doesn't have examples you can work from.

    Thank you! This is so helpful.
  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    That order?
    1200

    1200 would be great! (-: I'd still be losing weight if I had that and ate less the rest of the day.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    I usually can find a Panda Express entry for takeaway Chinese dishes. You can't know for sure but at least you have a record of what you are if you look back at your log to troubleshoot later
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    Try this for a pretty good estimate: https://www.pandaexpress.com/nutritioninformation

    or this https://www.pfchangs.com/nutrition/menu-nutritionals

    or this http://www.peiwei.com/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Pei-Wei-Nutrition-Specification-Sheet-7.23.20.pdf

    A regular order of General Tso's chicken from Pei Wei has 805 calories (588 cal for the small order). A small fried rice has 640 calories. I'd say Wilson's estimate of 1200 is probably pretty good.
  • changing4life
    changing4life Posts: 193 Member
    Saving for the links
  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I usually can find a Panda Express entry for takeaway Chinese dishes. You can't know for sure but at least you have a record of what you are if you look back at your log to troubleshoot later

    This is so true. I can troubleshoot based on how my weight balances out in a week or two.
  • patprince8
    patprince8 Posts: 16 Member
    whoami67 wrote: »
    Try this for a pretty good estimate: https://www.pandaexpress.com/nutritioninformation

    or this https://www.pfchangs.com/nutrition/menu-nutritionals

    or this http://www.peiwei.com/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Pei-Wei-Nutrition-Specification-Sheet-7.23.20.pdf

    A regular order of General Tso's chicken from Pei Wei has 805 calories (588 cal for the small order). A small fried rice has 640 calories. I'd say Wilson's estimate of 1200 is probably pretty good.

    Love these links! I've bookmarked the first one.
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