Chinese Calories

sillisome fiend

Hi, I've been dieting/exercising for the past 5 weeks and all is going fine, I've lost approx. 16lbs. I allow myself a chinese at the weekends but I hate not knowing how many calories are in the dishes. Last week I had half a prawn chow mein, I'd appreciate if anyone has any idea of how many calories that is or if theres a healthier option. I'm sorry if this has come up before but I've searched this forum and haven't found the answers I want.

Thanks.

How Strange

There's been a few threads here about chinese and the best advice I've read is to order a side of vegetables with your meal instead of rice.

I've started doing that when I eat out in general.

Also, in chinese restaurants or any asian resturant steer clear of gloopy sauces as they are most likely calorie laden. I tend to go for an oyster sauce which is quite light and thin. Also, stay away from anything battered or deep fried.

kmick

How Strange wrote: »

There's been a few threads here about chinese and the best advice I've read is to order a side of vegetables with your meal instead of rice.

I've started doing that when I eat out in general.

Also, in chinese restaurants or any asian resturant steer clear of gloopy sauces as they are most likely calorie laden. I tend to go for an oyster sauce which is quite light and thin. Also, stay away from anything battered or deep fried.

Whats the difference between a side of vegetables (most likely fried in some oil) and boiled/steamed rice?

sillisome fiend

Thanks How Strange, I might try that tonight. I'll try to get a dish with little or no sauce and make sure I go for a decent walk tomorrow!

How Strange

kmick wrote: »

Whats the difference between a side of vegetables (most likely fried in some oil) and boiled/steamed rice?

That god awful white rice that they serve up in most restaurants has very little nutrional benefits. It's just pure starch.

Most of the time the vegetables are stir fried with some oyster sauce added. I admit that sometimes they are greasy but for the most part they are a better choice than white rice.

If you've lost 16lbs in five weeks then your doing the right things.
Chowmein comes in oyster sauce, noodles are lower cal than rice, prawns are low cal and I find that half of the average chinese is more like a normal portion. Sounds great to me considering it is your weekly treat, you have to like eating better to stick to it.

rubadub

Check out my thread about chinese takeaways, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055209321
Best make sure you are seated first:pac:

Half portions are a good idea. Get a digital scale and weigh it (great investment).

For a rough estimate just treat it as 300kcal per 100g, this may be veering on the high side for a prawn dish, but best go higher than lower, it does get doused in oil usually, thats why it tastes so good!

olaola

AFAIK The lowest 'points' Chinese dish in WW is Prawn Chow Mein.
Or if you're thinking of any other take-away, you could get tandori style chicken from the Indian. Bombay Pantry do a savage Tandori BBQ special with loads of different meats cooked in the tandoor.

Shalla

There's some healthy choices and things to steer clear of here:

http://www.weigh2live.ie/eatingtips/chinese.html

sillisome fiend

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll stick with the Prawn Chow Mein! I had half a dish over the weekend and still managed to lose another 2.5lbs since last week. If its the only treat I have I should be fine