Hey guys. I need some advice as to how to eat healthy at a family obligation tomorrow night. My relatives decided we should take our Grandmother out to dinner for Mother's Day... at a Chinese Buffet. This is definitely an awful place for someone watching calories, as it is not only chinese food, but unlimited chinese food! I have been racking my brain this evening, planning for tomorrow. I haven't been to this place in a long time, but in my memory they had some pretty low quality sushi (ick), LOTS of all of the fried and greasy chinese dishes, I "fondly" remember chinese donuts (balls of sugar!), duck, shrimp with lobster sauce, a huge dessert table... a review online tells me there are some vegetarian dishes and a small salad portion. Any advice on what to do? I mean, I imagine I should stick to the vegeterian dishes (no idea if they are good or not), maybe the shrimp with lobster sauce would be a good choice? Oh, and there are also soups. Wonton soup?
Agh, I'm just worried about controlling myself regarding portions and choosing the healthy things... right now I am imagining myself circling the buffet tables, at a loss for what to eat, and reverting to one of those fried dishes. I don't know, any sort of advice would be great... I did read an article about buffets, but it seems more geared towards "american" buffets with bread and lots of salad ingredients and all that... definitely not what this place is like!
Thanks
Chinese soups are a good bet - I usually get a bowl (or two) of hot and sour and some steamed rice and maybe steamed veg. I know that there are a couple of low-cal entrees but off the top of my head, I don't know what they are.
Last time I had to have Chinese food (while helping some family members move), I ordered steamed shrimp and broccoli with brown sauce on the side, and had a serving of rice with it. I dipped the shrimp/broccoli/rice into the sauce instead of pouring it all over. I probably only ate a tablespoon or so of the sauce in total, and had a nice low cal healthy meal!
If they have a menu in addition to the buffet, ordering a maindish soup instead of the buffet might be an option. If not, at least starting with a bowl of soup while you decide what from the buffet you want to choose. If there's a steamed fish on the buffet that would be a good choice (take off the skin if it's fatty). Stir fried dishes rather than the deep fried ones.
The biggest tip I use at the buffet is to take only a couple tablespoons of anything, and make sure nothing touches on my plate. It does mean I usually do go up a second or even a third time, but this way, I end up eating less than I would in a single trip otherwise.
If you can order a la carte, then get a stirfry with no sugar added to the sauce. They only use a small bit of starch thickener, but they do use sugar..When we have chinese I do this and it keeps me from getting the bingey-cravies later in the evening..keep in mind many times they still use a ton of oil (which I guess you could ask for less or steamed instead) but with the oil and no sugar there's a high satiety factor, you'll get full really fast ..
If you cannot order a la carte, start with a soup (egg drop is probably best)
and then move on to a stirfry and try not to consume much of the sauce.Drink lots of water (sodium issues) and if you're having fatty, avoid the starchy carbs (noodles and rice) If you want noodles or rice, I would try to watch the fat and take a very small portion of rice.
good luck!
no ordering, just a big ole buffet! this place is really dangerous, I mean seriously. I've been there about 5 or 6 times in my life and I remember each time feeling stuffed to the brim! It is cheap, good tasting (but not healthy) food, and severallll rows of it.
I will keep all of your tips in mind. I am thinking I will start out with a bowl of soup (egg drop if they have it, wonton if not), then try to find some stir fried or steamed vegetables. I am going to be VERY careful - I have only been on my plan for a few days, and I am not going to ruin it this way!
Thanks for the tips
We have a similar Chinese buffet where I live. It's tough. Here are some ideas: Sometimes there will be a whole cooked salmon on the buffet--and that's what I take the most of. Also, if they have the green beans, take those. These are cooked with oil, but no sauce on them. I take a big pile. Avoid anything breaded and heavily sauced. Sometimes you can find mixed vegetables in a light sauce--called monk's delight in some places. Wonton soup is the best bet. By the time you have those items, or something similar, you will have a whole dinner on your plate, and there is no reason to take more of anything. I don't even add white rice--just empty calories to me--but if you have some, don't take over half a cup.
Don't get seconds, and stay away from the dessert table.
Are you sure there is no ordering? Sometimes chinese buffets don't have a menu but if you ask them to prepare something special they will. I would go with steamed veggies, a bit of rice, some meat that isn't in a sweet sauce and isn't fried and then a salad.
You might want to call them to ask or even stop in and ask.
Maybe you should eat something small shortly before you go so you're not ravenous. I find if I feel like I'm starving I give in more to my impulses and choose all the heavy fried stuff (my favorites are basically any type of fried meats!) but if I'm just a little hungry I can think clearer and make better choices. Try to eat a small salad or something else as a snack before you go.
I agree with others about choices you can make there, obviously avoid anything deep fried, stick to plain rice and stir fried dishes, yes they're stir fried in oil but it's still better than choosing the battered and deep fried general tso's chicken with it's sweet goopy sauce! You said they had a small salad area so I'd choose a soup and salad to start, then just little tastes of the other sutff. Good luck, I'm rooting for you!
Alright guys... thanks for your help, I just got home (it was a late afternoon dinner). Wow, what an interesting experience... I was thinking of 3FC the whole time
I walked in and we sat down, I ordered water consistently throughout the meal, I must have had 4 or 5 glasses. When everyone jumped up to the buffet, I took my time walking around and seeing what they had. The sushi looked good, but I had that last night so I didn't want a repeat. The salad stuff did not look very good, so I decided to skip over that. There was soup, TONSSS of deep fried, sauce filled, high calorie dishes, piled high. I was searching for stir fry - nothing. I was searching for steamed vegetables - nothing. The only thing they did have that you guys mentioned was soup!
So I got a small bowl of egg drop soup, which I drank pretty slowly. After that, I went up and took a few small items - I found sauteed bok choy, and even though it was sauteed it was the most "plain" vegetable item they had (all the broccoli was served with chicken in sauce and I was worried about the sauce) so I took about a cup of that, I took a few shrimp (very good!), about 1/2 a cup of vegetable mei fun (I remembered reading somewhere that was the healthiest chinese food dish, though now I can't find any calorie info... anyone know anything? I estimated that 1/2 a cup couldn't be more than 150 cals and put that down), one spring roll, and some seaweed salad that I didn't end up eating any of because the first taste proved it to be verryyy salty and spicy (??) so it was not my sort of thing.
After dinner, I allowed myself to get a very small portion of vanilla soft serve ice cream and a TINY piece of asian peanut brittle (I wanted to try it).
All in all, I think I did a pretty good job. I made sure earlier today that I ate all clean foods, lots of fruits and whole wheat bread and organic items. I estimated the calories for the whole experience, and I'm saying around 750 sounds right.
Once again, thanks for the help! I don't know why my relatives love this place so much (well I guess I could figure it out haha), they're holding my cousins wedding shower there in a few months! Luckily I will be at school so I won't have to worry about it
Ahh, the Chinese buffet. I have to duke it out on occasion myself because my son (he's 7) just LOVES that place and wants me to take him sometimes for lunch. It's always an enjoyable experience because him and I have a nice time together.
As for what I eat, I really do my best not to stress over it. Naturally I avoid the deep-fried foods, although I'll sometimes grab a very small piece of the fried fish. If there are no small pieces, I take the spatula they have available for serving and cut one in half. That's my little 'treat' for that meal.
I go for the peel & eat shrimp. That's something that takes time to eat. I rarely get soup, but sometimes I'll get wonton. No reason for not getting it other than the fact that I'm usually not in the mood for it. Then when I'm ready to get an entree, I go mostly for the lean meat and vegetable stir-frys. I avoid the stir-frys that have breaded and deep-fried meats in them. And when I get veggies and meats from the stir-fry dishes I'm wanting, I let as much of the sauce drain off as I can before putting it on my plate. Normally I'll just get a small amount of different dishes (so I don't feel like I'm completely depriving myself of all of those good foods) and I usually avoid the rice and noodles. I don't even eat the steamed rice. I'd rather save calorie room for the entrees.
On occasion they'll have steamed or broiled fish out there, but unfortunately it's rarely salmon. It's usually a big pile of whole nasty fish, complete with heads and eyes and EWWWWW! I don't go near it.
*If* I allow myself one deep-fried treat, I'll have a small egg roll or maybe one crab rangoon or, like I said, a small piece of the fried fish. The rest is mostly veggies (I love their bean sprouts, I usually get two servings of those), lean meats (usually chicken) and the peel & eat shrimp. And lots of water! Not only to help fill me up, but because Chinese food is insanely high in sodium, so I try and get a jumpstart on flushing it out of there.
So, yes, it *is* possible to survive a Chinese buffet
Family Obligations.... and a Chinese Buffet!
