Okay, so a few of us at work are being taken out to lunch by my boss. It's her way of saying she appreciates us, and I like the rare occasions where we all get to interact. We work at a music school, and while I get to interact with most of the teachers at least on a weekly basis, if not a daily basis, they don't have much chance to interact with each other, and we never do things as a group. So I'm excited about it--BUT--

She emailed yesterday to tell us that we were going to her favorite Chinese restaurant.

What can I get that won't throw me completely off? At most restaurants I can get a side salad and a bowl of soup and call it good. Not so much here. Especially since I can't stand any of the soups served at a chinese restaurant.

Help, please.

Chinese is actually pretty good, so long as you stay away from the rice and hte deep fried stuff. The problem is the sauce.... some sauces are really sweet, or high sodium (depending on what you're avoiding).

If it will be enough for you, you can have soup and an appetizer, especially if they have teriyaki skewers of meat as an appetizer. For entrees I tend to get chicken or shrimp with vegetables in the "white" sauce (rather than the heavy brown sauce). A lot of Chinese restaurants around here also have "healthy choices" sections of their menu, where you can get steamed rather than stir-fried/sauced items. Personally, I find them bland, and would rather cut back on the rice and enjoy the sauce, but each person's plan is different.

If you know about the restaurant ahead of time, you may also be able to look it up online. And if not, you can look up a couple of your favorite Chinese meals in Fitday or MyPlate, and see what you might be looking at calorie-wise. It might not be exact to this particular restaurant, but it gives you some general information about that dish that will help you make your decision.

You may also want to rearrange your other meals that day, make them lighter or beef up on the veggies, to off-set this possibly more-calorific meal.

It's not about all or nothing, so much as it's about balancing meal choices within the options you have.

Here's a pretty good article on choosing healthier CHinese options. I didn't know some of these, like asking for it to be cooked in stock rather than oil, and asking for extra veggies.

http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/259

Thanks, synger.

I personally love Won Ton soup but if it's not your thing...skip the soup, then choose steamed brown rice (portion yourself out a cup from the gigantic serving they bring) and get a veggie dish that doesn't have a sauce. The place I go serve a great Steamed Vegetable dish that is really good. If you have enough calories in your plan, have some chicken or tofu with the veggies. Just nothing breaded or fried. Also, since you are going back to work, ask if there is garlic in the dish! The cook at my place loves him some garlic and has a liberal hand. I ask them to go really easy on the garlic.

I drink the tea, eat the rice, eat the veggies and have a fortune cookie for dessert. One of the nice things with going out with a group is you can be sociable and visit while you eat. If I am by myself, I will wolf things down quickly and eat way more than I need. You can nibble and visit, stretching your food out.

You can have your meal steamed and the sauce ON THE SIDE. Then just take a teaspoon or a tablespoon of the sauce and pour over your food. You'll be surprised how little can go a long way.

Steamed dumplings are a good choice as well.

and now I'm looking at the time and you're probably already at the restaurant so this post is pointless. oops.

MMM I love chinese - problem is I don't usually know the calories for it as it's tough to find. I just enjoy it on Friday's heheh