I'm going to walk to the library to work on an assignment all day. Then I thought "well, why not find a resturant close to the library and walk over when I'm done for dinner?" Sounds way more fun than walking home and slaving over a stove.

And, low and behold, there is a Chinese food place about two blocks down! Whoot!

My question is: what are some resturant chinese staples that will be tasty but not totall kill my calorie count?

I'm already considering just ordering egg drop soup and maybe some sort of small appetizer. I figure ordering something with a lot of vegetables would also be a good idea?

My problem is I am a total sucker for sweet and sour meat and lo mein. Oh, lo mein. Sweet noodle-y goodness!

I also have the option of ordering something and boxing up half. I'll probably walk home after dinner as the library closes at 5pm, anyway.

Is it bad that I am so excited? The library AND FOOD! Yaaay.

Most Chinese restaurants offer a "lite" version of things on their menu. They are usually steamed veg, a meat and/or steamed rice w/ no sauce or sauce on the side. Some even have the grill where you can choose your veg, meat, etc. and they cook it right then and there. You can have them go easy on the sauce that way.

Egg drop soup is a GREAT choice. Also, look for steamed items with little or no sauce and TONS of steamed veggies.

A sweet and sour dish with lo mein will run you around 1600 cals and 25g of fat at least. Even cut in half that is pretty bad.

So I'd stick with steamed, unless of course your walk home is around 5 miles or more

Beef Broccoli is usually my chinese food of choice along with egg drop soup instead of rice. Usually the more vegetable items are better.

Oh my gosh! That's TERRIBLE. And, no. My walk home is about 15/20 minutes. A nice walk, but nothing really calorie-burning worthy.

I think I'll try some egg drop soup and maybe some peppered beef and veg. Peppered beef and veggies aren't really SPECIAL (as in, I actually could cook that in my own kitchen) but that's ok.

I simply cannot enter a Chinese place unless it's a VERY rare once-in-a-blue-moon free-for-all cheat day. Because when I do, it's 1) an all you can eat buffet and 2) I eat ALL that I can eat. And if a vegetable makes it on my plate, it better be sopping in greasy MSG sauce. And yes, I have planned a few insane Chinese cheat days, and it didn't wreck my progress any, haha. Very rare cheats.

Sorry, that was no help, haha. Supposedly things like grilled meats and steamed veggies and rice exist in Chinese restaurants...I've never bothered with it, lol.