What to choose at a Chinese buffet?
 

Anyone have any ideas on what to choose at the Chinese buffet?

I would actually prefer not to go because of the temptation and 'wasted points', but my husband loves it. I've tried to convince him to go out to something like a seafood restaurant or the like, but he's pretty set in his ways. (he likes the variety and likes to stuff himself - which I guess is okay for HIM since he currently works a physical job and burns calories like a maniac)

There admittedly ARE some decent choices.. When we went today I filled up on the salad bar with the egg-drop soup, pickled cabbage, plain shrimp, sauteed green beans and chicken with broccoli. I got ONE piece of general tso's chicken but didn't eat it because I didn't feel the one piece was worth the points. I also didn't have any rice.

I would usually have water but I was tempted to have a diet coke, but when it came I couldn't drink it because it tasted too sugary (I've only been drinking water and unsweeted tea (occasionally with a TINY but of Splenda, but more often than not) for the past three weeks.

For dessert I had some fruit from the salad bar and a little bit of vanilla soft-serve. For the whole time out, I still went a little bit over my daily points allotment for the day. I used two points over, but that was the only time this week I went over any..

Anyone have any tips for navigating Chinese food territory, especially when it's not 'made to order'? I don't want to go over my points again for just one night out which wasn't too satisfying.. I would rather have just had some grilled fish and steamed veggies, but it's somewhere I'll have to navigate again in the future.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Most chinese buffets in our area also make to order, so you can order off of a menu rather than the buffet. I don't know if this is possible in your area. I think you made the best choices off the buffet that you could, and going over two points is pretty darn good. When you say it was the only day you went over, did you mean that you dipped into your flex points, or that you had used all your flex points for the week and went two points over that?

Either way, I think you did great, but if you just dipped into flex points then you didn't really go over your allotment you stayed within it.

Some chinese buffets have steamed fish on the buffet, or will make it to order for you (even if it's not on the menu).

The biggest difference at buffets now versus my old way is that I vow to be as "picky" as my youngest sister always has been. She has never let her food "touch" on the plate, so by doing things her way, I can't put alot of food on my plate. I also always start with two of the tiny bowls of egg drop or hot and sour soup (broth based), and always eat with the chopsticks (I'm fairly proficient, but it still slows me down).

Thanks for the reply! To clarify, I just dipped into my flex points. My daily points target is 29 and I consumed 31 for the day. It was the end of the week, too, so that was my only 'dip'.

I still felt pretty bad about it. If I didn't have the piece of apple pie (8pts) then I would have been under my 6 which would have been pretty good, but I wanted some dessert considering that was the only time we went out that week and I was pretty good about not eating any of the goodies brought in to the office. (I would bring them home and decide whether or not to eat them later - usually I'd give them to my husband, but I just KNEW that if I started eating them at the office I wouldn't be able to stop and then I'd feel guilty)

If you beat yourself up, even a little, when you're perfectly on plan, you're adding so much unnecessary stress to your life. Two points is 1/35th of a pound - less than half an ounce. Do you really want to stress over the fact that you may have lost 1/2 of an ounce less this week than you would have if you hadn't gone "over" those two points. If you do this each and every week for the next year that will come to 1.5 lbs. Is a difference of less than 2 lbs a year, really worth even a single negative thought.

You know if you had gone 35 points "over" you still would have been on plan, and would have had nothing to feel bad about. If anything less than your idea of "perfection" is stressful, you're making this jouney alot more difficult than it needs to be. Stress creates hormones that inhibit weight loss. Don't waste your time on guilt and other negative emotions when you don't have to. You did great, give yourself credit, not criticism. Sure pie is not an optimal food choice, but you didn't use all of your points for pie. You ate like a "normal" person. Yeah, for you!

I agree with Kaplods about the beating up one's self, but it's probably something we all do. I do try not to do it too much anymore, I'm more aware of it, because it leads to quitting~giving up and that is not an option. We are in this for the long haul, so you have the right idea, you have to come up with a way to cope with the chinese buffet, you're going to go there again.

When I go to the buffet, I always start with wonton soup, you can choose how many wontons you want. I stay away from the fried stuff and get as many vegetables, I'm shameless about stealing the broccolli from the chicken/beef with broccolli trays! I also get hot tea and water and drink lots, the sodium in chinese is brutal so drinking lots also helps and gives you something to do besides munching the fried stuff. Also, like Kaplods said about being picky, I walk around and look at everything before I get anything and think about what I really want. That way it's really a treat.

good luck and remember there will be good days and bad days, the good days are easy to deal with, it's how we recover from the bad days that makes us successful! :D

daily target points = bare minimum
weekly flex points = make the program flexible (hence the name Flex Points)

please change your thinking about your weekly points or you'll drive yourself crazy with stress.

I think while crazy thinking is common in dieting, I think of it as the "dark side." It can and often does lead to crazy behavior and often ultimately giving up. The problem with having unreasonable expectations, is that it makes failure pretty much inevitable, and every failure, even the smallest is an enemy to lasting change. You have to experience, and build on successes to make lasting changes and stay motivated. If you perceive your successes as failures, what point is there to keep going?

I'm trying hard to look at my failures as successes. Like I didn't lose 45 lbs. last year, but I did lose 25 and I kept it off and made exercise a habit, so I am a success!

It so easy to beat yourself and so hard to compliment yourself...