Help! Out for Chinese tonight - best low carb options?!

[Ellisandra]

Hi all - sorry that I'm a lurker rather than poster (on this section anyway!) now asking for quick help

I'm LCHF at the moment, and in ketosis. It's not the end of the world what I eat, but I'm nicely feeling the vibe right now and keen not to interrupt that.

Not sure what the menu will be like, but any tips on typical dishes to avoid or look out for please?

I'm thinking sweet and sour sauce loaded with pineapple 🍍 is best avoided

[AuntieJuice]

Crispy duck pancakes, skip the pancakes and the plum sauce, eat the duck and cucumber and salad. If there are salt and pepper ribs, those are normally okay. Otherwise... One of the stir fry dishes with no rice? Chicken with cashew nuts or something?

[AuntieJuice]

I've just made myself hungry thinking about Chinese.

[Ellisandra]

Great ideas, but crispy duck pancakes are one of my favourite things in the whole world, and my willpower might not take it!

Love cashews though - thank you!

[BishopstonFaffing]

Stir fried chicken and vegetables? Most places do this.

[Ellisandra]

Normally I wouldn't care too much about 1 day, but this morning I weighed in at 8 13 1/2 and psychologically I really don't want to go back over 9st over this Chinese. If I'd weighed 9st I'd probably have just had the pancakes anyway!

[StepAwayFromCake]

Also LCHF, also really pleased with having crossed a psychological boundary in my weight loss, and also going for a Chinese meal tonight!

IME, once you are well-established in ketosis, a meal where you eat loads of carbs doesn't actually throw you off. You may be so well-adapted to LCHF and to listening to your appetite that you won't eat a huge amount anyway. You may have a carb hangover the following day, but you slip straight back into the LCHF WOE and it really doesn't make a difference. At worst, that week you don't lose, or you lose less.

Obviously this only holds true for the very occasional carby meal!

[Ellisandra]

Thanks! Perfect username
Enjoy your meal out!

[StepAwayFromCake]

How did it go, Ellisandra, did you have a nice time? I ate far less than I would usually eat at a Chinese meal, just didn't fancy as much. Also didn't care for the thick sauce dishes (which I usually love with lots of steamed rice). I instinctively went for the 'lighter' dishes.

Have a dreadful non-alcoholic hangover today, and am hideously bloated and windy. But I've not stepped on the scales. No recriminations. Onwards and downwards!

[BIWI]

Just seen this!

Hope it went well.

We have a great Chinese near us, and one of my favourite meals is lettuce wraps - iceberg lettuce leaves which you roll up around a dish that's minced pork and mushrooms (with the usual Chinese flavours of garlic and ginger). It also comes with some kind of sauce, I think it's Hoisin, which you can add - although it's quite sweet so I tend to try not to use too much of that.

[Ellisandra]

Well, I had a great time and the food was yummy - thanks for asking!
And that's what really matters. I'm glad you had a good time! It's definitely true that low carb WOE makes it almost magically easier to go for light things, or smaller portions. When I'm actively losing weight rather than just eating lowish carb normally, I very quickly have to actually remind myself to eat!

The place was all Chinese/Asian tapas, it's easy on willpower when you order your chicken & veg up front... but much harder when you are surrounded by other people's choices of carbic wonderment
Hello steamed buns!

I actually didn't over-eat, but I did just eat anything - so probably quite high carb. In one night I went from very strongly in ketosis on a dipstick to a very wishy washy half hearted pink. In one night! With no rice!

But... you have to live your life.

I'm a daily weigher when I want to lose weight - so yes, just over 9st again (I'm short!) But it'll be off tomorrow.

I know most people view daily weighing with horror - but on the couple of times I've really wanted to lose, I love it! I find it makes me blasé about how much you can go up and down day to day (period, not NASA grade scales, etc) and means plateaus or gains don't panic me. If I've lost I think "yay, it's working, stick with it!" and if it isn't, I think "right - you need not to lapse with this, keep going".

Sorry... my life story over a Chinese!

Anyway - big plate of smoked salmon, spinach and poached eggs for breakfast... mmmmm!

My sister was talking about trying to lose weight - cutting out biscuits but still eating mounds of white pasta. She needs your bootcamp BIWI! won't listen though

[BIWI]