I’m on a diet - I am eating at an all you can eat Chinese buffet tonight!

[InferiorDesign]

I’m going on a planned night out with a large crowd of friends tonight and this was the democratic choice.

Normally I would indulge like crazy, but I’m two months into a healthy eating plan and don’t want to do too much damage.

What are your top tips (other than don’t eat everything you silly woman) and recommended choices.

apparently it’s a really nice restaurant with lots of lovely fresh food.

Im thinking going veggie and avoiding anything in batter is a good start.

I am dieting but once a week I have a treat meal, usually wine and a takeaway and I've still managed to consistently lose. One night off is unlikely to cause any damage as long as you get back on it and don't see it as an excuse to slide off. If you want to stick at it though just refrain from anything battered as a lot of Chinese food is.

I traded my mega crisps and biscuits habit for a mega lentil chips and fruit oatcakes habit 😂

Incredibly well done - I’m in awe of your determination, and like your idea

Eat what you want but be mindful of portion size
You will succeed better if you dont restrict yourself nice food but have smaller sizes.

A Chinese member of the family told me, there is a shed load of sugar and salt in restaurant dishes, so I’d avoid the deep fried stuff, especially with sweet sauces! Things like sweet and sour pork balls, deep fried crispy beef, etc!

I always drink water or Chinese tea, rather than Classic Coca Cola - to avoid feeling dehydrated from all the MSG as well!

”Healthy” eating is indulging in unhealthy foods once in a while. Unless there is a medical or psychological reason why you can’t break your diet for one night, just have fun and eat what you like. Don’t go crazy, just eat a normal dinner sized portion rather than piling up plate after plate, but don’t restrict your choices. Enjoy!

Easy.

Chop suey, lots of veg, chicken and fish. Green tea. Have a glass of wine if you want to drink. One's not going to ruin your diet.

No rice/noodles, no sweet and sour or deep fried stuff and no gloopy sauces.

Fresh fruit for dessert and a small scoop of ice cream or sorbet as a treat item.

I would allow myself more than one plate- but not load it up. Take a few bits, then eat, not rush and then wait a a few minutes before going back up. Give your body time to tell you it's full, rather than rushing and over eating.

I'm the type of person that used to just inhale food in front of me- I'd often eat so much, so quickly that it made me sick (not deliberately, I'd just eat so quick that I wouldn't realise how full I was- then not be able to cope with how much I'd eaten!). Slowing down took practice but has had such an impact of how much I eat.

Make the best choices you can, and enjoy it!

Stir fries rather than deep fried chicken / spring rolls etc
Avoid thick sauces like sweet and sour - look for things like oyster sauce or black bean sauce or just add soy sauce, chilli sauce etc
Boiled rice is a good choice but a bit joyless!

Minimise the more calorific and fried options and enjoy the rest!

Duck pancakes are totally fine.... I just make sure to have more cucumber and spring onion in them than crispy duck but they're still delicious.

I'd avoid too much alcohol and the desserts as they're usually rubbish anyway and other than that would enjoy myself and not worry about it.

I have been on a diet and in August I went on an all inclusive holiday and decided to just eat and drink whatever I wanted and enjoy myself. I put on 7lbs in a week! But got straight back on plan when I was home and lost it all within three weeks. One night of indulgence won't ruin your diet.

If you are choosing the portion size, I would take lots of little tastes of different things, I think it would be more interesting than cutting out whole food groups

Well I don't think having a "night off" the diet is the end of the world

But also stick to the plain boiled rice and stir fry type dishes , don't have anything fried.

If you skip the alcohol you can reduce calories a lot

If they do crispy duck with pancakes, just have loads of duck and only couple pancakes and not too much sauce. If they do anything non battered like prawns and meat from a grill, then have loads of that. And look out for fresh looking veg/salad.

Don't fill up on too many carby things as they always have lots of cheaper filling stuff at buffets.

Look round at everything before you choose, and I'd say lay off the puddings cos they're usually shite anyway. Or if you fancy one then just share a portion with someone.

Don't think of it as lots of random plates, try and still have a starter plate, then mains.

But obviously enjoy eating a bit more than usual. It won't hurt for one evening!

I am amused at all the posters suggesting that crispy duck pancakes are a healthy option - possibly the fattiest meat that is deep fried to make it crispy 😂

But eating a small amount of unhealthy foods that you enjoy on a night out, not feeling guilty about it, going back to your healthy eating plan tomorrow is healthy in a holistic sense. Have fun!

It's one night, it won't derail you and the next day eat higher protein to keep you full and average out your intake. We don't need to be perfect there's no such thing just consistently average. If you want to make healthier choices go for the ones without sauce, and lots of veggies.

Enjoy your evening it won't ruin everything you've achieved so far.

Honestly I'd eat a giant healthy salad before I went and then eat the foods I wanted. But If I was fairly full I would t go mad.

Eat what you fancy

It's good to have treats
And also it might be good to practise not over-eating - because once the diet is over you need to be able to find a new way to eat ( or you will gain it all back )

A lot of them do stir fry on demand with fresh lean meat

One plate per course and don’t pile food on top of other food

Focus on eating mostly protein eg chicken, beef, prawns and only very small portions of carbs. Go for bean sprouts/vegetables instead. Avoid those sticky sweets and sour sauces.

Avoid anything in batter and sweet and sour sauce

Very small helpings and don't fill your plate - you can always go back for more.

Eat slowly and stop when you are full.

Drink plenty of water - ideally avoid booze. If you really fancy a drink have a gin and slim line tonic or a white wine spritzer with soda water.

Go for mainly protein. Go easy on the carbs.

Good luck and enjoy!

I don't think you have to completely avoid carbs - a couple of spoons of plain rice is fine - but avoid the fried and anything in pastry .

why would you want plain boiled rice at all?

I mean, surely plain boiled rice is what you eat when you need to have carbs but for some reason can't take anything else. It's really not something you eat to reduce calories.

It's free food on Slimming World. It's low calorie for how filling it is, so is an ideal food to eat and a healthier to fried rice. Admittedly it's too bland on it's own but something like beef in black bean with boiled rice is a lower calorie option compared to some others.