Calorie counting takeaway choices from KFC, Indian, Chinese etc. What would your order be?

[Owlmoonstar]

For those of you who are calorie counting

What would your takeaway order be?

Particularly interested in what you'd order from the following:

KFC
Indian takeaway
Chinese takeaway
McDonald's
Burger king

Thanks in advance to any advice/feedback

I wouldn’t. Its food that is empty nutritionally, so why waste the calories 🤷🏽‍♀️

McDonald’s I have a plain burger and a salad, Indian some kind of tandoori dish usually.

I’d order whatever I want, but would eat it not more than once per month.

Indian is the easiest, a tandoori, dry dish, prawns or fish, no rice, no bread but perhaps a small portion of tarka dhal

I would stay away from Chinese or KFC

Mcondalds and burger king, just have the smallest plain burger, probably only eat half the bread, avoid the chips.

All Indian or Chinese food is empty nutritionally?

I’d go for some sort of grilled tikka type thing, with a little saag or dahl on the side.

None of it is empty nutrionally, the chicken at KFC will be protein and all the amino acids it contains, the burgers have iron in them etc.

Indian tandoori king prawns, salad and papadums. Chinese I’d go for a stir fry and protein no rice if I had to. But don’t like Chinese food. Thai there is lots of choice and Tom Yum soups and also Thai salads. Hard no to BK, MD, KFC 🤢

I would conclude i wasn't calorie counting that day, without going full glutton, and get back to the counting the next day. So long as it's not daily/weekly, it'll be fine.

No, that’s exactly what I meant! I was querying the above poster who declared it all to be “empty nutritionally”. Obviously it’s not!

Tandoori chicken and boiled rice and salad from the Indian is quite healthy.

I hate KFC but I guess you can get that little burger with one filet in so that's probably only about 250 cals.

McDonald's 6 nuggets is ok. Or hamburger and small fries.

Burger king I guess a hamburger. I loved their spicy bean burger but they discontinued it!

Nothing from the Chinese is healthy really. I don't like the slimy sauces.

McDonalds or BK - would order a basic hamburger, less than 300 cals. No sides.

Indian - would order tomato based curry such as Jalfrezi and boiled rice

Chinese - would order noodles with chicken or prawn but not eat all of them if portion was huge.

KFC - never had one but looking at their menu, chicken wrap looks like a reasonable option.

I know I was agreeing with you.

McDonald’s has clear calorie information on the website. A grilled wrap and a coffee is my go to at the service station when travelling. Don’t go to Burger King, for Chinese plain rice (not fried) and something like chicken and mixed vegetables would be an ok choice, brown rice if it’s offered is nutritionally better however Chinese takeaway is not a great option really, a better “eastern” option would be a Thai salad or pho soup. For Indian food, tandoori chicken (dry) with salad is your best option but like with Chinese, watch portion size.

we had a great Korean place near where I use to live that offered healthy food and brown rice, that’s my suggestion

Actually ignore my McDonald’s comment, apparently they have dropped grilled chicken from their menu! Damn

😆 good! Doh!

Pretty much all big food chains publish nutritional information on their websites now - here;s the page for KFC.
https://www.kfc.co.uk/nutrition-allergens?close

A few years ago I remember someone (Michael Mosely peerhaps ?) did a program comparing the nutritional value and calories of various fast foods. I think fish and chips were worst and KFC did surprisingly (to me) well. Dominoes Pizza only came out ok because their recommended portion is two slices, not the whole pizza!

A good tip with pizza is to order one of those tiny 'Personal Pizza' ones, 6 inches, with a vegetarian topping (or Margherita) - 500 - 600 calories, and no temptation to eat more slices than you should.

No food is nutritionally empty.

Pizza Express is probably one of the easiest fast food place to keep to a healthy meal.

I really would avoid fast food in general. However when I was stuck the other day, I went into Morrisons and got a jacket with beans and a salad. It was hardly exciting but cheap and not horrendous.

Indian does seem the easiest option.

I've tried to portion up a Chinese takeaway to stay at around 700-800 cals before and it's quite shocking how little you get.

I'm pretty sure a medium popcorn chicken meal from KFC is around 700 cals

I think the issue with KFC/McDonald's is that the food itself isn't very filling for the calories.

McDonald’s is handy because they publish all this so you can plan. A quarter pounder with cheese is 511 but customise it to remove the cheese and it comes out as 414 which really isn’t bad at all. 6 nuggets is 261, so that with small fries at 237 = 498.

either of those options I don’t think you’d finish the food feeling deprived

Maybe Greek? Gyros, tzatzik sauce on it. Greek salad? At least it's nutritional

If you reduce your calorie intake for the 4 days before & 3 after by 100 cal (can be achieved through extra exercise or less food), you can bank 700 calories & enjoy yourself on the take away. If your goal is fat loss, take away should be occasional, and an occasional planned take away won’t derail your weight-loss, unless you’re otherwise not sticking to plan.

I believe that the rice meals are popular with dieters at KFC. The chips are rubbish so swerve those and if going for chicken, I’d go for something made with breast.

Chinese and Indian takeaways aren't necessarily. Buy from a good quality restaurant-ours is very happy to adjust meals, and discusses changes and adaptations for people who need them. I am no expert, but the owner and most of his senior staff are. OP, I would maybe go for a meal in once, and speak to them about this, so you can have some regular dishes you know you can order to collect in the future. Chinese and Indian food can be very healthy and flavoursome.