Chinese Take Aways - how can it be?

[pudnpie]

I keep reading queries about takeaways and I cannot see how the points given in the Eating Out Guide can possibly for a whole portion. Just to throw the question out there, is it just wishful thinking to say it is?

Some examples:

Plain Boiled Rice - 12pps in guide. Now one 60g portion of rice you cook at home is 6 and from my chinese there has to be four of those portions in a tub so I would say that is for half a tub

Mushroom Chow Mein 6pps - one portion of egg noodles you make at home is 6pps and you get a hell of a lot more from the takeaway, plus the oil and other ingredients.

Sweet & Sour Chicken balls 13pps - say there's 10 in a bag that is 1.3pp each. A 73g portion of sainsburys chicken nuggets is 5. I would think that is about 4 nuggets. You can't tell me that one of those bigs crispy oily balls from the chinese is the same as one of those little things.

Duck with mushroom and bamboo shoots 13 pps - one duck breast is 11pps.

Chicken in cashew nuts 9pps - say there is two chicken breasts and 20 cashew nuts, that would be 11pps before anything else goes in.

I think the indian main courses seem more like it but you are less likely to have them in the middle of the table to share than you would a chinese and I reckon that the chinese ones are based on people sharing - just having a few serving spoonfuls.

Just my two pence worth. I don't mind if anyone disagrees with me but it just doesn't make sense to me and I have avoided having a chinese out of confusion .

 

[Cosmic Star]

I dont have that book but you make very good points! (no pun intended!)

 

[coffeelover]

Yes good points

I went to the dreaded chinese buffet on my very first week of WW. I tried to be careful and kept to rice, chicken and a few fried crispy things that I couldn't resist, but ate a very big plate full of food and just figured it as a guess at 18pp. I still lost 2lbs that week.

I know what you mean. Seems like a takeaway is cooked in lots of oil. Remember though that 60 grams of dried rice is at least 120 grams of cooked rice so 12 pp may not be far off if it works out to be 240 grams in one container. Interesting though. I do wonder if they put 2 chicken breast in the takeaways? Will have to get one soon for test purposes only of course

 

[Starlight]

This has been raised so often but honestly, trust the EO guide. I believe a lot of it is to do with the way Chinese food is cooked. The points given are for a whole portion and theyve been accurate for years. Theyre not based on sharing, theyre not based on having a spoonful theyre the whole portion as served

Chinese food is the one takeaway food thats amazing value. When I did WW I had Chicken Fried rice AND spare ribs every wi day (20 points) and believe me my losses were steady every single week. Youll find loads of people on here have regular Chinese take aways Would you really get 2 chicken breasts in a chicken & cashew nuts? Probably not..... Indian is a lot lot higher because of the sauces that come with the dishes. Theyre so rich and creamy the points go through the roof. Chinese food is quite low in calories if you check - things like noodles and chicken are very low point and many dishes are bulked out with veggies

If youre doing a diet like WW you need to trust them. And if youre going to all the bother and expense of buying the EO guide then believe what it tells you. WW arent going to make it up

 

[amethyst]

They are not for a whole portion, they are half .. Read the weight watchers website under take away , tells you there. And i just asked my friend who is a leader.

And not all the ww points are accurate either, been many complaints.

WW need to get it sorted, not a lot of choice given for take aways.

xxx

 

[pudnpie]

Yes - well if you use the points as stated and you still lose then I suppose the question is academic. I don't think they are making it up either - just using a different rational maybe. Just makes me wonder if someone has several take aways a week for example, would it start to make a difference. But then again, I wouldn't do that anyway so I don't know what I am worrying about lol

 

[amethyst]

hmm

They are not for a whole portion, they are half .. Read the weight watchers website under take away , tells you there. And i just asked my friend who is a leader.

And not all the ww points are accurate either, been many complaints.

WW need to get it sorted, not a lot of choice given for take aways.

xxx

 

[pudnpie]

Thanks Amethyst. Can you tell me the article name on the website please. I have looked through but can't see it - I would tend to think that would be the case personally.

Something that annoyed me is that as an online member I would have expected takeaways like this to be on the tracker rather than me having to buy a book too...

 

[Littlemizz]

I take them for the full portion, have done for years on the old plan and pp. Have one more weeks than not. Never affected my weight loss. I trust the points.

 

[Starlight]

Do you have a link for that on the website cos according to the book it's for the whole portion and it's always been quoted as the whole portion up til now

 

[coffeelover]

Don't know if this link works but found this on the site. Mentions sharing rice which is feasible because they give you so much. Doesn't say for half portion so assume it's for a whole. I will trust it when I'm next out. Like I said above I had a pig out at a chinese buffet with a few fried things to boot and still lost 2lbs that week.

Eating Out: Chinese

 

[pudnpie]

I emailed WW last night and I have had a very quick reply this morning and this is what they said:

Please be advised that the Pro Point values in the Eating Out Guide are listed as a portion.
So if you were to get a Mushroom Chow Mein and this is 9 Pro Points; then it will be 9 Pro Points for the entire portion (how it is served to you).

​

So given this, I stand corrected . Chinese here I come . Thanks everyone for their input.

 

[chellywell]

Hi I'm new to WW as it hasn't worked for me before! last time I did have takeaways etc. but since moving from Merseyside to Sussex, I have noticed a massive difference in portion sizes. obviously I wasn't aware of that before, so thought WW was rubbish, as I was within points but did not lose weight. I now think that the take aways up north were far bigger portions than WW allow! Depending on where you live, go for it, but if your weight loss is affected, just bear in mind that it could be the portion is a bit more generous than it should be!

Sent from my iPod touch using MiniMins

 

[pudnpie]

I think you are right chellywell. There must be so much variation in portion sizes. It's probably OK if you are having one once a week, but if it is your staple diet then it could be a disaster if your takeaway does bigger than average portions.

Off topic really, but when I have visited my friend in Harrogate and a whole group of us ordered a chinese takeaway, I was amazed that for every main course ordered, you got a whole portion of rice with it too. We all ended up taking cartons home because there was no way we could eat that much rice.

 

[kirstysa1]

hi all....new to this website....i think its best to point it as in the guide, then maybe add on an extra 5 points if you feel the portions are partiularly large. (can take those 5 points out of weekly allowance if you have them left) we spoke about this in class last week, and our leader said the points values are calculated for the average sized portion in a takeaway, and all the takeaways i have seem pretty much the same size. or if you are really worried and unsure, just have half the size portion.