Today I managed to eat really well for a Saturday which included eating out at a Chinese Buffet. Breakfast was uneventful with yogurt, nuts, banana and bacon. Then I went to the market with my daughter where I resisted every sample food, my daughter had plenty, and bought lots of fruits, two great cuts of fish and cold cuts for the family. I also bought 100% whole wheat bread for myself but I froze the whole loaf as I’ll thaw it out one slice as a time as I see fit.
My wife went to a baby shower today so I fed the kiddos with sandwiches and after I put them down for their nap for the day I hopped on my elliptical and did 30 minutes of cardio. After my exercise I grilled up one of the two fish pieces I brought home. It was a 6oz filet of Atlantic Salmon, the farm kind with salmon coloring in it. This stuff sells for under $9/lbs while the last salmon my wife bought at the market was closer to $16/lbs, that one was king salmon and wild caught. Since I just had that within the past couple of weeks I could really tell the difference between the two filets of salmon.
The cheaper one was clearly more fatty than the wild caught. The USDA actually lists different nutritional data for wild caught vs. farm raised and before I thought it was stupid. But sadly they are right. The farm variety is nowhere near as tasty and nice as the wild caught one. I’m not sure if the wild caught one is twice as good s the price would indicate, but next time I’ll spend a bit more time in front of the meet counter to decide which one to get. The other piece of fish I got is a 7oz filet of halibut. I will probably eat that one tomorrow. Lunch was still excellent with the farm raised salmon, it was still salmon after all.
While I had my afternoon protein shake my son wanted a milkshake so I made him some from whole milk, cocoa powder, some pecan ice cream, honey and ice. I also added a tablespoon of my protein shake just so he got some protein in his system from it as well. His shake must have tasted a hundred times better than my water dissolved 50g of protein with practically no carbs.
Today turned into a seafood day when we decided to go to the Chinese buffet that also does Mongolian grill for dinner. I usually stuff my pie hole with sweet and sour chicken, copious amounts of fried rice, a couple of crab ragoons and usually finish off with some tapioca pudding. Oh and I usually get a mongolian grill with lots of meat and noodles and little to no vegetables. I probably don’t even want to add up the calories in that meal. Today I thought I’d do different. So I stayed away from the buffet tables and only raided the Mongolian grill. I put together a stir-fry of:
- 1/2 cup mushrooms
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup zucchini squash
- 18 small shrimps (100g)
- 2 tbsp teryaki sauce
- a bit of sesame seeds, black pepper and salt
They cooked it all up, I walked to my table and devoured it. I felt pretty good about my selections and I thought it should not be too bad. My only concerns were the sauce and the shrimp. I simply had no idea how much calorie was in shrimp or in the sauce. After I was done I still felt a bit hungry so I repeated the order and got a second plate of the same thing. I ate all that and I was getting really worried about blowing my intake for the day. Then I went for dessert. I ignored the calling from the cream puffs and the cookies and went straight to the fruit section where I picked up a a cup of pears and a a cup of some orange colored fruit that I have been eating at this buffet for a while but I had no idea what it was. It was very juicy and very sweet. I asked the waiter what they were and he told me their name but as quickly as I have learned it I have forgotten it. So after some research from home I learned that they were indeed an Asian fruit called Loquats and they’re not that bad when it comes to calories either.
At home when I started my research for the Teryaki sauce and the shrimp I was relieved. Turns out that Shrimp is very moist with practically nothing but pure protein in it and very little of that per gram as well. Since vegetables are very low in calories per volume too, my entire Chinese buffet dinner was a mere 455 calories. Who would have thought wen I felt like I was stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey when we left. The worst part was really the teryaki sauce and its high sodium content. So now I know how to eat healthy even at a buffet; pile up the veggies and fruits and stick with the shrimp while going easy on sauces.
