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Korean BBQ / Hotpot - how to stay below calorie limit?

2.2K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  taliaaaa  
#1 ·
helppp

I set my calorie limit to 500-600 calories a day and I have an outing tomorrow and saturday that consists of either hot pot or korean bbq

how do I stay below that limit??? i'm going to have to skip breakfast and lunch for sure..

but how in the world.. without causing any suspicion ??
 
#3 ·
Eat mostly the veggies if you can. It really depends on what foods there will be

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my friends like to order in excess so there'll be tons of meat and drinks .. aghhh

yeah I want to limit to veggies but I feel they'll comment on me just eating veg for an all you can eat // excess ordering situation :(
 
#4 ·
my friends like to order in excess so there'll be tons of meat and drinks .. aghhh
yeah I want to limit to veggies but I feel they'll comment on me just eating veg for an all you can eat // excess ordering situation :(
Maybe you can pretend you decided to try going vegetarian? If that wouldn't work you could try eating just a bit of meat and then mostly veggies.

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#5 ·
Maybe you can pretend you decided to try going vegetarian? If that wouldn't work you could try eating just a bit of meat and then mostly veggies.

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thank you, i'm going to try my best..

my bf might be there too so that's also .. agh maybe I can hand off some of my food to him or something :(
 
#6 ·
Dunno if your a fan of working out but even doing a little more than usual should hopefully help you burn off extra if it's too hard to say your a veggie.

When I'm with family I know they're looking for me not eating right so a lot of the time it's easier to eat what they put in front of me do they don't moan, but spend extra time working out that week. Even if I don't get a loss out of it if I maintain for the week I see it as a good thing.

Don't push yourself too hard though! Just do a little extra walking or a light to moderate workout before you go out to eat, and maybe the day after?

Sending you so much positivity and I hope it all works out so you can eat but feel comfortable too 😊
 
#7 ·
Dunno if your a fan of working out but even doing a little more than usual should hopefully help you burn off extra if it's too hard to say your a veggie.

When I'm with family I know they're looking for me not eating right so a lot of the time it's easier to eat what they put in front of me do they don't moan, but spend extra time working out that week. Even if I don't get a loss out of it if I maintain for the week I see it as a good thing.

Don't push yourself too hard though! Just do a little extra walking or a light to moderate workout before you go out to eat, and maybe the day after?

Sending you so much positivity and I hope it all works out so you can eat but feel comfortable too
I am a fan of working out but i've been doing so good this week that i'll be so upset if I lose the progress i've made :(

I work out every day as it is.. I don't know how much my body can take at this point without feeling achey and I don't want to gain too much muscle mass.

I'll probably take longer walks for the rest of the week !

thank you :wub:
 
#8 ·
I used to restrict pretty well at a Korean bbq place I love. The side dishes are typically very low in calories if you stick to the ones that aren't covered in a lot of oil or sauce. At the place I went to that meant eating broccoli, bean sprouts, cucumber kimchi, kimchi, maybe some of that steamed egg thing.

Also! People often use lettuce to wrap up the grilled meat in. Ask for lettuce if they don't give it right away, they always have it pretty much. If you load up your plate with a lot of lettuce leaves and take a turn with the scissors to cut one of the more low calorie meats into a small bite, it'll look like you're eating a lot when really you're mostly eating lettuce. Usually you put some type of dipping sauce thing in with the bite of meat then wrap it and eat it, but you can avoid it entirely or stick to soy sauce.
That being said, the meat will mostly come marinated so pick the least sauced up one and the lowest calorie meat.

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#9 ·
I used to restrict pretty well at a Korean bbq place I love. The side dishes are typically very low in calories if you stick to the ones that aren't covered in a lot of oil or sauce. At the place I went to that meant eating broccoli, bean sprouts, cucumber kimchi, kimchi, maybe some of that steamed egg thing.

Also! People often use lettuce to wrap up the grilled meat in. Ask for lettuce if they don't give it right away, they always have it pretty much. If you load up your plate with a lot of lettuce leaves and take a turn with the scissors to cut one of the more low calorie meats into a small bite, it'll look like you're eating a lot when really you're mostly eating lettuce. Usually you put some type of dipping sauce thing in with the bite of meat then wrap it and eat it, but you can avoid it entirely or stick to soy sauce.
That being said, the meat will mostly come marinated so pick the least sauced up one and the lowest calorie meat.

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ah yeah! I love using the lettuce. I usually do use them on the regular so it won't be TOO suspicious - but my partner just found out I have an ED so I feel he'll be monitoring more for sure.. I'll try to fill it up lightly with lighter calorie foods! Thank you so much for the tips :)!!
 
#10 ·
Korean food is usually relatively low cal and if not, high in protein and veggies. It’s also generally spicy. I think you should treat yourself, but I may be biased since I’m Korean ahaha. Just ask for extra veggies or less oil, etc
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hot pot: tons of veggies and mushrooms are your best bet. Also low calorie seafood like shrimps and squid. Fish balls are no. They contain flour and vegetable oil. Choose a light, clear broth. Probably soy sauce/vegetable based broth is safe. Don't choose spicy or meat based broth. They're usually greasy and thickened.

K-BBQ: many of veggie banchans. (seasoned beansprouts, spinach, cucumbers, radish etc), and steamed eggs in a pot is just eggs cooked with water and some vegetables. Miso soup! Maybe you can find seafoods here, too. And try lettuce wraps or shiso leaf wraps. Mushrooms, pickled veggies & sauce wrapped in leafy veggies. It can be a yummy low calorie vegetarian meal. Grill mushrooms, veggies and kimchi on the grill in front of you. And you can make yourself busy to cut & grill meat and serve it for others.

Hope you enjoy!
 
#12 ·
Eat the kimchi and other veggies first. If your boyfriend is anything like mine he will basically force you to eat the meat so you can eat some but I like to cook my meat and then wrap a piece of meat in lots of lettuce so it feels like I'm eating more. Some meat isn't too high in calories as well so don't worry. And you can cook meat for everybody as well so you are not just expected to be eating. Also order side soups if they have them.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
avoid rice and replace it with the lettuce leaves and stick to side dishes (the vegetable based ones like bean sprouts, broccoli, kimchi) and be aware of the oils (sesame oil, vegetable oil, etc). definitely use sriacha to enhance flavors. eat some of the protein options but not too much bc there's a lot of marinade.

definitely pick at the side dishes when they come out, so when you stop eating at the end, you can say that your really full and you regret eating so much in the beginning of the meal

stay safe xo
 
#14 ·
get juice / water for a drink and get lots if avaliable. if ur w friends i dont think its too suspicious so u can say that u already ate or that ur feeling sick, it really depends