Right off the bat, you would think that eating out is worse than eating chips, but you would be wrong and let me explain why.
Yes, I think we can all agree that eating out at your local ‘China Buffet’ restaurant (I’m using the name as a catch-all) is a highly sensory experience and one that could easily lead to overeating.
From the steamed dumplings, to the coconut shrimp, to the made-to-order chicken teriyaki, the tastes, the aromas–it’s a damn delight!
But, as delightful as it is, it’s still not as bad for our overall health and physique as eating chips, although there is one caveat to this, which I’ll touch on later. Here’s why.
1. At least, when we go to China Buffet, we plan ahead and have a really intense lifting and/or cardio session beforehand versus eating chips
There are few things more satisfying than lifting like a beast for an hour or two with your workout partner, pounding the cardio and then hitting the local China Buffet.
When we see that smorgasbord of Asian fusion cuisine laid out in front of us, rows and rows of it, with all the trimmings, something primal happens. I liken it to to what I imagine the Israelites must’ve felt when they first saw the promised land. A sense of awe, gratitude, mixed with a sense of having conquered. Who knows? It may due to the abundance high we get from being around so much food, but whatever it is, it’s fantastic.
And the best part is, since we just lifted, our muscles are depleted of glycogen and our muscle tissue has been broken down, so whatever food we ingest is first utilized for muscle recovery, which allows us to temporarily eat more calories than normal and not suffer adverse consequences (within reason, of course).
Now, compare this to the decision to eat a bag of chips. Usually, it’s whenever we feel slightly hungry and especially lazy. If the bag of chips is somewhere within reach of our grubby hands, which is pretty much all the time, we go after it. This is why any trainer worth their salt will always tell you not to even keep chips in the house.
2. We tend to be a little more picky about the foods we decide to pile on our plate at China Buffet than when we’re eating chips.
For some weird reason, when we’re faced with tons of choices, we suddenly become very picky. It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be as simple as picking out socks. If we opened up our sock drawer and there were suddenly ten times as many colors and styles of socks to choose from, our decision-making process would grind to a halt. “Do I go with the striped Rocky socks, today?” It’s the same thing with food.
Except, carefully choosing each food item actually adds to the immense satisfaction we get when we finally take a bite.
First, you have to do a reconnaissance to see what they have. You try out a few dishes, serving yourself just a few morsels. If they make the cut, you go back for a second plate and that’s your actual meal. “Yeah, that dish tastes like crap. Not worth the calories. Get three servings of the one with the meatballs.”
Now, contrast that experience with our mindset when we’re eating a bag of chips. The chips are usually a last resort because there’s nothing else to eat in the house. Or we’re mindlessly eating them as our fat ass is sitting on the couch. It’s two-thirds full, but we convince ourselves it’s ‘almost empty,’ so we down the whole freakin’ bag. “I was hungry,” we say.
Stuffing our greasy hands into a bag of deep-fried nothingness when we’re hungry has to be the epitome of lazy. Note to self: “At least make a sandwich, fat ass.”
3. At China Buffet, if we make smart food choices, we can end up eating a pretty healthy, high protein meal
The best thing about China Buffet is that they have everything: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, even Thai sometimes.
But, out of all the Asians countries, the Koreans have the healthiest and best cuisine. Head to the Korean counter and get yourself a bibimbap with a side of kimchi. Delicious and healthy.
Japanese food is probably the second healthiest, assuming you’re getting some fresh raw fish in there. The sashimi is high in protein and low in carbs, if you’re trying to cut and if not, grab some lunchbox chicken teriyaki, which is my fave with the side of broccoli, but substitute the brown rice. You’ll love it.
Chinese food is the least healthy of all of the Asian food options, so be careful with your General Tso’s chicken and your beef and broccoli with the MSG sauce because you’re probably loading up on more calories than you think.
But, if you choose wisely, you can actually get in a pretty healthy meal with some healthy greens to boot. When’s the last time you bought bok choy at the grocery store? Yea, probably never, but seriously, bok choy, along with some other Asian greens they serve up are pretty healthy and have some serious vitamins and minerals that do a body good.
Chips, on the other hand, are basically anti-food. They have nothing to offer nutritionally and have zero protein. Yet, if you weigh out a serving of chips on a food scale, you’d be shocked to find out that your average Friday night chip-eating session adds up to about a zillion calories.
4. At China Buffet, we prefer to take our time, taste and savor, rather than thoughtlessly shove food down our throats e.g. when eating chips
Why is it that when we’re home eating bland-tasting food all day, we don’t seem to mind, but if we’re out to eat, it’s the end of the world if the food isn’t a 10 out of 10?
It’s funny how our expectations go through the roof the minute we spend a little bit of money. Like it or not, we do tend to taste and savor the food more when we’re paying for it.
There’s also usually someone out with us who we’re making polite conversation with throughout the meal, further slowing things down, causing us to taste the food even more. The taste of the food itself becomes a conversation piece.
Now, contrast that with eating a bag of chips. While chips can and oftentimes do taste good, the object is definitely not to savor them. They’re meant to be shoved down your throat as quickly as possible. ‘Inhale’ is a better way to describe what chips are made for.
Their flaky, crispy, crunchy texture makes them uniquely suited to be chewed and swallowed at lightning speed. Eating them this way makes the chips taste even better. It’s like the guy who invented chips created them to be the perfect gorge food. The food version of crack is chips.
5. A trip to China Buffet usually only happens once every couple months, at most, whereas eating chips happens on a constant variable X
Say what you want about China Buffet, but at least you can make healthy choices there, if you so desire.
I understand that not everyone does this, but even in the worst case scenario where someone might go there specifically to eat the place out of egg rolls and pork fried rice, or something, at least it’s only once in a blue moon.
Chips, on the other hand, are practically everywhere. They’re unavoidable, which makes them even harder to resist. Supermarkets have an entire aisle dedicated to just chips and they’re at every social gathering you go to.
When you’re a guest at a friend’s house, what’s the first thing they offer you? Chips.
The normalization of chips is scary, especially because most people have no clue how dangerous they can be.
The Truth About Chips
it would be one thing if chips had some kind of nutritional value, but they really don’t, not even for a carb re-feed, or cheat meal.
Take the chips I used to eat, Garden Of Eatin’ Red Hot Blues.
At first glance, you might think these chips are pretty healthy. They have a Non-GMO project sticker on them, they say, ‘organic,’ they’re made of blue corn, whatever that is.
But, the reality is, they’re loaded with three things: sodium, carbs, and lots of calories!
Take a look at how many calories are in 10 chips. 140 calories. That’s insane because who eats 10 chips?? The average person eats closer to 100 chips, not 10!
And, how do you even count 10 chips? The pieces are all broken and crumbled, so who knows how many you’re eating?
An average serving of chips that a person would actually eat probably amounts to 600 or 700 calories. That’s doing real harm to your caloric intake for the day, especially because they’re stealth calories. You have no idea you’re consuming that many.
It’s no wonder so many people think, “I don’t know why I can’t seem to lose weight.”
The One Caveat
If you’re trying to wean yourself off of chips, or you still want to be able to eat chips, for whatever reason, at least get the snack-size, single serving bags that tell you exactly how many calories you’re eating.
If you’re willing to blow somewhere between 200 and 400 calories on something that has no nutritional value purely because it tastes good, then go ahead, but make sure to add it to your daily tally of calories you’re eating, or you will gain fat and it will negatively impact your physique.
Be good,
P.S. Do you eat chips? Why or why not? Call in the show at 917-267-8590 and leave a voicemail.
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