Crawfish-calling all Cajuns!

Firstly, anyone from LA out there?  I am going to a crawfish boil on Friday and I looked up the caloric content and was shocked.  A 5 pound order has 1650 calories, 400 more than I supposed to have in a day!  So, my question is...do I eat raw veggies all day long so I can have this treat?  How will going over 400 more in one day affect me?  Thanks!

that seems way too high!  are they counting in the potatoes and corn?  if you don't eat those you'll be doing great.  a treat now and then will actually help you stay on track in the long run, so I say have a "normal" day and enjoy those crawfish.  If you eat very little the whole day, you are more likely to binge at the boil -- cause you know there will be beer, yummy desserts, etc!  Oh I miss LA!!!!  Have fun hon.

are they counting 5 pounds of critter?  or 5 pounds of meat?  becaue that would make a huge difference, too.

My question is, are you planning on eating 5 lbs of crawfish yourself??  That's a LOT of crawfish, even counting the shells in the weight!  I'm lucky to manage 1/2 of a 1 lb crab!  Enjoy the day for what it is.  Occasional treats like this are good for us as long as you return to your normal diet after wards.  If you watch what you eat in the morning and for lunch, you should be ok.  Also, you could always have some high fiber foods for breakfast and lunch to help you feel fuller so you don't go overboard at the crawfish boil.  I miss crawfish boils!  Never been to LA but I have been to some really good crawfish boils LA style!

Good Luck!

Kate

5 pounds?  You mean as in 5 pounds of crawfish?

Is that a normal amount of them?  I guess that just sounds like a ton... We do crayfish and crawdads occasionally up here... same thing right?

Anyway, going 400 over for one day is not going to kill you.  :)  Just keep it as healthy as you can the rest of the week and don't worry too much about it.  A treat now and then shouldn't be bad.  Enjoy the crawfish!

5 pounds is the standard order...that is 5 pound counting the shells and all...I won't eat corn or taters.  I know all you non-cajuns are envisioning 5 pounds of crawfish MEAT, which is a lot.  I guess it would equate to maybe 1 pound of meat?  Maybe not even that much.  I am going to take all of your advice and eat sensibly so I can enjoy this treat!  I will skip the beer though...would rather have crawfish!

 

Thanks to all-Christie

I'm assuming that CC's calculation is for 5 lbs of meat, so not including the shells.  I haven't lived in LA for 6 years and even when I was there I didn't each much boiled crawfish (prefered it in pastas or fried; I have something against taking my own food apart just before I eat it) but I recall crawfish being a fairly fatty shellfish and at crawfish boils it was usually covered in butter; just watch for that too.

I think the calorie count here is for the meat, not the weight from the shells too.

5lbs would be 5 lbs of meat. So I think counting 1lb of meat would actually be more accurate for 5 lb order of mudbugs.  because most of the weight actually comes from the shells not the tail meat themselves.

eating a corn or potato or 2 is not that bad actually. a normal potato for a boil would have like 80-120 cals, and a small corn on the cob with out butter is only like 100 calories.  

Hey cnj.. I am from Central Louisiana! The 1650 calories is for 5 lbs of meat. There are only 70 calories per 3 oz of meat.. Don't panic. Enjoy!

Crayfish, 3 oz. (84.9g) (cooked, moist heat)
Calories: 70
Protein: 14.2g
Carbohydrate: 0.0g
Total Fat: 1.02g
Fiber: 0.0g
*Excellent source of: Selenium (31.2mcg), and Vitamin B12 (1.83mcg)

Great to hear from you!  Greetings from Lafayette!  Ok, so I did the math, assuming the 3 oz. you listed above is just the meat, it still comes out to around 1600 calories.  Major bummer...going to enjoy anyway!

The point stephaniebl is making is that you will only be eating 1 pound of meat, which is a lot of meat...i don't care who you are! So that means you would be taking in approx. 16oz. of meat if you truly ate that much!  Which means you will be consuming 365 calories or so!  I don't think i could eat a pound of it and I love it!  I am 6'-1" and 235 lbs, so thats my two cents!  Happy eating!

Have some red beans and rice with that....yum!  Good protein in the beans...just watch that sausage!

LA here! Lake Charles!

The way I look at it, crawfish, the season's only twice a year and I'll eat them. The worst they are is high in sodium, it's what we dip them in that's awful. I splurge on them because I don't eat them as much as I would like to so when I do, I enjoy!