Are Fish and Chips Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss) 

If you are a fan of British Cuisine and Pub food, you have probably heard and maybe even tried Fish and Chips. And if that is the case, this article is for you. Find out what Fish and Chips are and see whether, or not this popular British dish is healthy and can fit into your lifestyle. 

Fish and Chips are fried cod in a crispy batter, served with chips, known as potato fries to Americans. It originated in Spain and Portugal and was brought to the United Kingdom in the 16th century by British settlers. It is considered Britain’s national dish, however, it is available in many English-speaking countries. 

Although Fish and Chips are delicious, is this dish actually healthy?

Eating Fish and Chips in moderation is not too bad for your overall health and waistline. It isn’t the best choice to eat when you are eating a healthy diet,  as it is high in calories, carbs, and fat. However, if you stick to half a serving of Fish and Chips, you won’t get off track. 

Here are five steps that explain what Fish and Chips are, the calorie amount in one serving of Fish and Chips, as well as how to stay fit and healthy while eating this classic British dish. 

1. Find out What Fish and Chips is

2. How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Fish and Chips?

3. Understand How Many Calories You Need to Consume in a Day

4. How to Increase Your Activity Level 

5. How to Stay in Shape and Build Muscle

Let’s take a deeper look at all of these individual steps and see what you can do to stay healthy while enjoying some delicious Fish and Chips.

Tip 1: Find out What Fish and Chips is

Eating healthy in general means eating a balanced diet that controls the three macronutrients; carbs, protein, and fat.

It’s very typical to eat carbs and fats while neglecting protein so this is something that you definitely need to watch out for in your everyday lives. 

Fish and Chips is a fried dish, made with cod, flour, baking powder, eggs, dairy,  potatoes, seasoning - such as Old Bay or just salt and pepper - and vegetable oil to fry them. 

Essentially, Fish and Chips could be considered a “carb bomb” as it contains high carbs with a lot of fats coming from the oil and dairy used to make classic Fish and Chips. 

Our tip here is to simply be mindful of how many servings of Fish and Chips you consume, also instead of frying your Fish and Chips in a fryer with vegetable oil, you can use an air fryer instead or bake them in the oven. This would reduce the calorie and fat amount significantly. Also, make sure to add leafy greens and other vegetables to your other meals throughout the day, or order a small side salad with your Fish and Chips. 

Keep in mind that one serving can get your fats and carbs very high, which leaves little room for your other meals throughout the day. 

Now that we know what Fish and Chips are, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts of one serving of Fish and Chips.

Tip 2: How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Fish and Chips?

Weight loss is really the concept of calories in vs. calories out. So whether you live a sedentary lifestyle or an active lifestyle, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to consume daily. 

Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts. As you can see, one serving of Fish and Chips (533 grams) has 690 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 71 grams of carbs, 43 grams of protein, and 26 grams of fat. 

According to the nutrition facts, one serving of Fish and Chips is a bit high in calories, carbs, and fat but it also has a good amount of protein.

A good rule of thumb for dieting is keeping a nice balance of macronutrients. A great ratio is sticking to 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats. 

Although one serving of Fish and Chips is relatively high in calories for one meal, it can easily be incorporated into your daily calorie intake. However, you can also just eat half of the serving, by splitting it with a friend or taking it to go if you order this dish at a restaurant or British Pub. 

What’s important when eating food is understanding the balance of both calories and macronutrients. 

Calories define how our bodies look and feel which is a concept that we will talk about in the next section. 

What makes up those calories are really what’s important and having those macronutrients skewed to fats and carbs will be detrimental to your diet

It’s very common to get most of your calories coming from fats and carbs. 

If you do not actively track your food then it will be very hard to tell whether or not you are getting enough protein in your diet.

The key aspect is to understand how many calories you need to eat in a day and to make sure not to overeat on your total accounted calories for the day. 

Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of one serving of Fish and Chips, let’s take a look at how many calories you need to consume daily to stay in shape.

Tip 3: Understand How Many Calories You Need to Consume in a Day

Staying healthy and fit is all about calorie or energy balance, which means that you can still eat your fats and carbs, and stay in shape. 

If you burn more calories than you consume, then you will find yourself in a “caloric deficit” which is the only way fat loss can occur. 

You can easily overeat on unhealthy, processed foods that are high in fats and carbs, especially when something is as delicious as Fish and Chips. Overeating is usually the quickest way to get out of shape. 

To stay healthy and in shape, we need to first go over your daily caloric needs and figure out how many calories you need in a day, as well as figure out how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming.

There are a few factors that determine your daily calorie intake. Such as weight management, weight loss, or weight gain. Other factors that play a big role, are your gender and your height. 

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. 

However, a good place to start is to multiply your body weight by 12 or to use an online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.

Your TDEE relies heavily on how active you are and how much movement you see in your day.

Within your TDEE lies a subsection, which is called TEPA (Thermic Effect of Physical Activity) which accounts for 15-30% of your entire day’s worth of calories.

This means, you are in control of 15-30% of how much you can eat, which is a huge portion of calories.

The key here is to find foods that keep you full longer and still deliver a balanced amount of macronutrients. 

If you’re someone who loves to eat a lot while staying fit, then being active is the key to a balanced lifestyle that allows you to eat whatever you like, such as an entire serving of Fish and Chips, and stay in shape. 

Once you know your calorie intake based on your weight and height, you can then decide how much you want to decrease it. 

Let’s say your weight is around 140 pounds.

The calculation might tell you that you should be eating around 1,700 kcals a day. However, keep in mind the 1,700 kcals is only a rough estimate. 

So, if you want to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, we suggest you start with 100 calories less than what you are currently consuming and see if you notice a difference within a week.

If you don’t see any changes in your weight, decrease your calorie intake by another 100 calories and see how that works. 

However, it is suggested, to not decrease the calorie intake below 1,200 per day for women, or below 1,500 calories per day for men.

Just calculate whatever calorie range you find, and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines. 

So, if you love eating one serving of Fish and Chips, you have to make sure your activity level is higher than usual, especially if you want to lose weight. 

Now that we know how many calories to consume daily, let’s take a look at how you can lose weight and stay in shape.

Tip 4: How to Increase Your Activity Level 

After you’ve figured out how many calories you need to consume daily, you need to make sure that you exercise regularly and increase your activity level.

I’m sure that you’ve heard that carbs are the enemy and they’re the main driving factor at keeping us from getting a flat stomach or abs.

Carbs are our direct source of energy and they allow us to function properly and fuels our workouts and movements.

The real enemy is inactivity and staying sedentary while eating more carbs than you need to. 

It’s a hard pill to swallow and it takes effort to combat but it’s what keeps us healthy and fit.

Therefore it is important you utilize your calories efficiently throughout your day. 

The best way to do this is to build muscle and to also move more throughout your day. 

60-75% of energy expenditure comes from your basal metabolic rate (BMR) which is how much your body burns if it did nothing all day. (NASM)

10% of energy expenditure comes from the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) which is the calories you burn from digesting different foods. (NASM)

15-30% of energy expenditure comes from the Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA) which is movement such as working out and aerobics. Source (NASM) 

To sum it up, up to 30% of our energy expenditure can come from movement and activity so this is a huge portion of our weight loss journey that you can actively control.

The more movement the better and, to utilize and burn those calories, you should be moving all you can.

Now that you know how to increase your activity level when eating foods like Fish and Chips, let’s take a look at a recommended workout plan to build muscle and stay in shape. 

Tip 5: How to Stay in Shape and Build Muscle

Fish and Chips is a type of dish that, if eaten by someone sedentary, will probably make the individual gain weight as it is packed with unused calories. 

It’s crucial to understand the importance of diet and workout, to enjoy foods like Fish and Chips.

Building muscle allows you to burn calories at rest, which means you can eat more and still lose fat.

This is really the goal of working out and is what keeps you healthy as your metabolism increases.

The fastest and most efficient way to build muscle is to learn how to do some resistance training.

As stated in Tip #3, you need to be able to burn calories throughout your day in order to put yourself at a caloric deficit. 

Although working out and building muscle takes priority, having a consistent cardio schedule can help with expediting the fat loss process as it raises the energy expended throughout your week.

The fastest and most efficient way to build muscle is to learn how to do some resistance training.

You can also do a combination of resistance training and LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) cardio or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) cardio, to improve your heart health and maximize fat burn. 

LISS is cardio that comes from walking or a brisk walk, you should be able to have a conversation while still building up a sweat.

HIIT cardio is intervals of a very high-intensity movement, such as sprints, battle ropes, or kickboxing movements aiming to quickly raise the heart rate.

The benefit of HIIT is allowing yourself to burn calories in a shorter amount of time. 

We recommend having 80% of cardio coming from LISS while 20% comes from HIIT for optimal fat loss throughout the week. 

LISS is a much more reliable source of consistent movement and does not require rest as it does not shock the Central Nervous System the way HIIT can.

You need to use weights and build muscle by doing a variety of workouts that isolate each muscle group specifically. 

Although it can be intimidating to get in shape, as it will be hard to learn and might be discouraging at the beginning, it’s definitely worth it in the long run for both your health and fitness. 

All you need are a set of dumbbells, such as these adjustable dumbbells, and a reliable treadmill such as the Bluefin Fitness Treadmill that tracks your calories and you’re on your way to controlling the number of calories you burn. 

Regarding working out with dumbbells, it’s important not to add too much weight too soon because that could result in injury if you are unfamiliar with the correct body positions. It is better to start small and then increase the weight level. 

Here is a workout plan we’ve created for women and men, where you can get started if you are someone who hasn’t ever done a resistance training regimen.

WOMEN

Day One (Full Upper):

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Lateral Raises: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Knee Push-Ups: 4x20

• Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20 

• Dumbbell Row: 3x10

• Dumbbell Fly: 3x10

Day Two (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps):

• Hammer Curls: 3x10

• Bicep Curls: 3x10

• Hamstring Curl: 4x15

• Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15

• Cable Row: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Assisted Pull-Ups: 3x10

Day Three (Legs/Butt/Abs): 

• Leg Lifts: 3x35

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Jump Squats: 4x20

• Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg

• Glute Bridge: 4x20

• Goblet Squats: 4x20

• Squats: 5x5

MEN:

Day One: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day) : 

• Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps 

• Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps

• Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps

• Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps

• Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps

Day Two (Legs & Abs):

• Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

• Weighted Sit-Ups: 4 sets 25 reps

• Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps

• Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps

• Stiff Leg Deadlift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps

• Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps

Day Three: Back & Biceps (Pull Day):

• Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps

• Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)

• Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps

• Assisted Pull-Ups: 3 sets 10 reps

We recommend working out at least three times per week in the beginning, since the resting days in between are important to build muscle. 

Building muscle will happen relatively fast if you are new to working out, so this is great news for anyone looking to get in shape.

That’s why it’s important to increase your activity level at least 3 - 4 times a week if your goal is to get lean. 

If you actively workout and build muscle, however, there is so much room to eat this delicious fried food and still look great.

Fats and carbs are the two macronutrients that will be more likely to be stored as energy. 

Therefore, you don’t want all of your calories simply coming from carbs or fats, you want there to be a balance coming from carbs, protein, and fats.

If you put calorie tracking, muscle building, and actively moving more altogether, things such as Fish and Chips won’t get you off track because the formula provides so much leniency for you to shed some fat.

Make sure to stick with it for a long time and understand that fitness is a lifelong journey that takes time to cultivate.

Working out allows you to be more flexible in your diet and lifestyle, which is so important if you want to sustain a lean body and stay healthy. 

This is why we need to control the number of calories we get from carbs and fats in order to utilize the energy we gained through movement and workouts.

The tip here is to live active and go out and seek a workout regimen. 

We provided you one above in this article but, if that’s too much hard work, simply go outside for a walk 3-4 times a week and you’ll be good to go.

So, next time you’re wondering how you can lose some weight, remember that you need to build some muscle and track your calories to your specified amount. 

THERE IT IS!

In this article, we discussed what Fish and Chips are, if it’s healthy, and how many calories it contains.

There are a ton of carbs and fats in one serving of Fish and Chips, so make sure you stay active and keep consistent with the workouts we provided for you in this article. 

The key to healthy eating is balance and moderation. Our five tips will help you stay fit while eating Fish and Chips. 

As long as you understand how many calories you need to consume in a day and fill your body with whole foods that will keep you satiated and satisfied, then you will see results if you put in the time and consistency. 

If you like this article and are looking for more articles on healthy foods, then make sure to check out our other posts where we discuss fitness tips and healthy habits that will get you to your fitness goals.

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