Is Birria Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss)
If you’re a fan of Mexican cuisine - especially Birria - but also want to lose weight and stay in shape, this article is for you. Find out what goes into making this popular Mexican dish and see whether, or not Birria can fit into your lifestyle.
Birria is a meat stew traditionally made with goat or lamb meat but it can also be made with beef or sheep’s meat with a side of corn tortillas. It’s a traditional Mexican dish often made for special occasions, such as baptism, weddings, and the holidays.
Although Birria is quite delicious, is it actually healthy?
Birria is a healthy dish, as it offers a balance of all three macronutrients, which translates to a suitable range of calories.
Here are five steps that explain the calorie amount in one serving of Birria and the ingredients that go into making Birria the traditional way, and how to stay in shape while eating this popular Mexican dish.
What Goes Into Making Birria?
How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Birria?
Try to Make a Healthier Version of Birria at Home
How to Stay in Shape Eating Birria
Make Sure To Increase Your Activity Level When Eating Birria
Now that we know our five steps, let’s get into the details that will help you stay in shape while enjoying some delicious Birria.
1. What Goes Into Making Birria
Birria is made by either using the rib meat - or other cuts - of a goat, sheep, or beef, and is first marinated in a mix of ancho, chipotle, and guajillo chilis, as well as the use of spices such as thyme, oregano, marjoram, cloves, and cumin, and last but not least; vinegar. It is then cooked into a soup or a stew. Once it’s finished cooking and ready to eat, it’s served with salsa, cilantro, diced onion, lime juice, and a side of corn tortillas.
Birria is a simple, yet flavorful and satisfying dish since it gives you fats, proteins, and carbs.
It is also versatile and easy to be customized to your liking or diet restrictions. Which we will further discuss in this article.
The best part of Birria is that it’s versatile. You can use different meats to make this dish leaner and lower in calories. All flavors complement each other.
Since it’s a classic dish in Mexican cuisine, you can find it in many authentic Mexican restaurants all over Los Angeles and Southern California.
Now that we know what Birria is, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts and see how many calories go inside one serving of Birria.
2. How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Birria?
If you live an active and healthy lifestyle, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to consume on a daily basis.
Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts. As you can see, one serving of this version of Birria with beef and lamb - has 320 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 21 grams of carbs, 24 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat.
This is a good ratio of all three macronutrients. And it consists of 8 grams of fiber, which are the good kind of carbs you don’t want to skip since it helps with dieting.
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.
Fiber allows you to feel full longer, which is key when you are in a caloric deficit.
The reason for the whopping 15 grams of fat per serving of this version of Birria is because it’s made with lamb and beef, and it includes rib- but also shank meat.
Staying healthy and fit is all about calorie or energy balance, which means that you can still eat your carbs and stay in shape. However, the carbs are not that bad in this dish and can be easily incorporated into your daily carb intake, as long as you are working out.
You just need 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.
The key to dieting is keeping a nice balance of macronutrients. A great ratio is sticking to 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats.
This is why we recommend you try to make this dish at home and substitute certain ingredients to make an even healthier version of Birria.
In the next section of this article, we will show you how to make a healthier version of Birria, when you prepare it at home.
3. Try to Make a Healthier Version of Birria at Home
Birria is a pretty simple dish, however, it takes a few hours to cook but doesn’t require many ingredients. And the best part about Birria is that it’s budget-friendly, and usually, you will have leftovers so you can meal prep for the week, which saves time and money.
Here we show you, how to make a healthier version of Birria.
By making a few changes and substituting a few ingredients, you will decrease the fat intake, and lower the caloric amount in this dish, so you can get a more balanced meal throughout the process.
For example, traditionally Birria asks for goat- or lamb, beef, or mutton meat - which is considered a sheep older than a year. To keep this dish lean, however, you want to stick to the goat meat, since it’s the leanest from them all, even leaner than chicken. Besides, you still want to somewhat follow the traditional recipe of Birria.
Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of traditional Birria, let’s take a look at how you can eat Birria, stay in shape, and get nice and lean.
4. How to Stay in Shape Eating Birria
As we have mentioned in section two of this article, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to eat in order to stay in shape.
You can easily over-eat unhealthy, processed foods that are high in fats and carbs, especially when something is as delicious as Birria. Overeating is usually the quickest way to get out of shape.
Eating Birria, which is customizable and filled with whole, fresh ingredients, is a great dish if you are looking to stay in shape. However, if you are ordering this dish at a restaurant and it’s made with lamb or beef, you can skip the side of corn tortillas, since it would add to your daily carb intake, and perhaps fat intake if the tortillas are fried.
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 gain, weight loss, or weight management. Another factor that plays a big role is if you are a male, or female, 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.
It is suggested, however, to not decrease the calorie intake below 1,200 per day for women, or below 1,500 calories per day for men.
Once you know your calorie intake based on your weight and height, you can then decide how much you want to decrease it. 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.
Most likely, you don't have to drop your calorie intake too low, as you’ll get a pretty low number to start off, with this dish.
So, how do you stay in shape or even lose weight eating Birria?
As you can see, one serving of Birria has 320 kcals with macros, with 21 grams of carbs, 24 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat. You can just add this into your day and subtract this from your total daily calorie intake.
The key here is to find foods that keep you full longer and still deliver a balanced amount of macronutrients.
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 as mentioned in section two of this article.
If the 30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% fat ratio is not working for you, and you live an active lifestyle, you can increase the carbs intake to 40% and decrease the fat intake to 20%. This will be the case, once you substitute certain ingredients by making Birria at home.
So, just do the calculation of whatever calorie range that you find, and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines.
5. Make Sure To Increase Your Activity Level When Eating Birria
After you’ve figured out how many calories you need to consume on a daily basis, you need to make sure that you are exercising regularly and are building muscle throughout every week.
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 increase.
So if you love to eat Birria the traditional way or even prefer it with lamb and beef, you have to make sure your activity level is higher than usual, especially if you want to lose weight.
We talked about the importance of understanding how many calories you need to eat in a day but now it’s time to shift the focus on why calories and building muscle go hand in hand.
Keep in mind that weight loss is really the concept of calories in vs. calories out.
The best way to increase your activity level is with resistance training, and incorporate high-intensity-interval-training sessions (Hiit) into your workout. This combination is a good way to improve your heart health and maximize fat burn.
Although it can be a little intimidating to start working out by lifting weights, you can start small by using your own body weight, as well as dumbbells that are up to 8 lbs, however, a good start is 2 lbs to 3 lbs dumbbells. Make sure you don’t add too much weight too soon because that could result in injury if you are unfamiliar with the correct body position. It is better to start small and then increase the weight level.
You can either work out at your local gym with a personal trainer, or invest in some workout equipment, so you can start exercising in the safety of your home.
It’s crucial to understand the importance of diet and workout, so you can enjoy foods like Birria.
If you are new to working out, building muscle will happen relatively fast, so this is great news for anyone looking to get in shape.
Here is a basic workout plan that can work well for beginners, or for anyone looking to get into the gym.
WOMEN:
Day One (Full Upper):
Weighted Crunches: 3x35
Lateral Raises: 4x15
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20
Dumbbell Fly: 3x10
Dumbbell Row: 3x10
Knee Push-Ups: 4x20
Day Two (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps):
Hammer Curls: 3x10
Assisted Pull-Ups: 3x10
Cable Row: 4x15
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15
Bicep Curls: 3x10
Hamstring Curl: 4x15
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Day Three (Legs/Butt/Abs):
Leg Lifts: 3x35
Squats: 5x5
Weighted Crunches: 3x35
Goblet Squats: 4x20
Jump Squats: 4x20
Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg
MEN:
Day One (Push Day):
50 close grip pushups
Tricep Pushdowns:3x10
Incline Bench: 5x5
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4x12
Incline Dumbbell Fly: 3x10
Lateral Raises: 4x15
Seated Shoulder Press: 4x12
Rear Delt Fly: 4x15
Day Two (Pull Day):
Hammer Curls: 3x10
Assisted Pull-Ups: 4x10
Bicep Curls: 3x10
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Cable Rows: 4x15
Dumbbell Row: 3x10 (on each arm)
Day Three (Legs):
Leg Lifts: 3x35
Squats: 5x5
Weighted Crunches: 3x35
Goblet Squats: 4x20
Walking Lunges: 4x20
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.
We recommend working out at least three times per week in the beginning, since the rest days in between are important to build muscle.
Depending on how much you weigh and how much fat you currently carry, results can come as fast as 3 months. However, keep in mind that consistency is key.
With that said, it’s important to have some patience to see some substantial results.
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.
Make sure to stick with it for a long time and understand that fitness is a lifelong journey that takes time to cultivate.
The last piece of the puzzle is activity level and why it matters when your diet consists of high-calorie dishes, such as Birria.
Calories are direct sources of energy that fuel your everyday life, so you need to make sure that you utilize them efficiently throughout your days.
As stated in Tip #2, you need to be able to burn calories throughout your day in order to put yourself at a caloric deficit.
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 your weight loss journey that you can actively control.
The more movement the better and, to utilize and burn those calories, you should be moving whenever you can.
If you put calorie tracking, muscle building, and actively moving more together, then things such as Birria won’t take you off track because the formula provides so much leniency for you to shed some fat. A good rule of thumb is to find foods that are low in calories and are satiating, so you don’t get too hungry throughout your day.