Is Bun Bo Hue Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss)

If you have ever had the popular noodle dishes a Beef Noodle Soup and Pho, Bun Bo Hue is essentially the child of both of these dishes combined.

Originating in Vietnam, Bun Bo Hue is a spicy noodle dish that mainly consists of spicy beef broth and vermicelli noodles. 

What makes Bun Bo Hue unique and different from Beef Noodle Soup and Pho, is it’s unique and harder to obtain ingredients.

Although it is known as beef noodle soup, Bun Bo Hue also uses pork blood cubes as one of the essential ingredients to add flavor to the soup.

Another unique ingredient is the banana flower which is not required but adds an excellent addition and flavor to the Bun Bo Hue soup. 

This delicious dish seems super tasty already, but is Bun Bo Hue Healthy?

Bun Bo Hue is a very high calorie and carbohydrate-dense food making it not the ideal food to consume on a diet. There are several other healthier alternatives, but that does not mean you can not eat Bun Bo Hue when you are trying to lose weight! 

In this article, we will be discussing three tips that will help you satisfy your Bun Bo Hue craving while still sticking to your goal of weight loss:

1. Understand the Nutrition Behind Bun Bo Hue

2. Understand Portion Sizing

3. Understand How Many Calories You Need to Eat to lose Weight

Tip 1: Understand the Nutrition Behind Bun Bo Hue 

Bun Bo Hue is made up of several different ingredients that all add up to make a pretty high-calorie dish.

In this section, we will be looking into detail at the nutritional information behind Bun Bo Hue which is an essential skill to have when you are trying to lose weight.

The typical bowl of Bun Bo Hue is around 620 calories with 13 grams of fat, 79 grams of carbohydrates, and 46 grams of protein.

This is a very calorically dense dish that may not be the most suitable food to eat when you are trying to lose weight. 

Bun Bo Hue is predominately made up of carbohydrates which comes mostly from the vermicelli noodles.

Usually, noodle soups tend to sit in the more carbohydrate-heavy dish because the main ingredient is the noodles which are purely just carbohydrates. 

Carbohydrates are not detrimental to your diet, but eating foods like noodles can be a bit difficult to utilize successfully when you are trying to lose weight.

The reason why is because noodles and pasta have a very low satiety index, which essentially means that it is hard to feel full and satisfied after eating noodles.

If you do not feel full after eating noodles, this may lead to overeating and put you in a caloric surplus at the end of the day.

Bun Bo Hue also has very little fiber which is something to look for when trying to determine whether or not this meal will keep you full.

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Tip 2: Understand Portion Sizing

Now that we know that Bun Bo Hue is not the best food to eat on the diet, what happens if you are really craving this delicious beef noodle soup?

Just because this food is not considered “healthy” it does not mean that you can not incorporate it into your diet when you are trying to lose weight.

By learning how to portion size, you can satisfy your Bun Bo Hue while still meeting your goal of weight loss.

After analyzing the nutrition of Bun Bo Hue from earlier, which has around 620 calories, this may not be suitable for someone trying to lose weight.

However, if you cut the portion size by half, and eat only half a bowl of Bun Bo Hue, you have a 310 calorie dish that is much more ideal for one meal.

This also reduces your carbohydrate count to only 40 grams which may be more incorporable in your daily macronutrient needs.

If half a bowl of Bun Bo Hue is not enough to make you full for a meal, stock up on some additional boiled vegetables such as bok choy or broccoli to get in some additional fiber into your meal. 

By properly portion sizing and being aware of how much you are eating of which foods, this can make a big difference in your overall daily calorie count.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you know that you are eating Bun Bo Hue for a meal, you should eat lighter, low-calorie meals throughout the day to save up for a more calorie-dense dish.  

Tip 3: Understand How Many Calories You Need to Eat to lose Weight

There is only one way to truly lose weight which has been proven time and time again by scientific studies and observations that do not seem to have as much popularity as several fad diets.

To lose weight, you must maintain a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, or in other words, consume fewer calories than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

It does not matter what your diet is composed of, or if you’re consuming carbohydrates or fats, but more so how many calories you are eating per day.

As long as you do not eat over your TDEE you are guaranteed to lose weight! This is why you can enjoy your favorite foods like Bun Bo Hue while still successfully meeting your goals.

However, you may be wondering, how can you figure out your specific TDEE?

Your TDEE is composed of your resting metabolic rate, your energy used up in daily activity such as walking or doing simple tasks, and finally, the calories burned from eating, swallowing, and digesting food. 

Since everyone has a different height, weight, and gender, everyone’s TDEE is different but can be easily calculated using an online TDEE calculator.

I highly recommend using the one from the NASM certified website!

Remember, this number is simply an estimate of your actual TDEE and it is up to you to make adjustments according to what you see throughout your weight loss journey.

I recommend starting off by simply eating around 200-300 calories per day to see gradual progress and won’t make you too hungry.

If you don’t see any change in weight, simply lower the calories by increments of a hundred calories until you start seeing results.

Weight loss is definitely a process and journey and can not be done within just a couple of weeks.

By simply being patient and having faith that being consistent will yield promising results, you will not regret sticking to your goals!

Another way to increase your overall TDEE per day is to increase your daily activity.

By walking more, or getting up every hour to stretch and move your body, these movements help you burn more calories every day which is helpful to your weight loss journey. 

Now you know how to incorporate Bun Bo Hue into your diet while still losing weight, you do not have to be afraid of eating your favorite foods when you are on a diet!

CONCLUSION 

Remember, although nutrition is a huge factor that influences weight loss, it is important to pair this journey with exercise as well.

Especially strength training.

Several years of research on the benefits of weight training have shown that individuals that do some sort of consistent resistance training at least 3-5 times a week have shown not only a great amount of weight loss but are also able to keep the weight off! 

The secret to this phenomena is that strength training leads to a build-up of muscle.

Not only does your body recomposition into a more fitting and athletic-looking aesthetic, but having more muscle also increases your resting metabolic rate which essentially means you burn more calories at rest! 

Now that we know the importance of muscle we need to make sure we stay on track with our workouts.

Consistency and longevity are the two key factors when building muscle so there will be some commitment involved.

We understand that not everyone has access to a gym membership or feels comfortable starting off in such an intimidating environment.

Although I would strongly recommend that everyone should get a gym membership, don’t worry we got your back!

You can either go to the gym or build one for yourself.

It really just comes down to 3 pieces of equipment that you need to do most workouts.

These three are the workout bench, dumbbells, and gym flooring. Check out our recommended gear page to see our best picks for these pieces of equipment here. 

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/home-workout-equipment

If a home gym is not for you then getting a membership somewhere works too.

As long as you are starting your muscle-building journey, we’re happy! 

Stick with it for the long run and you’ll see how amazing the results can be. 

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