Is Halo-Halo Healthy? (3 Tips for Weight Loss) 

Halo-Halo is a popular Filipino dessert that is often eaten during the summer.

This dessert is shaved ice that is topped with evaporated milk, ice cream, and contains a bottom layer that consists of a variety of toppings. 

Halo-Halo is extremely versatile and can be made with lots of different toppings.

Toppings such as but not limited to: cuts of fruits, sweet beans, and different types of jellies. 

Halo-Halo is super refreshing and the perfect dessert to have on a hot summer day but the question is, is it healthy? 

Halo-Halo is not healthy due to its high sugar and fat content. A typical serving of halo-halo is around 12 grams of fat, 31 grams of carbs, and 8 grams of protein. This is a poor balance of nutrients and can lead to weight gain if portions are not controlled. 

One of the biggest contributors to weight gain is simple sugar carbohydrates and halo-halo certainly contains a significant amount which is not good news for your weight loss or health. 

Although it is not the best for you, that does not mean you have to completely avoid halo-halo if you are trying to lose weight. 

So if you are craving halo-halo, here are three tips that can help you stay on track while satisfying your craving. 

1. Knowing how many calories is in halo-halo and being in a caloric deficit. 

2. Reducing the sugar content. 

3. Consuming in moderation and making sure you’re exercising 

These three tips are actually very simple and easy to pick up on! As long as you stick to these basic concepts, you will have no problem with staying on track. 

Tip 1: Knowing how many calories is in halo-halo and being in a caloric deficit. 

As you can see, a typical serving of halo-halo is around 260 calories, 12 grams of fat, 31 grams of carbohydrates, and 8 grams of protein. 

260 calories can be a significant amount of calories for your daily intake depending on your personal caloric limit for weight loss.

For weight loss, you want to make sure that you are constantly in a caloric deficit. 

What does being in a caloric deficit mean?

Being in a caloric deficit means that you are eating less calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. 

When your body does not receive enough calories from food, it will use your body fat as energy instead, which is what causes weight loss. 

To determine how many calories you need to eat in order to be in a deficit, you need to first figure out your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

TDEE is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain at its current weight. 

Everyone’s TDEE is different because your TDEE is determined by a number of different factors such as your gender, age, weight, height, muscle mass, and activity levels.  

How TDEE is typically calculated is by taking your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate and then multiplying it by your activity measurement.

BMR is the amount of calories your body needs to keep its core functions functioning, meaning that this is the amount of calories your body will burn if you remain at rest for an entire day.  

This might sound like a convoluted and complicated process, but thankfully there are an abundance of TDEE online calculators at your disposal.

All you need to do is plug in some information such as your gender, age, weight, and height, and it will tell you your personal estimated TDEE. 

While this might not be the exact amount, it is a very good start for figuring out how many calories you should be eating for weight loss.

To be in a caloric deficit, all you need to do is eat less than your TDEE. 

The lower you drop your calories the faster you are going to lose weight.

However, I do not recommend an overly aggressive approach to weight loss because it is less sustainable. 

When you drop your calories drastically, you will lose a good amount of weight initially but you will also hit a plateau faster too.

If this happens, the only way you will continue to lose weight is to drop your calories even more which could be damaging to your metabolism, therefore making your weight loss unsustainable. 

I recommend dropping your calories slowly and not dropping them lower than 1,200 calories for females and 1,500 calories for males.

Patience is the game when it comes to sustainable weight loss! 

So, in order to lose weight while eating halo-halo, make sure to factor in at least 260 calories into your total daily calories and make sure that at the end of the day your total calorie intake is below your TDEE. 

Tip 2: Reducing Sugar Content 

The worst part about halo-halo in terms of weight loss is its sugar content.

A typical serving will contain at least 20 grams of sugar. Some might contain more depending on the type and amount of toppings. 

Sugar, especially simple sugars often found in ice creams and the toppings used for halo-halo, is a significant player when it comes to weight gain. 

When we consume a good amount of simple sugars, our blood sugar levels will spike, causing you to still feel hungry even though you have just eaten.

So since you don’t feel as satiated as you should be, you are prone to eating more food which leads to more calories and a higher chance of overeating and weight gain. 

So, when it comes to eating halo-halo, try to reduce the sugar content as much as you can.

You can do this by ordering a halo-halo that contains less toppings because that is where the bulk of the sugar comes from. 

Not only is the reduced sugar content better for you but it also helps reduce the overall caloric content.

So if you get a halo-halo with minimal toppings, you might end up with the dessert that is way less than 260 calories! 

A good rule of thumb is, the simpler the better.

Minimize the toppings as much as possible while still having enough to satisfy your craving for halo-halo. 

Another way to reduce the sugar is by making your own halo-halo at home.

When making it yourself you are able to control the amount of evaporated milk, ice cream, and toppings.

Not only that you are able to replace the ingredients with healthier options if you’d like.

Tip 3: Consuming in moderation and making sure you’re exercising.

This should be pretty self explanatory, but make sure you are not indulging in halo-halo too often.

When trying to lose weight, it is very important to keep treats like these at a minimum because they tend to be higher in calories and counterproductive for weight loss. 

But that does not mean you need to restrain yourself every time you have a craving.

It is actually good for your long term weight loss goals to enjoy your cravings once in a while. 

Being able to satisfy your cravings makes it easier for you to stick to a consistent weight loss routine.

As long as you are eating well and staying in a caloric deficit for the majority of the week, a little treat won’t hurt. 

Another very important part of weight loss and making sure you still lose weight while eating halo-halo is exercise.

Any form of exercise will help you burn more calories which can elevate the impact of halo-halo on your daily calorie intake. 

Although all types of exercise are good for you, the best type of exercise that gives you long term benefits is strength training. 

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to build and maintain a decent amount of muscle mass.

Having muscles is important not only for your health but it also increases your metabolism due to the fact that muscle is denser than fat, causing your body to need more energy to maintain itself. 

The more muscles you have, the higher your metabolism meaning the more you can eat and still be in a caloric deficit.

Not only is this a great long term benefit, muscles also improves your posture and joint health. 

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.

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! (1) 

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

There you have it! 

Three core tips to keep in mind when trying to lose weight while craving halo-halo.

Cravings are very normal and it is ok to satisfy them once in a while! 

Just remember to know how many calories you need to be in a caloric deficit, reduce sugars as much as possible, and make sure to not eat it too often!

As long as you stick to these three tips, you will have no problem staying on track for weight loss. 

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