Is Indonesian Food Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss)

From the famous Beef Satay to Indonesian Fried Rice, there are endless options to choose from that can leave you wondering what to order the next time you decide to order take out.

Flavored with unique spices, Indonesian food is instantly recognizable because it is distinguishable from other Asian cuisines.

However, if your goal is to lose weight or be healthier, how can you narrow down your options?

Or you may be wondering, is Indonesian food even a good option when trying to lose weight? 

The simple answer is that Indonesian food may usually hinder weight loss. That does not mean that Indonesian food should be completely cut out of your diet or that you can not enjoy some delicious Asian food. Instead, this is about making smart and careful decisions regarding food, especially Indonesian takeout. 

In this article, we will be covering three tips for helping you lose weight while still enjoying your favorite Indonesian dishes: 

1. Avoid Fried and High Carb Dishes

2. Stick with Higher Protein Indonesian Food

3. Make your Own Indonesian Food

Tip 1: Avoid Fried and High Carb Dishes

Fried Food

Many Indonesian dishes tend to be covered in flour then deep-fried to give their food a crispy exterior and juicy interior.

However, deep-fried foods are often high in carbohydrates and fats and may add many additional calories to your meal.

For example, when comparing a baked chicken to a fried chicken, one serving of fried chicken can add more than 200 extra calories to your meal.

This is why you want to limit the amount of fried dishes you are eating, such as Tahu Goreng or Pisang Goreng. 

Higher Carbs

Higher carb dishes like Indonesian fried rice, noodles, and steamed pork buns may also be on your list of Indonesian foods to avoid.

Foods that are predominately carbohydrates usually add many empty calories into your daily intake and are also not extremely fulfilling. 

High carbohydrate foods like rice make it very easy for you to overeat because a small high-calorie portion can quickly add up the total calories you are eating every day.

Instead of eating an entire dish of carbohydrates, grab a small amount of your Mie Goreng and Nasi Goreng and choose other healthier options as your central portion instead.

The most significant factor affecting your weight loss is the total amount of calories you consume every day.

You want to be sure that the total calories you are consuming in a day is less than your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

This is why you can still eat Indonesian food while you are on a diet, but you just need to know how much of the food you are consuming. 

There are several ways for you to calculate your unique TDEE.

Simply navigate through some of the credible fitness and nutrition websites (like NASM) and enter your weight, height, and gender into their calculator.

This calculator will help estimate your TDEE, and you simply just need to eat around 300-500 calories less than your calculated TDEE.

Remember that this number is simply an estimation, and everyone is different.

You must rely on yourself to adjust from this starting point and experiment with other numbers.

If you follow these numbers for around a week and fail to see any progress, lower your calories by approximately 100-200 more until you start to see consistent changes. 

Peanut Sauce

Another iconic flavor in several Indonesian foods is the nutty dressing known as the Indonesian Peanut sauce, often paired with salads or meats.

Even though this dressing may be delicious, peanut sauce is high in calories and fat and should be regulated. 

Instead of completely coating your food with all the peanut sauce, simply ask for the dressing on the side.

This way, you can control the amount of peanut sauce you are consuming.

I recommend dipping your fork into your peanut sauce, grabbing a portion of your salad or meat to get some peanut flavor.

By doing this, you can still get a delicious and nutty bite, but you won’t be overeating. -

Tip 2: Stick with Higher Protein Foods

The good news is that even though many Indonesian foods are unhealthy, they also have several delicious dishes that are more suitable for losing weight.

The best Indonesian foods to eat are higher in protein and packed with fiber from the vegetables.

Chicken or Beef Satay

The famous beef or chicken satay is always a great option since it’s packed with protein and is usually grilled.

Often paired with a plate of veggies and peanut sauce, this is one of the healthiest Indonesian food choices. 

A single chicken satay is around 66 calories with 3.2 grams of fat, 1.4 grams of carbohydrates, and 8.1 grams of protein.

This protein-rich dish is also low in carbohydrates and moderate in fat, making it one of the best choices when eating out.

Since protein has the highest satiety index or is a food that makes you most full, you’ll feel much more satisfied after eating this meal. 

Boiled Vegetables

Plenty of Indonesian restaurants offer boiled or steamed vegetables as either an appetizer or a side dish.

Be sure to fill your plate with plenty of vegetables because they’re filled with fiber and nutrients, which will keep you full and prevent you from overeating.

Vegetables are also super low on calories and a perfect complement to your dish. 

Tip 3: Make Your Own Indonesian Food

The good news is that even though many Indonesian foods are unhealthy, they also have several delicious dishes that you can replicate at home.

There are so many advantages that come from cooking your food and is a skill you should learn.

Not only will you save a ton of money, but it will make your weight loss journey more comfortable and more successful.

When you cook your food, you are the determinant of what goes into your dish.

This means you can cut out all the unnecessary oils, which is one of the ingredients that add a bunch of extra calories and fat into your daily intake.

Swap out this abundance of oil for a spray oil to drastically minimize the amount of fat in your dish.

Instead of deep-frying one of the dishes, try air frying it instead, making it way healthier and still tastes just as delicious. 

Another advantage of cooking your food is that it teaches you how to track your calories and understand each food’s macronutrients.

Since you know exactly what ingredients go into your dish, you’ll have a good idea of whether or not adding certain high-calorie foods is hindering you from your progress.

By learning how to prepare your dishes, you can pick up on a great skill that is so helpful for yourself and is a great plus to your diet journey.

If you don’t know how to get started or are unsure of how to make healthier meals, Aspire Fitness has a Youtube channel that teaches you how to make healthy and delicious Asian recipes that are macro-friendly and perfect for you.

By making these small but significant choices, you can achieve your body goals while still enjoying your favorite Indonesian foods.

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. 

RECENT POSTS