Is Ravioli Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss)

If Ravioli is one of your favorite Italian dishes but you aren’t sure if this dish is healthy and fits into your lifestyle, this article is for you. Find out what goes into making this popular Italian dish and see whether, or not you can lose weight and stay in shape, eating Ravioli.

Ravioli is a pasta dish from Italy, consisting of a filling and the dough shaped like a square but can also be circular and semi-circular. The most popular version of Ravioli is with cheese and tomato sauce, which we’ll further discuss in this article. 

Although Ravioli is delicious, is it considered healthy or even good for your waistline?

Ravioli is one of the healthier pasta dishes available, as it offers a balance of all three macronutrients, which translates to a suitable range of calories.

Here are three steps that explain the calorie amount, the ingredients that go into making Ravioli, and how to stay fit and healthy while eating this classic Italian dish. 

1. What Goes Into Making Ravioli? 

2. How Many Calories Are in One Cup of Ravioli?

3. How to Lose Weight, or Maintain Weight, While Eating Ravioli

Now that we know our three steps, let’s check out what goes into making Ravioli.

Tip 1. What Goes Into Making Ravioli? 

There are different variations of Ravioli, the most common one is with a Ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese filling, served with a tomato sauce. The dough consists of flour, eggs, and a pinch of salt. Once the filling is enveloped into the dough, the Ravioli are boiled for a few minutes and can be served with a homemade or store-bought sauce

Although you can find canned Ravioli in any grocery store, we’ll recommend going with the freshly made packaged version or homemade. Canned Ravioli are usually high in fat, carbs, sodium, and lack of vitamins.

Since it’s a classic dish in Italian cuisine, you can find it in many Italian restaurants nationwide.

Now that we know what Ravioli is, let’s take a look at the nutritional facts and see how many calories go inside one cup of Ravioli. 

Tip 2. How Many Calories Are in One Cup of Ravioli?

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 cup of Ravioli has 280 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 32 grams of carbs, 14 grams of protein, and 11 grams of fat. 

Although Ravioli is a bit high in carbs it still has a good ratio of all three macronutrients. 

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. 

Since the calories are not bad at all in this dish, they can be easily incorporated into your daily calorie intake. 

However, in order for you to build muscle, it’s important to consume enough protein which you’ll get through fish or chicken, as well as vegetables. So when you eat cheese Ravioli make sure you eat it accompanied by protein-rich foods. 

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 calories for the day. 

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. 

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.

Be mindful that these methods will give you rather rough estimates.

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. 

For example, if either method tells you to consume 1600 calories a day, maintain that for a week and see what happens. 

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

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.

Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of cheese Ravioli and how many calories to consume daily, let’s take a look at how you can stay in shape and lose weight while eating Ravioli. 

Tip 3. How to Lose Weight, or Maintain Weight, While Eating Ravioli

After you’ve figured out how many calories you need to consume daily, you need to make sure that you exercise regularly and build muscle throughout every week. 

Building muscles, allow us to burn calories at rest, which means we can eat more and still lose fat.

This is really the goal of working out and is what keeps us healthy as our metabolisms increase.

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

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. 

Having a consistent cardio schedule is important to expedite the fat loss process, as it raises the energy expended throughout your week.

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 that aim to raise the heart rate quickly.

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.

Here is a workout plan we’ve created for women and men if you are someone who is new to resistance training.

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.

THERE IT IS! 

RECENT POSTS