Is Rendang Healthy? (3 Tips for Weight Loss)

Rendang is a popular slow-cooked meat dish that originated in Indonesia and utilizes coconut milk and a variation of spices to give the juicy and tender meat a delicious and original flavor.

The most popular Rendang uses beef as the meat but there have been other variations that use chicken or lamb as a substitute.

Beef Rendang is a very culturally important dish for Indonesians and Malaysians because each of the main four ingredients (the meat, coconut milk, spices, and chili) all have a symbolic meaning that represents their early societal structure.

This is a super unique and tasty dish that may be a common staple to your diet, but you may be wondering, is Beef Rendang a good food to eat when you are trying to lose weight? 

Although Beef Rendang is high in protein, this dish is not the ideal food to eat when you are on a diet because it is calorically dense and very high fat.  However, Rendang can be managed while staying healthy as long as portions are controlled. 

In this article, we will be discussing three tips on how you can incorporate Rendang into your diet while still attaining your goal of weight loss! 

1. Understand the Nutrition for Beef Rendang 

2. Finding the Most Suitable Rendang for Weight Loss

3. Learn How to Portion Size

Tip 1: Understand the Nutrition for Rendang

A Beef Rendang dish usually consists of a couple of specific spices, coconut milk and flakes, and of course the meat itself.

It doesn’t seem like a dish that would be unhealthy, but a couple of ingredients mixed together can create a high-calorie food that will make it difficult to incorporate into your diet when you are trying to lose weight.

Beef Rendang

The most popular Rendang dish utilizes beef as the main ingredient because it is a really tender meat that easily absorbs a lot of the spices and coconut making it super flavorful. 

For one serving of Beef Rendang, there is a total of 490 calories with 31 grams of fat, 14 grams of diet carbohydrates, and 32 grams of protein.

As you can see, Beef Rendang is made up mostly of fat which is why it is such a calorically dense dish.

For every gram of fat, there are a total of 9 calories whereas carbohydrates and proteins only have 4 calories per gram.

This is why for your daily intake you want to make sure you are eating fewer grams of fat compared to your protein and carbohydrate intake. 

A good ratio to follow is a 1:3 fat to protein ratio for when you are just starting to diet and from there on out you can find out what works best for you.

Since everyone’s body is different it’s important to go through a trial and error process to figure out what works best for you.

Tip 2: Finding the Most Suitable Rendang for Weight Loss

Beef is the most popular meat used in Rendang but there are several possible meat alternatives.

In this section, we will review three different Rendang dishes and the nutritional information specific for each of these different types of meats.

By learning about the specific calories and macronutrients for each of these will make a huge difference in the results of your diet. 

Chicken Rendang

A different type of Rendang slow-cooks chicken with the same similar spices as Beef Rendang and is just as tender and juicy.

Using boneless and skinless chicken thighs, this fattier meat easily absorbs the coconut milk and spices making it super flavorful. 

For one serving of Chicken Rendang, there is a total of 460 calories with 31 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbohydrates, and 29 grams of protein.

If you want a lower fat Chicken Rendang, a great alternative is to use chicken breast meat instead of chicken thigh.

Chicken breast is a lot leaner and contains way less fat and ultimately equates to fewer calories.

Although it is a tougher meat, making these small little switches makes a big difference in the long run. 

Duck Rendang

A unique type of Rendang uses duck as a meat alternative to the popular beef.

Typically using duck breast, this popular stew Rendang is definitely one worth trying out. 

For one serving of Duck Rendang, there is a total of 490 calories with 29 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrates, and 35 grams of protein.

Duck Rendang is a bit higher in carbohydrates and still has a lot of fat. 

Although Duck Rendang is the highest calorie dish out of all the alternatives, the duck has the least amount of fat compared to all the other Rendangs.

This is still a good high in fat and calories so you want to make sure you do not overeat. 

Lamb Rendang 

Finally, for the last variation of Rendang, lamb is a popular and delicious alternative.

Lamb Rendang uses lamb shanks which is slow cooked with several spices that highlight curry leaves giving it a great aroma that completes the overall dish. 

For one serving of Lamb Rendang, there is a total of 480 calories with 41 grams of fat, 4 grams of carbohydrates, and 26 grams of protein.

This dish is the highest in fat so it is best to eat this food in moderation. 

If you want to make your own healthier Rendang, most of the fat and calories come from the abundance of olive oil and coconut milk.

If you reduce the amount for each of these ingredients you can make a much lower calorie Rendang suitable for your diet.

Tip 3: Learn How to Portion Size 

After reviewing all the different types of Rendang and seeing that it is a rather calorically dense food, there are certain things to keep in mind when you are trying to lose weight. 

If you want to enjoy a meal with Rendang it’s actually something you can definitely incorporate into your diet.

By portion sizing your meals and pairing your Rendang with other foods you can eat your delicious Rendang while still losing weight. 

I recommend cutting the portion size to just half a serving or a scoop, so you can eat it with plenty of other vegetables.

By eating a balanced meal with a source of protein and your greens, the fiber and volume of food from vegetables will keep you well satiated after your meal. 

By eating the right foods and pairing it with your cravings, dieting does not have to be a painful and miserable process.

As long as you are mindful of how much and what you are eating, you can pick and choose what to incorporate into your daily meals.

Now you know how to incorporate Rendang into your diet, you can easily eat your favorite foods while still reaching your goals of weight loss! 

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 re-composition 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.