Is Teppanyaki Healthy? (3 Tips for Weight Loss)

Highly sought out by Western countries, the Teppanyaki style of cooking in Japanese dishes has recently been largely popularized.

Not to be confused with Hibachi which uses charcoal to cook the food, Teppanyaki is a method of cooking that uses a flat iron griddle to prepare food. 

Some popular Teppanyaki dishes that are cooked on the iron plate are noodles, seafood, vegetables, and meat. 

The rich flavor that Teppanyaki produces can be found at famous restaurants such as Benihana or other local ma and pa spots. 

Although it is delicious, is Teppanyaki healthy?

Teppanyaki is considered unhealthy because the most common type of Teppanyaki dish has 471 calories per serving (300 grams). Each serving is made up of 30 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbs, and 35 grams of protein which is not the healthiest food to eat when trying to stay healthy. Teppanyaki carries equal portions of fat and protein in grams which means that most of the calories will be coming from excess fats. 

Even though we generally established that Teppanyaki is not the healthiest, you can still incorporate it into your diet with the help of three easy tips: 

Tip 1: Choose Healthy Teppanyaki Options 

Tip 2: Maintain high activity levels when eating Teppanyaki

Tip 3: Understand how to portion the amount of Teppanyaki you eat

Now that we know three different ways in which you can enjoy Teppanyaki while still following your weight loss goals, let’s begin!

How To Lose Weight When Eating Teppanyaki

In order to lose weight while enjoying this Japanese cuisine, it is important to grasp the concept of calories in as opposed to calories out. 

Calories in versus calories out is essentially asking yourself whether you burn more calories than you consume on a daily basis. 

Your goal should be to burn more calories than your amount of calorie intake because this will put you in a calorie deficit which is the only way fat loss can occur. 

When eating a cuisine such as Teppanyaki, you should be mindful of its nutritional value as well as the number of calories you are taking in when consuming this flavorful meal. 

In the upcoming section where we explore the previously mentioned tips, we will take a look at how many calories you should be consuming as an individual. 

You should be keeping yourself accountable in terms of the amount of calories you are consuming. 

Alongside figuring out the amount of calories you should be taking in, it is also important to keep yourself accountable for how much you are exercising on a daily basis. It is important to exercise and increasingly build muscle every time you workout.

This means that you will be responsible for resistance training. The words “resistance training” may seem intimidating at first glance but, we all start from somewhere. Soon enough, it won’t sound dreadful or intimidating but will instead sound like words of motivation!

Muscle is what allows us to burn calories at rest. This means that muscle will allow us to eat more while still losing fat, and who doesn’t want that?!

This is really the ultimate goal of working out and is what will keep us healthy as our metabolism gradually increases. 

Now that we have briefly gone over what it takes to lose weight while consuming a dish such as Teppanyaki, let’s discuss the details of this food. 

We will help guide you in your decision of whether to incorporate Teppanyaki into your diet or not! 

Tip 1: Choose Healthy Teppanyaki Options

Teppanyaki is hard to define in a single sentence because there are various different types of Teppanyaki options. There is a large customization factor to Teppanyaki.

Teppanyaki as a whole is a great alternative to other options because of that customization factor. 

A bonus of this cuisine is that your meat and vegetables are being sauteed instead of being fried under large amounts of oil. 

The nutritional value for Teppanyaki will change depending on your protein of choice, your vegetables of choice, and what is going into your Teppanyaki sauce. 

Let’s take a look at four of the most popular types of Teppanyaki.

1. Teppanyaki - Mixed

The mixed Teppanyaki is a classic because it incorporates different types of protein and vegetables to make up your whole meal. 

This type of Teppanyaki is made up of 700 calories per serving. Within each serving are 30 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, and 30 grams of protein. 

As you can see, this option is not healthy for you because the fat and protein content is the same. Fats are also much more calorically dense than protein which makes it a far more unhealthy option as opposed to some of the upcoming Teppanyaki options. 

This option also takes up a large chunk of your recommended fat and sodium intake for the day. 

It is not a great choice if you are trying to diet because it is higher in carbs and fats. 

Our tip, if you decide to indulge in a mixed Teppanyaki option, is to make sure you are not eating carb and fat-heavy meals before and after this one.

Weight loss is all about finding a balance to stay healthy so it is important to make sure that all of these macronutrients are at a good standing level. 

2. Teppanyaki - Beef

Beef Teppanyaki is definitely one of my favorite ways to enjoy this cuisine. 

One of the most popular variations of Beef Teppanyaki uses Teppanyaki Steak. This is also known as wagyu beef. 

The dipping sauce that you often see at restaurants serving Teppanyaki style food is to enhances the flavors of the food.

It is mainly used for two purposes which are: to dip the meat into and for cooking itself. 

When the wagyu beef hits the heavy iron belt, you already know it’s about to be delicious!

Now that we have a general idea of what Beef Teppanyaki is, let’s take a look into its nutritional value. 

One serving of Beef Teppanyaki has 30 grams of fat and 30 grams of protein. 

Although it is high in protein, it has an equal amount of fat which makes it a very calorically dense meal.

If you are looking to try Beef Teppanyaki, make sure that you are balancing your other meals throughout the day so that your daily intake of the three macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein) are in good standing. 

3. Teppanyaki - Noodles

Teppanyaki Noodles are definitely the type of dish that leaves you craving for more. 

These noodles can be sauteed in a variety of different ways. One of the ways that it gains such a rich and memorable flavor is by the combination of butter, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, garlic, sesame oil and sugar on that iron surface.

Since this is a noodle dish with a blend of flavors to bring it that unforgettable taste, it is important to not get too side-tracked from our main goal here which is weight loss. 

Let’s take a look at the nutritional value of Teppanyaki Noodles.

For every 19 grams of fat, there are 58 grams of carbs and 10 grams of protein.

Since it is a noodle dish, it was expected that it would be high in carbs.

It can be slightly dangerous for all of my noodle lovers out there because it is easy to get lost in its flavors. 

Because fat and carbs are higher in content than protein, it is important to stay active while enjoying this dish. 

You also want to make sure that you are not eating other carb heavy foods throughout the day if you decide to indulge in Teppanyaki Noodles!

4. Teppanyaki - Chicken

Chicken Teppanyaki is one of the healthier forms of Teppanyaki as compared to the previously mentioned options. 

By now you are probably an expert when it comes to understanding what Teppanyaki is but to reiterate, Chicken Teppanyaki is also grilled on the flat iron plate and is used in combination with dipping sauces. 

Chicken in general is a really good way to make up your protein intake for the day. 

For this specific Japanese dish, it uses the benefits of chicken mixed in with a Japanese style of seasoning to complete it. 

When looking at the nutritional value, we can see that for every 5 grams of fat, there are 8 grams of carbs and 30 grams of protein. 

The amount of fat and carbs is significantly lower than the amount of protein. This is really good for Teppanyaki especially when you consider how delicious it is. 

Our tip is to eat Chicken Teppanyaki if you are looking to have tasty food while still staying fit. 

I hope that section acts as a guide and helps you in determining what type of Teppanyaki to choose from! 

Now that we have a better understanding of the different Teppanyaki options, let’s look at how we can keep our activity levels high when enjoying this cuisine. 

Tip 2: Maintain High Activity Levels When Eating Teppanyaki

In order to stay healthy, it is important to take care of our bodies on a physical level. This means that actively working out will help us reach our goals in seeking out our dream bodies!

When eating a cuisine such as Teppanyaki, we want to make sure that we are using those calories that we consumed to fuel our bodies and build muscle. 

When we build that muscle, we are going to be burning calories at rest.

We want to make sure that our TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure is staying high because that is what helps us keep track of how many calories our bodies are burning while living our lives.

In order to achieve high TDEE levels, it is crucial to do some resistance training.

We have created a simple workout plan that’ll help you start building that muscle!

Women 

Monday (Full Upper): 

• Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20 

• Lateral Raises: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Dumbbell Row: 3x10

• Dumbbell Fly: 3x10 

• Knee Push Ups: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

Wednesday (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps) 

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3x10

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12 

• Cable Row: 4x15

• Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15

• Hamstring Curl: 4x15

• Bicep Curls: 3x10

• Hammer Curls: 3x10

Friday: (Legs/Butt/Abs): 

• Squats: 5x5 

• Goblet Squats: 4x20

• Glute Bridge: 4x20

• Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg

• Jump Squats: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Leg Lifts: 3x35

MEN 

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day)

• Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps

• Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps

• Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps

• Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps 

Wed: Legs & Abs

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps

• Stiff Leg DeadLift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps

• Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps

• Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Sit Ups: 4 sets 25 reps

• Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

Fri: Back & Biceps (Pull Day)

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps

• Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)

• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps

• Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

This is a simple resistance training workout plan.

What I recommend is to just look these workouts up on Youtube and choose weights that are not too heavy at first so you can really get your form down. 

All it takes are a couple of adjustable weights (bowflex adjustable weights on Amazon) and a reliable workout bench (steelbody bench on Amazon) that will allow us to do all the necessary workouts. 

When you feel that you’ve grasped the form, feel free to go heavier and heavier every week. Remember, this will not get you big and bulky. It will get you nice and lean.

Now that you have a workout routine to follow, let’s look at how you can portion your Teppanyaki so that you are following your weight loss goals!

Tip 3: Understand How to Portion the Amount of Teppanyaki You Eat

Teppanyaki is a highly customizable dish, when cooking it at home. 

Although Teppanyaki is highly enjoyed for its entertainment factor at restaurants, it is also highly regarded for its taste.

If you can give up that live performance factor, you will easily be able to recreate Teppanyaki at home and customize it to fit into your weight loss goals!

If you are eating some of the Teppanyaki options that are generally higher in fat and carbs, you can customize it so that you are eating less. 

To make up for the loss of some of the meat or noodles, you can saute more vegetables in the same sauce as a healthier option. 

You can also replace some of the protein options for proteins with less fat in them. 

It is important that you portion the protein (and/or noodles) to the amount of vegetables you are cooking. 

You always want to make sure that you are taking in more protein and less carbs, fat, and sugar. 

Also, if you are exceptionally hungry while making Teppanyaki and are thinking about adding in extra pieces of those carb and fat-heavy foods, train yourself to add vegetables instead. 

Your body will thank you in the long run.

Don’t forget, portion control and eating in moderation is key here!

There you have it!

In this article, we discussed three different tips to eating Teppanyaki while still losing weight and in turn, building muscle. 

We talked about different workout routines you can follow as well as Teppanyaki options and how to portion them depending on their nutritional value.

We hope that this has helped you gain a little more insight into the world of Teppanyaki and weight loss!

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