What Makes Vietnamese Food So Delicious? (How To Lose Weight Eating Vietnamese Food) 

With Asian food heavily gaining popularity in the United States culture, Vietnamese food is also riding along the wave of becoming one of the most demanded cuisines.

As a perfect place to grab food with a friend, younger generations often gather in Vietnamese restaurants to spend quality time together over a delicious bowl of pho.

However, if you are currently trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy diet, you may be wondering whether or not Vietnamese food is optimal for weight loss. 

Although Vietnamese food has a wide range of delicious options, not all Vietnamese foods are optimal for weight loss. Since a lot of Vietnamese food is high in carbohydrates and fats, this can make it difficult to lose weight when eating Vietnamese food daily. The good news is that if you are craving Vietnamese food, you can still incorporate this into your diet by following our tips. 

By learning about the importance of understanding calories, how to portion control, and exercising regularly, you can meet your goals while still enjoying your cravings! 

In this article, we will be covering three tips that will help you on your weight loss journey while eating your favorite Vietnamese foods:

1. Learn about which Vietnamese Foods to Eat in Moderation 

2. Learn Which Vietnamese Foods to Eat to Lose Weight 

3. How to Cook Healthier Vietnamese Foods for Weight Loss

Now that you have a good idea of what topics we’ll be covering let’s get started!

Tip 1: Learn about which Vietnamese Foods to Eat in Moderation

Vietnamese food is delicious, but here are some foods that are more unhealthy due to their abundance of fats and sugars.

This does not mean that you have to avoid these foods altogether, but more so, be mindful of your portion sizes and better understand the types of foods you are consuming. 

Pho 

Pho, a Vietnamese dish, characterized by its flat-shaped rice noodles, beefy bone broth, tender beef slices, and fresh bean sprouts after a good workout is just amazing. 

Unfortunately, when dieting and building muscle, pho is not the best option due to its high carbohydrate and fat content.

One small bowl of pho has around 350-500 calories (depending on the type of broth and meat) with approximately 30 grams of protein, 40-50 grams of carbohydrates, and about 30 grams of fat.

Although pho is high in protein, it is also high in fat from the soup base and excess fat from the meat. 

Usually served with fatty beef, this tender and delicious source of protein is very high in fat.

Adding an extra amount of fat to your meal can quickly put you in a calorie surplus, meaning you will gain weight rather than lose weight.

If you are heavily craving pho, I recommend swapping out the beef for a leaner protein source such as shrimp or any other type of seafood.

Seafood is often much lower in fat than beef and pork so that you can save on a bit of calories for your meal. 

Another reason why pho is not the optimal food to eat when you are trying to lose weight is that it is also high in carbohydrates.

40-50 grams is easily incorporable in your diet, but keep in mind that this is a small bowl of pho and sometimes will not keep you full for long.

If you decide to eat a large bowl of pho, remind yourself that you will have to lower your carbohydrate intake for the rest of your meals to stay in a calorie deficit.

I will explain more about the importance of remaining in a calorie deficit to help lose weight! 

Banh mi

Banh mi may not be my favorite Vietnamese dish, but it ranks in the top sandwiches of my list. 

Fluffy bread, pork, and the vegetables that give it a crunch… this is why I love Vietnamese food.  Sadly, when going on a diet, it is better to stay away from this delicious sandwich. 

One Banh mi sandwich has 650 calories with a total of 25 grams of fat, 85 grams of carbohydrates, and 24 grams of protein.

This dish is high in fat and high in carbohydrates making a Banh mi sandwich not the most diet-friendly food. 

The Banh mi sandwich gets many of its carbohydrates from the exterior bun.

When trying to lose weight, you want to reduce your overall carbohydrate intake because carbohydrates do not make you as full as protein.

Thus, it is very easy to overeat in carbs and this may put you in a calorie surplus. 

Inside the sandwich, the fatty pork or steak and the delicious special sauce also adds a lot of excess fat to your dish.

Just like the pho which is high in fat, foods high in fat drastically increase your overall calorie intake. 

Banh Xeo 

At first glance, Banh Xeo looks like a simple omelet, but it’s actually rice flour, green onions, and turmeric, which is why it’s so crunchy! 

It’s made with pork belly, shrimp, and vegetables, and sometimes wrapped in rice paper.

One whole pancake is 430 calories with 18 grams of fat, 77 grams of carbohydrates, and 33 grams of protein.

Banh Xeo is high in carbohydrates, so it is not the most ideal food to eat when you are trying to lose weight.

Compared to Pho and Banh Mi, Banh Xeo is much lower in fat, which is why the calories are a lot less compared to the other two options.

However, like Banh Mi, Banh Xeo is higher in carbohydrates, so it is important to eat lower carb dishes throughout the day to make sure your overall intake does not go over. 

The good news is that although some Vietnamese foods are best eaten in moderation, there are still plenty of Vietnamese food options that are diet-friendly and great for someone trying to lose weight.

Even though these foods are better choices, this does not mean you can eat as much as you want, and you still must learn to portion control, which is what we will cover in the next section. 

Tip 2: Learn Which Vietnamese Foods to Eat to Lose Weight

Shrimp Spring Rolls 

Shrimp spring rolls are a popular delicacy often served as an appetizer.

You are probably guaranteed to find spring rolls on the menu of any Vietnamese takeout restaurant.

Wrapped with a thin rice paper and filled with shrimp, vermicelli noodles, and plenty of vegetables, shrimp spring rolls are one of the healthiest Vietnamese food options. 

The typical Vietnamese Shrimp Roll has around 90 calories with 1 gram of fat, 9 grams of carbohydrates, and 7 grams of protein.

These shrimp rolls are extremely low in fat and low in carbohydrates making this the ideal Vietnamese Food to eat when you are trying to lose weight.

Not only that, Shrimp Spring Rolls are also high in protein, which is the most ideal macronutrient that not only helps you maintain muscle, but it also keeps you full throughout the day.

The importance of maintaining muscle is that the more lean muscle you have, the faster your RMR, or your Resting Metabolic Rate.

Your RMR is basically the amount of calories that you burn when you are resting. 

However, Shrimp Spring Rolls often come with a peanut sauce or some sort of dip, and these usually add a ton of extra calories to your meal.

Peanut sauce is very high in fat and carbohydrates, so I would recommend not dipping your spring rolls in sauce or find an alternative lower calorie dip. 

Since three shrimp rolls can easily become five or six, you still want to make sure you are portion sizing your meals.

A 270 calorie meal can quickly become over 600 calories if you eat too many. 

Goi Ga Vietnamese Salad

Goi Ga is a Vietnamese salad packed with a variety of vegetables like cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, and lime juice with chicken breast as the main source of protein.

Packed with fiber and a lean source of protein, Goi Ga is the perfect food to eat when dieting.  

Goi Ga Salad’s serving has approximately 170 calories with 7 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of protein.

Goi Ga Salad is the perfect weight loss meal that is packed with protein and fiber making this an ideal addition to your meal.

This meal is super low in calories which means that this gives you plenty of room to add an additional food to compliment your salad.

I recommend pairing your Goi Gai Salad with some sort of protein, or maybe even some of those shrimp rolls, to get a healthy, protein-rich meal. 

Just like the shrimp spring rolls, Goi Ga Salad will come with a high calorie dressing, so be sure to ask for the dressing on the side.

Salad tastes very plain when there is no dressing on it, but that does not mean you need to drown your food in high calorie sauce.

Instead, one trick that I use is I first dip my fork in the dressing, then grab a bite of salad and there is just the right amount of flavor for a lot less calories.

Now that you have a clear idea of what type of Vietnamese Foods to fill your diet up with and which foods to eat in moderation, you can go into your weight loss journey with full confidence.

This shows that losing weight doesn’t need to be a painful restrictive process, but more so just being conscious about what foods and how much of it you are putting into your body.

Tip 3: How to Cook Healthier Vietnamese Food For Weight Loss

You may be wondering, I’m really craving Pho and other high calorie Vietnamese foods but I think it will derail me from my goals.

Well the good news is that we got your back! Aspire Fitness has a Youtube channel that cooks all of your favorite Asian meals in a healthier, low-calorie, and protein rich way. 

In this section we’ll cover how you can make your own healthier and easier version of Pho that still tastes just as delicious. 

Not only that, if you are even more pressed on time, constantly have to travel, or want to bring something to work, we also have an easy Vietnamese-styled meal prep.

Healthier Pho 

A large bowl of pho is typically around 500 calories with 13 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbohydrates, and 28 grams of protein.

If you try out our Healthy Vietnamese Pho, you can reduce the calories to 460 calories with 5 grams of fat, 52 grams of carbohydrates, and 55 grams of protein. 

In this recipe, we swap out the fatty meat for chicken breast to significantly decrease the amount of fat in the meal, but we still keep all the bean sprouts and bok choy to keep the fiber and volume in the dish.

This recipe utilizes beef powder to give the pho the same beefy flavor that we taste when we eat out at Vietnamese restaurants. 

This recipe is super healthy and ideal for someone trying to lose weight, but it is also very convenient for travel and storage.

Since this can be prepared beforehand and you can keep the ingredients in a container, then fill it with hot water to eat whenever!

This Healthy Vietnamese Pho recipe is perfect for one you are tight on time or feeling too lazy to cook. 

Healthy Vietnamese Meal Prep

In this section, we will be showing you how to make a Healthy Vietnamese Meal Prep that was inspired by Hanoi Fried Fish.

Using tilapia and an air fryer, we significantly reduce the amount of fat and carbohydrates in this dish making it a lot less in calories.

A lot of the time, eating a lot of fried food makes it difficult to lose weight because of the amount of oil used to deep-fry the food.

Oil is one of the biggest hidden calories that adds a lot of empty calories to your meals.

One tablespoon of olive oil has around 120 calories, which can easily put you in a calorie surplus, making it very hard to lose weight. 

This is why investing in an air fryer will help you save on calories and will still give your food the same exact crunch and bite that you get from deep frying.

Air frying is one of the best ways to get the special texture in your food but not adding extra fat to your dish. 

Meal prepping is also an ideal way to help you stay on track with your diet, save time throughout the week, and also save a ton of money.

Quite often, when we are out working, we impulsively buy food or eat out. If you have a pre-prepared meal, you will not only save money, but will also help you successfully stick to your goals.

I highly recommend trying out meal prepping if you are someone who does not have the luxury or time to cook every meal.

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. 

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