3 Reasons Takeaway Meals Make You Fat

You tried exercising, cutting down on calorie intake, going on detox yet your goal to lose belly fat in favour of a flat tummy might have gotten more distant instead. Why is that so? Well, the answer could lie in your eating habits; eating takeaway meals too frequently may be causing you to gain weight unknowingly and here’s why!

Think about it – when you’re eating your takeaway meal at home or even the office, most of the time you’d be either watching some videos or the TV, reading your emails or busy scrolling through your Facebook timeline, right? This creates a situation called distracted eating, which paves the way to weight gain. Studies have found when a person’s attention is placed elsewhere other than the food, one will tend to eat more at that meal. Besides that, distractions can trick your brain into thinking that you’re feeling less satisfied, even after a full meal!

Weight loss tip: Focus on the food and eat slowly.
Our brain takes about 20 minutes to register the feeling of fullness. Hence, eating too fast could result in overeating unknowingly and thus taking in the extra calories that could lead to weight gain! In fact, research shows that people who eat their meals too fast are 4.4 times more likely to gain weight. So ladies, take your time and chew your food properly.

Now, this is really surprising! Did you know that chemicals such as the infamous Bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates found in plastic food containers and canned foods could cause you to gain weight?! Studies suggested that BPA can increase both the number of fat cells, as well as the amount of fat that these fat cells produce and hold on to. Simply put, this means an accumulation of fat in the body! A definite disaster for women who want to lose weight. As for the lesser-known phthalates, numerous studies have found that it is associated with a growing belly! So ladies, if you really want to lose belly fat and trim the hanging love handles, why not start off by minimising the use of plastic food containers?

Weight loss tip: Eat out instead of ordering takeaways. If you really have to, why not bring your own tingkat (lunch box) and cutleries?
Not only is this environmental friendly, you would also be better able to exercise portion control! (since there’s only this much food the hawker can stuff in your little tingkat)

High in sodium, high in saturated fats, low in fibre – most takeaways meals have poor combination of nutritional content. Among which, the worst of the lot would be refined carbohydrates and sugar, both of which push you into the vicious cycle of mindless eating. This is how it works:

First off, the ‘I’m hungry or I need food ’phase: You have your meal and the refined carbs and sugar from the food are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and cause a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels

Then, the ‘I’m full’ phase: You feel a sudden burst of energy from your meal but this energy level doesn’t sustain for long as insulin in your body works hard to control the surge in blood sugar level.

Shortly after, the ‘I’m sleepy and lethargic’ phase: Your blood sugar level plunges drastically due to the increased production of insulin. Thus, you may enter a food coma and to keep yourself energetic, or at least awake (especially when you’re at work!), you start munching on stuff even though you had your meal just an hour or two ago!

Weight loss tip: Eat more fibre-rich foods.
Fibre can delay how fast carbo gets absorbed by your body, thus regulating your blood sugar level which in turn affects your body fat level! What’s more, fibre helps you to feel full faster. Thus you could cut down on your food intake without compromising on nutritional balance.

The Best & Worst Takeaway Foods
Much as we know how hawker foods aren’t exactly the heathiest, most working adults don’t have the luxury of time to whip up a meal. So here’s a list of takeaways foods that make the cut and those who don’t!