RIGHT Way to Eat Out & Still Lose Weight

Kaya toast for breakfast, chicken rice for lunch, zichar for dinner and fast food for supper – where else can we put the blame on for our weight gain?! The tummy speaks for itself. However, what else can we do when long working hours entails the failure of our diet plans?

While we can’t avoid eating out totally (in fact, 60% of Singaporeans eat out for at least one meal daily!), making wise choices can help to bring down the damage to our waistlines! Nope, we are not talking about plain, boring food here. Even weight watchers should have the right to live to eat, right? The simplest thing you can do to lose weight is to AVOID these local foods!

#3. Fried Beehoon – with luncheon meat & egg (427 calories)
To get enough energy to kick start our day, most of us don’t get satisfied with just plain beehoon. We tend to order fried items like chicken wing or all-time favourites such as luncheon meat and hot dog to get a “balanced meal”, for no meal is complete without meat right? So there you go – extra calories straight down the mouth and say ‘hello’ to the belly pouch.

How to lose weight: Avoid choosing fried food and go for more vegetables.

#2. Roti Prata – 1 egg, 1 plain (497 calories)
Prata is low in fibre yet high in calories! This could mean that while you get full quickly, your energy level quickly dips and you’d start to feel lethargic and maybe hungry more easily!

How to lose weight: Keep to no more than 3 teaspoons of curry to go with your prata. This reduces your intake of fat and cholesterol.

#1. Mee Siam (694 calories)
Although a bowl of Mee Siam looks harmless, it is certainly one of the local foods to avoid to lose weight. The high amount of carbohydrates from the noodles and sugar-laden gravy makes it extremely sinful. It also contains a high amount of sodium, way more than what’s required for an entire day.

How to lose weight: Skip the gravy! This will help to reduce the sodium intake by approximately 50%.

#3. Chicken Rice (607 calories)
The signature fragrant rice is cooked in chicken fat, which makes the total fat count 23g, close to half of your daily fat requirement. A chicken rice meal takes hours to digest and will leave you feeling sluggish and sleepy throughout the day. The sodium level in chicken rice is pretty high as well.

How to lose weight: Remove the skin and ask for more cucumbers to boost up your fibre intake!

#2. Char Kway Teow (744 calories)
This should come as no surprise. Char Kway Teow contains a high level of saturated fat and cholesterol; and is extremely harmful to the heart. Most of the calories come from the sweet sauce and pork lard.

How to lose weight: Ask for less or no lard and most importantly, eat this dish in moderation.

#1. Nasi Biryani with Chicken (877 calories)
The fragrant and tasty rice is typically cooked with ghee and fat from chicken skin! Just one serving provides at least 50% of the daily total fat, cholesterol and sodium allowance for an adult!

How to lose weight: Ask for less rice (the portion is huge anyway!) and remove the chicken skin.

#3. Hokkien Mee (617 calories)
There may be different versions of Hokkien Mee but this dish is generally high in everything (saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium), thus making it an unhealthy choice that is to be consumed in moderation. Do you know that it has even more calories than a big mac?

How to lose weight: Ask for less oil and perhaps share the dish with a friend!

#2. Fish & Chips (850 calories)
Fish, on its own, is pretty low in calories as it’s a type of white meat but the preparation method of fish & chips adds on many calories to it; the batter / bread crumbs, deep frying method and these do not even include the side dishes such as French Fries and coleslaw!

How to lose weight: Opt for grilled fish instead! You can also reduce the calorie intake by skipping ketchup or chilli sauce for your fries.

#1. Fried Rice (907 calories)
Now, this is really surprising! Who would have thought that this popular zi char dish alone provides almost half the daily requirement of energy and fat, making it the ultimate spoiler of your diet plans!

How to lose weight: Top up on high protein and high fibre foods! This helps to control the spike in your blood sugar level and slows down the digestion of your meal.