Menu
Expat.com

Healthy eating in Thailand / Bangkok

Last activity 22 August 2017 by lectio

Post new topic

Vate

I'm trying to lose weight, but somehow I feel like it is absolutely impossible in Thailand to eat healthy, if you don't cook your own meals. But since I have no kitchen and don't want to cook everything from scratch, I often rely on 1. street food, 2. my little oven, 3. my rice cooker and its steamer.

Any ideas on healthy foods to buy or make that doesn't require a lot of efforts? I feel like even the stir-fried veggies or the grilled pork (moo ping) aren't that healthy since they contain soooo much sugar. It's ridiculous. I'm frustrated. I can't eat foods that are too spicy either, so it's not like eating larb without rice is an option for me (it's not). I feel like the food here if not extremely spicy, it's way too sweet to be good for you. I'm at a loss. Help! And all the recipes I can find online contain ingredients that are so expensive here (like quinoa, almond milk, and the likes). Aaaagh! So frustrated.

RJHN

If you don't have a kitchen or can't prepare your own food here in Thailand you are very limited yes I agree. have you ever thought about trying raw food? no cooking required, eating fresh fruits and veggies. buy them cheap at the local market and wash them. *** Good luck

Moderated by Priscilla 7 years ago
Reason : no free ads + no external links please
We invite you to read the forum code of conduct
Vate

hell noooooo I'd get bored really quickly. Plus, I need at least one warm meal a day or else I could get depressed.

Vate

No one else has a brilliant idea?

chanceoh

Hot rolled oats with milk and your choice of fresh berries and raisins in the morning. Afternoon have Salads with tomatoes, celery, green peppers, lettuce and Italian dressing and or home made soup from cabbage, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic, your choice of herbs. Fruit for snacks. Evening find a nice restaurant 3 miles away and walk to it there and back. No deserts with sugars in it.

P.S. If you think this is rabbit food than hell you could hop all the way to the restaurant   instead of walking.  :top:

California4me

I have lived in Thailand for 4 years, and have been losing weight the whole time. Lost 40 lbs now. You just have to stay away from fried foods, instead of noodle ask for Mung Bean, it's a dry noodle made from bean, soak it in water for about 10-15 minutes, you can use for soup & stir-fry. The main way to lose weight is to eat less. And we eat our main meal in the afternoon around 3 pm, at dinner we have soup or salad. We also eat more Vietnamese food than we do Thai, you can ask them to leave the sugar out of the dishes if you like. But it is more how much you eat, than what you eat. You can buy dim sum & steam in your rice pot for one meal, get a cooked chicken, separate it from the bone & add it to a green salad, another meal would be clear chicken broth soap with pork ribs, vegetables, & mung bean noodles, you can season yourself. There is lots out there, just be creative. The Thai's don't like to make changes in there food, but you can always say you have food allergies  The Vietnamese are more open minded as far as food preparation . Good Luck, Enjoy the food, there is so much to try, just modify it for your needs. Make sure you tell them not to use MSG, they put it in everything, and if you eat your eyes will end up being puffy & have a large salt retention, high blood pressure & on & on, not such good health.

Vate

Too expensive for my budget

Vate

California4me wrote:

I have lived in Thailand for 4 years, and have been losing weight the whole time. Lost 40 lbs now. You just have to stay away from fried foods, instead of noodle ask for Mung Bean, it's a dry noodle made from bean, soak it in water for about 10-15 minutes, you can use for soup & stir-fry. The main way to lose weight is to eat less. And we eat our main meal in the afternoon around 3 pm, at dinner we have soup or salad. We also eat more Vietnamese food than we do Thai, you can ask them to leave the sugar out of the dishes if you like. But it is more how much you eat, than what you eat. You can buy dim sum & steam in your rice pot for one meal, get a cooked chicken, separate it from the bone & add it to a green salad, another meal would be clear chicken broth soap with pork ribs, vegetables, & mung bean noodles, you can season yourself. There is lots out there, just be creative. The Thai's don't like to make changes in there food, but you can always say you have food allergies  The Vietnamese are more open minded as far as food preparation . Good Luck, Enjoy the food, there is so much to try, just modify it for your needs. Make sure you tell them not to use MSG, they put it in everything, and if you eat your eyes will end up being puffy & have a large salt retention, high blood pressure & on & on, not such good health.


This is actually good advice, advice I can use. Where do you buy the mung bean noodles? So they're low carb or carb free noodles?

Yes I always ask the som tum lady to not put any MSG in mine, but if you buy those dishes that they sell on the street or at the foodcourt, you know, those stands that has like 8 or 20 different dishes for you to choose from and eat with rice? They're prepared already and even the vegetable dishes aren't that healthy since they're always so oily and very often sweet as hell.

I'm also not a fan of soups, Thailand is hot enough. The only soups that I enjoy is miso soup. I add some dried seaweed in them. But that doesn't really count as a meal, more like a small snack since it's just 30 calories

lectio

I think I can help you with that .. I have sent a private message to you

Articles to help you in your expat project in Bangkok

All of Bangkok's guide articles