Nutrition | Fighting Temptations in Thailand

Jan 6

Thailand is full of tempting foods and social activities. From the street stalls with the ultimate sticky rice, to the markets with everything deepfried you can imagine. The boozing nightlight brings its fair sure. Pretty much everything to send your pancreas packing into a party. So how can you indulge and enjoy the local cuisine, while still staying on track with your fitness and fat loss goals?

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Handling alcohol:

So we all know how tough it can be to avoid alcohol here in Thailand. But the good news is that you can add it into your clean eating lifestyle. You just have to remember this one small word “moderation”.

Tips:

Limit your alcohol consumption to special events. (Friday and Saturday nights are not special events)
Plan your meals. This will help with overeating and snacking while you’re drinking. NO end of the night dirty kebab (or Pad Thai).
Slow your pace. Order a glass of water between every alcoholic drink. This simple strategy may cut your total consumption in half and allow you to stay out longer.
Switch the drink mixer (coke) for soda water with lemon or lime. Not only a lot fewers calories and sugar, but you will stay hydrated and will feel much fresher the next morning.
Fasting the next day. If you’re really censured about the damaged you did the night before, then try fasting throughout the next day.

Emotional Eating: Recognise your hunger

Think before you eat. Before you reach for that nearest naughty snack rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 being full and 5 being starving. Do not eat if your 1 or 2, even 3 you can fight it. This will help you better recognize whether you are hungry or simply feeding your emotions.

Find a mind blocker

Find an activity that will take your mind of being hungry. Put a list together, and with there being so many low-cost distracting activities here, the list should be quite long. Activities such as taking a walk, go for a massage, get your nails painted or get a haircut etc.

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Keep a food journal

Track your food and emotions in a journal or diary. This will help you identify your toughest times, your triggers and how your food choices are affecting you emotionally.

What’s at home?

Be aware of what foods you keep at home. When that urge over powers you and you reach for what you have in the cupboard if the naughty foods are gone then the mind with go for the much healthier option. Have 3 healthy food choices there ready to go (some almonds or nuts, carrot sticks, or try some Greek yogurt etc)

It’s ok to fail

There will be times that you will make a bad choice, but don’t let that get you off track. We are all human and sometimes we fail, but we just learn from the experience to make a better decision next time.

Fighting Cravings

You know those nights that you’re settled in at home after a long day at work, you’re watching a movie or reading a book. Then you start feeling like something ‘nice’ to eat and not just anything will do because you’re craving something, something sweet, salty or chocolaty.

Food cravings a very common and most of us have them, they will vary from person to person. A lot of research has gone into this topic and it has been identified that in most cases we are able to satisfy a food craving with a much healthier alternative.

What you’re craving	What you need	What to eat instead
Chocolate	Magnesium	Nuts, seeds, legumes, fruit
Sugary of sweet foods	Chromium Phosphorus Carbon Sulpher Tryptophan	Broccoli, grapes, cheese, chicken Chicken, beef, fish, eggs, nuts, grains Fresh fruit Cranberries, cabbage, cauliflower Lamb, sweet potato, spinach, cheese
Bread, pasta, other carbs	Nitrogen	Meat, fish, nuts, beans
Oily/fatty foods	Calcium	Cheese, yoghurt, legumes, anything green leafy
Salty foods	Chloride	Fish, goats milk

Ok but let’s be real, something the fresh fruit and broccoli just doesn’t cut it when trying to stop that craving for chocolate. So here some last resort alternatives that will satisfy the sweetest tooth

Keep an eye out for the next article, where we will share some super simple and delicious recipes that require ZERO Baking 🙂 (Perfect for the Bangkok lifestyle where most kitchens n condos don’t have ovens) that will satisfy the sweetest tooth

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