Is Banh Xeo Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss)

Banh Xeo is the Vietnamese take on the savory pancake that uses egg batter to make a thinly fried crepe wrapped with different vegetables and meats.

The name Banh Xeo translates as “sizzling cake” because of the loud crackling sound you hear once the batter hits the pan.

This delicious family-friendly dish is super tasty, but is Banh Xeo healthy?

Banh Xeo leans towards higher carbs and fats which may not be the best food to eat while you are on a diet but, by properly portion sizing, Banh Xeo is a very easy food to incorporate into your diet as it can be customized to be healthy. 

In this article, we hope you can take away these three tips and incorporate them into your weight loss goals: 

1. Understand the Nutrition Behind Banh Xeo

2. How to Make a Healthier Banh Xeo

3. Understand How Many Calories to Eat Everyday

Tip 1: Understand the Nutrition Behind Banh Xeo 

This complex dish contains several different ingredients that range from a multitude of vegetables and flours to different meats.

Typically, Banh Xeo has shrimp and pork belly as the main sources of meat and is wrapped with a crepe-like skin made of flour and egg. 

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

430 calories is a good amount for the average lunch or dinner depending on what other foods you are throughout the day. 

If you only had a light breakfast and high protein and low-calorie lunch, a Banh Xeo pancake may be the perfect meal to end off your day.

However, if you had a lot of food throughout the day, Banh Xeo mah be very difficult to incorporate into your diet.

77 grams of carbohydrates definitely lingers on the higher carbohydrates range so it might be best to eat Banh Xeo in moderation. 

Since Banh Xeo is typically shared with family and friends, this is the perfect opportunity to eat less of Banh Xeo and stock up on other healthier options available on the table.

By eating half of a pancake, you are reducing your calories to just 200 which gives you more room to eat other foods that are more protein and fiber-rich rather than being heavy in carbohydrates. 

Quite often people focus so much on what they are eating and forget the importance of really controlling how much they are eating.

People tend to underestimate portion sizes so it is important to really make sure you are not eating too much of foods that are high in calories. 

Tip 2: How to Make A Healthier Banh Xeo 

Although Banh Xeo has many ingredients, it is a simple dish that you can make at home.

The benefits of making home-cooked meals is so that you can not only pick and choose your ingredients but it can also further your understanding of calories and nutrition.

By knowing the general calorie count for specific ingredients, this can bring more awareness to what type of foods you are putting in your body and allow you to make better and healthier choices for weight loss. 

Mindful eating and understanding the importance of eating in a calorie deficit are great tools to learn and master to not only successfully lose weight, but maintain it in the long run. 

In this section, we will discuss which ingredients you can swap out for healthier options to make a lower-calorie and healthier version of Banh Xeo that can allow you to maintain a calorie deficit while still satisfying your craving for this delicious and savory Vietnamese pancake.

Pork Belly

Pork Belly is one of the fattiest meats ever and essentially have very little protein and mainly consists of just pure fat.

For every ounce of pork belly, there is only 3 grams of protein and up to 15 grams of fat!

This makes Pork Belly a difficult food to eat an abundance of because for just one ounce of meat you are consuming up to 150 calories. 

By reducing the amount of Pork Belly you add into your Banh Xeo or completely cutting it out, this can significantly reduce the number of calories in your Banh Xeo.

Instead, stick with the shrimp as the main source of meat since it is a super lean protein that is the ideal fit for your diet.

Fish Sauce

Whenever you are eating out or at home, for any dish that has sauce or dressing, order your dressing or sauce on the side.

The calories in sauce and dressing tend to be neglected but are often the most calorically dense ingredient in the whole dish!

This is why when people eat a “healthy salad” and wonder why they are not losing weight, it is quite often due to the fact that they are dumping extremely highly caloric and fatty dressings such as ranch into their food.

If you are pairing your Banh Xeo with fish sauce, try not to drizzle the sauce over your pancake and leave it on the side.

To limit your sauce intake, a great tip is to dip your fork into the sauce first and then pair that with a piece of the Banh Xeo.

This is usually just enough sauce to add some flavoring to your dish while significantly reducing the number of additional calories you are adding to your meal.

Vegetable or Cooking Oil

Pan-frying your Banh Xeo requires you to use oil which is one of the biggest hidden calories that is often not counted into people’s daily calorie consumption.

Oil is one of the highest calorically dense foods out there with up to 120 calories in just one tablespoon! 

A great investment is to get a cooking oil spray that helps you significantly reduce the amount of oil you are using while still properly preparing your pan to fry your sizzling pancake.

This is just enough to make sure that your Banh Zeo does not stick to your pan and will take away any of the excess calories you were going to add to your meal.

For the other ingredients, which are a bunch of bean sprouts and herbs, don’t be afraid to add more of these into your Banh Xeo.

Vegetables are a great addition to your meal because they are super voluminous and low-calorie foods.

Packed with fiber, eating a ton of vegetables is the easiest way to get full fast and stay satiated and energized for the rest of the day. 

Tip 3: Understand How Many Calories You Need to Eat to Lose Weight

To truly lose body fat, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

Your TDEE consists of your resting metabolic rate, energy used up during daily activity, and the energy needed to digest and swallow food. 

Your specific TDEE can be calculated by several free online TDEE calculators, but keep in mind that this is just an estimate.

Using this number is a great starting point to figure out how much you need to be eating to maintain a caloric deficit, but it is up to you to make slight adjustments if you are not seeing any progress. 

Start off by eating around 200-300 calories less than your TDEE, and within a week or two you should start to see a decrease in weight.

If you don’t, try slowly lowering your calories by 100 until you start to see results. 

However, don’t drastically reduce your calories because this can be dangerous and can lead to insatiable cravings which eventually result in overeating and weight gain.

Remember that weight loss is not a race and requires patience and consistency in order to successfully stay fit. 

This is a learning process that requires you to be dedicated and all you need to do is properly watch your nutrition, exercise, and trust the process.

Fast results often lead to easier regaining in weight, so take it slow and you will thank yourself in the future because you are able to maintain your newfound healthy body weight! 

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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