How to Lose Weight Eating Thai Food Everyday

After spending over a year in Thailand, I put on a few pounds during that time. As a fitness and nutrition coach, I had to figure out how to lose weight by eating Thai food every day. You may not like the answer….

Plate of tofu, veggies and bowl of curry

You can’t lose weight eating Thai food every day.

If you eat an omelet and rice for breakfast, Pad Thai for lunch, and Pad See Ew for dinner, there is no way you will lose weight. If anything, you will gain weight.

Then why write a post about how to lose weight?

Well, it’s possible IF you follow the following steps, but you need to actually DO the steps. Not just say you will do them, and then do them for a week, and then quit.

Bowl of Khao Soi
Classic Northern Thai Dish, spicy Khao Soi

You are probably asking yourself, “Thai people in their home country eat Thai food every day and most of them do not need to lose weight, so why can’t I eat it every day?”

Well for starters locals in any country eat at home for most of their meals, and you are probably ordering takeout or eating in Thai restaurants. The portion sizes will be larger when dining out. And when cooking at home, less sugar and oil are used in each dish.

But maybe you are traveling through Thailand and you need to save money so that is why you need to eat Pad Kra Pao every day.

Or quite possibly you are just addicted to the fried rice from the Thai takeout place in your neighborhood.

Either way, these are the seven steps to follow if you legitimately want to lose weight eating Thai food every day.

Step 1: Don’t Eat Pad Thai For Every Meal

A plate of pad thai, noodles, egg and vegetables
The Classic Pad Thai

An average order of Pad Thai from anywhere in the world contains 700-970 calories per portion. That’s nearly half of what you need to eat in calories for the entire day.

Unless you are training to be the next strongman, no one needs to eat a 970-calorie meal, that’s just ludicrous.

Plus, it’s high in fat and sugar.

If you still insist on eating Pad Thai every day, ask for the vegetable or tofu option. That version of the dish will at least be lower in calories.

Step 2: Eat Your Veggies

A menu showing stir fry vegetables and thick gravy showing you how to lose weight eating thai food
You know which one to choose

If you are serious about trying to lose weight eating Thai food every day, then channel your inner mom and eat your vegetables. There will always be a vegetarian dish on the menu that you can order.

But don’t choose the one where the vegetables are smothered in the thick gravy sauce (you know better than that).

The sauce is full of MSG and salt, which will just bloat you, making you feel fatter and sad in the end.

Step 3: Avoid Piling on the Sugar

Condiments at a Thai food restaurant to show you how to lose weight eating thai food
Spice, Oil and Sugar

Ever notice when you eat at a Thai restaurant, they offer a little display of condiments? And one of the items is a cute little jar of sugar?

At first glance you notice that it’s brown sugar, so you think, “Oh it must be organic and better than the white stuff, so it must be good for me!”

WRONG.

It’s sugar, it’s still crack, don’t touch the cute baby spoon (aka crack shovel) they provide and pile it on your dish.

The dish most likely already has a couple of tablespoons of sugar in there, so steer clear if you know what is good for you.

Step 4: Exercise intensely

Woman in track suit with crazy face about to run
Please don’t wear this while running

Now when I say, “intensely”, I don’t mean swinging weights around at the gym like an animal. Or try to go for your first run in 15 years without warming up first.

You need to increase the number of calories that you burn throughout the day. Shoveling down Thai food at your work desk and then sitting for 8 hours is not going to do you any good.

Open a gym membership (and use it), or join a group workout with your other Thai food-addicted friends.  If you are traveling use this guide to help you as well.

Just do something to get you moving.  

And FYI for those who hate working out: The more muscle you have on your body the more calories you will burn at night while you are sleeping.

Who doesn’t like to lose weight while lying horizontally?

Step 5: Drink Water

Two people drinking water from plastic bottles
How cute right? No seriously, drink your water.

Yeah, yeah, I know you’ve heard this one before. Avoid sugary drinks and juices, you know the drill.

But if you are eating Thai food every day you are probably super dehydrated anyway from the MSG so do yourself a favor and buy a water bottle that keeps the water cold throughout the day so there are no excuses not to drink it.

My favorite is the Hydro Flask Water Bottle. It comes in different sizes and colors. And if you are heading to the gym to sweat out those spring rolls, get this cap also.

And my favorite tip: Drink water during your meals. Don’t just shovel the Pad Thai down like you haven’t eaten in days. Drinking while eating helps with digestion and tricks your brain into thinking you are full.

I am starting to sound like your mother, so let’s move on.

Step 6: Count your calories

Woman measuring her waistline
She doesn’t eat Thai food every day

Want to know the real secret to how to lose weight by eating Thai food every day?

Drum roll, please.

You need to count your calories. And I can assure you that after one day of plugging in the numbers, you will quickly put that fork down for the second piece of fried chicken.

Each person will have a different calorie goal if they are trying to lose weight.  It all depends on your personal goal, current weight, age, and a bunch of other things that I won’t bore you with.

However, a very broad answer is: consume 1400 calories for females and 1600 calories for men a day, if you are trying to lose belly fat.

Use a calorie-tracking website like Lose It or My Fitness Pal to log your calories. That way you can see how many calories you are shoving in your mouth with each bite of noodles.

And finally, the last step if you want to lose weight eating Thai food every day….

Step 7: If You Refuse to Exercise, the Least You Can Do is Walk Everywhere

Person walking on bridge trying to lose weight eating thai food
Don’t just sit there

Need to go on two flights to visit a coworker? Take the stairs, not the elevator.

Need to go to the supermarket to buy toilet paper and it’s 5 blocks away? Walk, don’t take your motorcycle.

These steps seem obvious but there are plenty of people who are lazy and move as little as possible. But if you want to lose weight eating Thai food every day, then get moving.

At the very least, the next time you pick up your phone or tap your fingers on your keyboard to order some Thai takeout, get off your butt and pick it up from the place instead of getting it delivered.

Baby steps, right?

Love Thai food but need to lose weight while traveling? These tips will help you eat healthy while traveling, can you guess what's the best tip?

Monthly Newsletter!
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Follow along as I navigate the world with my passion for travel and fitness.
Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

11 thoughts on “How to Lose Weight Eating Thai Food Everyday”

    • Great idea! I have a problem with spicy food so that has been a challenge for me since moving here, hence the pad thai coonsumption haha

      Reply
    • Yes, agreed! As I was writing it in Thailand it reminded me of all the other foods it could work for… pizza, chinese, the list goes on haha

      Reply
  1. Nice article. I am living in chiang mai and have just been cooking at my apartment up until now.

    I weight lift and do 5km jogs regularly but it is just not enough. I’m still consuming more than I am burning somehow.

    When i cook, my portion sizes are too big i think. The last few days i decided to only eat thai food for lunch and dinner (boiled eggs on toast for breakfast).

    so my new plan is to work out 3-4times a week at the gym/ jogging and eat thai food. Khao soi, green curry, kaâo pàt gà prao. Will avoid the pad Thais though!

    Part of the new routine in the evening is to drive my bike and park about 850 metres from the food stall. So that’s 1.7km walking and eating healthy every day.

    I hope this works. Sick of being fat!!

    Reply
    • This is all a great plan! Try to use a food log app also and stick to the 1400 calories to really jump start the loss. Good luck and keep up the good work!

      Reply
  2. So, like other people, I found this because I typed something like “will eating pad thai everyday make me fat” into google. I’m in Bali right now, but it doesn’t really matter where I am, I just want pad thai. Everyday. The difference is that in Bali I can AFFORD to have it everyday. Oi vey.

    This was a good thing for me to read though, because I have started to panic. Not that this is the healthiest routine, but I usually exercise twice a day (strength in the morning and yoga in the evening) and breakfast is usually a cup of muesli with almond milk and then I usually skip lunch in anxious anticipation of an early pad thai dinner. I’ll probably still get a little fatter while I’m here but… well… I think it might be worth it.

    Reply
    • Hi Sarah! Yes, it was really hard for me as well with the greasy noodles. Twice a day and that little of food however does sound like you are not eating enough actually, so your body is not getting what it needs for the exertion and going into fight mode by not allowing you to lose any body fat. I would track your calories, for weight lose, aim for 1400 calories. If you feel like you are not getting enough food with all of your workouts, I would increase your calorie count. Good luck and eat those fruits and veggies!!!

      Reply

Leave a Comment

Join me online