eat instant noodles and still lose weight?

Let’s talk about our favorite instant noodles today.

A big misconception about instant noodles is that they’re inherently fattening. That eating it means you’re instantly gaining fat. That’s completely untrue. Instant noodles is no different than an apple or banana in terms of food that contains a certain amount of calories. Eating one pack of instant noodles and nothing else throughout the day has zero chance of making you fat regardless of gender, height or weight.

Getting fat only occur when you constantly eat too many calories but that’s not any one particular food’s fault, it’s the fault of all the foods you ate together combined.

So what does that mean?

It means you could include instant noodles in your everyday diet and still lose weight. There’s no need to completely avoid them. One pack a day, one pack every couple of days, 2 packs a week, it all works as long as you’re in a consistent calorie deficit. 

Figuring out a system/schedule that fits you will help your overall weight loss journey cos it’ll be slightly more enjoyable which gives you a higher chance to stick to it.

Let’s break down the numbers.

Typically a pack of Indomie or Maggi is around 340-380kcal. A pack of Shin Ramyun is around 500kcal. Understandable, Shin’s portion size is significantly bigger than Indomie or Maggi. I’m sure the majority of us have been through 2-3 packs of Indomie in one sitting simply cos of how small the portions feel.

So a pack of Shin or Indomie would be 350-500kcal for the day which is super manageable in terms of fat loss cos that at most is 25-35% of your total calories for the day. You still have a lot of calories to spend before hitting your limit. Instant noodle calories aren’t scary at all when you break it down. It’s just like all foods, you gotta plan ahead and be responsible with your portions.

The bulk of calories in instant noodles is in its noodles, not the spice/oil packs. Using half or completely avoiding the spice/oil packs doesn’t significantly change the calories at all, but does change the flavor and enjoyment.

If you’re the type to cook multiple packs at once but not use all the seasoning packs I’d recommend you save them so in the future you could enjoy the instant noodle flavors cooking plain noodles or plain pasta which will be lower calories than instant noodles for the same portion size.

The reason why most instant noodles are much higher calories than regular flour noodles or pasta is cos they’re fried. Pasta/regular noodles at the same serving size as Indomie is roughly only 200ish calories.

Long story short, enjoy your instant noodles. They can 100% be part of your regular diet. In terms of health and weight loss, as long as you’re eating majority nutrient rich foods in your diet and in a consistent calorie deficit, you’ll be able to enjoy the best of all worlds.

Weight loss isn’t a game of “either/or”, it’s about “and”. It’s all about understanding your goals and how to get there, then finding the balance between enjoyment and push.