I moved to Indonesia in April 2015. I weighed 130 pounds, and I was by no means heavy at all or trying to lose weight. I don't even have a before or after photo. It just happened, and before I knew it, I was 115 pounds. So, I would like to share the details about how it happened Maybe losing weight is not as complicated as we think! By the way, this weight-loss occurred before Ramadan!
So, what is the Indonesian diet?
Ok there is no diet per say. But there are tips that I picked up from Indonesia, and I include my own tips, too.
1. VEGETABLES VEGETABLES VEGETABLES
Indonesians love their vegetables and the best part is, they prepare them in such delicious ways. Vegetables stews and curries are generally eaten every day and make up the majority of their meal. Indonesians also prepare a lot of fried vegetables, which admittedly I enjoyed eating, just not every day.
2. SPICES SPICES SPICES
You wanna reduce how much you eat? Make it spicy. Indonesian food can be quite spicy, this is really a method to prevent bacteria from surviving, but on the plus side, spicy food kills your hunger! So throw a few habaneros or chili peppers in your next meal, and you will find that you are more satiated and won't even be able to finish sometimes.
3. WATER WATER WATER
This one we all kinda know already, but I'm gonna reiterate with my experience. Often I'd be in the middle of production and feel hunger coming on and normally if food were around I would eat, but I found that my hunger was just coming from dehydration (it's very hot in Indonesia), so when I just started gulping some water down my hunger would subside. Fill up on water, not on calories.
I'm just not sure if I believe the 6 small meals per day plan or snack snack snack to keep you from overeating. When I was at my heaviest, I had a job that kept me running around all day, and all I did was snack instead of sitting down properly and enjoying a square meal. I have stopped snacking and enjoy 2 square meals and day, and I have found even my sweet tooth cravings have subsided and I credit this to the majority of my weight-loss.
5. EAT LESS MEAT
Indonesians, in general, cannot afford to eat a lot of meat, so they mainly fill up their plates with rice and vegetables. If they do have meat it is chicken or fish and its only one small piece, basically nothing in comparison to the amount we eat! Also, red meat is something they only eat once a week or at special occasions.
6. DON'T EAT LATE & EAT A LIGHT BREAKFAST
Have your last meal 5-6 hours before you sleep. Letting your body fast and rest will shrink your stomach and keep you from feeling hungry all the time. When you wake up, eat a light breakfast. Your digestive enzymes aren't completely awake and active to be digesting a large breakfast. Generally, Indonesians have coffee and toast or a vegetable porridge and fruit. Simple and light is the way to go.
7. DON'T EXERCISE SO MUCH
This one might seem a little bit controversial, but I am gonna include this because I have to admit, I used to exercise a lot, only to wind up eating everything in sight after. Since being so busy with work, I have reduced my exercising but with that reduced my hunger, so it evened itself out.
CONCLUSION
In short, I believe that weight-loss simply is calories in versus calories out and finding ways to tame food cravings. Just discipline yourself not to eat too much and snack, and don't exercise so much and be obsessed! Try following these tips to let your stomach shrink, and you will find that you're not always hungry. Let me know how you go!
