How to eat rice and still lose weight

For most of us a meal is not a meal without rice. The good news: you can keep it. What matters is how much, and what you eat with it.

Start with half a cup

One cup of cooked white rice is about 205 kcal. Many people eat two or three cups at lunch without noticing. Ask for half a cup, or use a smaller bowl at home. Going from two cups a meal to one saves roughly 400 kcal a day — that alone can mean about 0.4 kg less a week.

Fill the rest of the plate

• Half the plate: vegetables — kangkong, pechay, sitaw, ampalaya, a clear soup like tinola or sinigang.
• A quarter: protein — grilled fish, chicken without skin, eggs, tofu.
• A quarter: rice.

Eat it in the right order

Start with soup and vegetables, then protein, and leave the rice for last. You will feel full sooner and want less of it.

Swap the type, sometimes

Brown rice has about the same calories but more fiber, so it keeps you full longer. Garlic fried rice has about 95 kcal more per cup than plain rice — keep it for weekends.

All tips