Job Discussion Forums

[Baba Alex]

[Baba Alex]

[ghost]

Turkish diet can be quite sensible if you emphasize certain foods which are readily available and avoid others (which are also unfortunately available).

Some steps to a better Turkish diet:

1. Avoid this silly obsession/habit with drinking those small glasses of tea all day. If sugar is added, that is a lot of sugar in one day, because many Turks consume tea almost all day.....that is a ridiculous amount.

2. Go for simple meals like the beans (fasulye) with bread, a side salad (which is usually complimentary anyway).

3. Yes, the Pides and Lahmajuns are delicious, but probably too high in fat content, especially the Pides, and all the other Eastern Turkish dishes which come with massive doses of meats, with added sauces.

4. Avoid drinking soda with meals. Those cans of coke really add on the pounds, and it is not healthy anyway. Stick to water and some Ayran.

5. If you eat D�ner Kebabs - restrict yourself to one or two a week, and not everyday, like a few TEFLERS appear to do.

6. Yes - make the most of the Turkish breakfast - one of the best in the world. Have an egg, some bread with low fat cheese and honey. If you eat a good breakfast every day, you will not eat those yummy Turkish things later in the day.

7. Establish good relationships with your local merchants to buy fruits and other groceries.

8 Learn to cook healthy Turkish meals, such as those chick peas with other vegetables, using olive oil.

9. Forget all those delicious �lker chocolates and other treats that you find everywhere. Buy bananas and bread, and fruits for snacks, if desperate. But if you eat three 'squares' a day, you will not need the snacks.

Last of all - exercise - at least 45 minutes per day - and there is no excuse for not doing at least 45 minutes a day - no one works that much in Turkey anyway. The emphasis should be on aerobic exercise, like power walking (use those hills and pump your arms, don't worry about what the Turks think of you, they will be dead when you are still going strong thanks to this exercise), jogging (try to find soft surfaces), cycling and swimming. Ghost is on 1.5-2.0 hours per day in Korea, divided into lunchtime sessions in the Institute gym, and evening sessions cycling, running, swimming. You can read books and learn languages while on an exercise bike - ghost does it, multi tasking is a good way to 'kill two birds with one stone.' Aerobic exercise does not need to be high intensity the whole time, but rather at a level which taxes you but not too much. This is proved in physiological tests which show that even low intensity aerobic exercise if done regularly can help maintain low weight and reduce cardiovascular potential illnesses.

Ghost in Korea (Top 'thin nation' in the world, with Japan)

Ghost has a BMI of 20.7. Check your BMI online - reality check.

[Baba Alex]

Yeah, you tell 'em Ghost.

Weak humans, they deserve punishment.

*washes down 5 Taksim burgers with a can of Efes Extra*

[Golightly]

Ghost is our diet and exercise councellor. The Mr. Motivator of the Turkey Forum.

[Baba Alex]

[yaramaz]

God forbid.

[justme]

It's probably better than being American.

If anything, you get gravy on your fries in Canada.

[Baba Alex]

[yaramaz]

And cheese curds! Don't forget the cheese curds! Covered in gravy! Can't have those here- aren't curds forbidden on fries? Something to do with the pkk (peynir komunist kulubu)

[batukhan]

After listening to ghosts excruciating post. I would recommend that he eat a bowl of prunes, ciğ kofte, corn and check his healthy BM (bowel movement) rate.

[tarte tatin]

If Ghost really checks his bowel movements he will discover why the carbs are not making him fat. Korean rice and noodles are hard to digest and the body passes them out in much the same form as they went in (sorry if this is too much information folks!).

I agree Koreans are slim (although you can find some tubbies as well) but Ghost should not be too deluded about the Korean diet. That red chilli paste they put in everything is probably high in sodium and sugar. The soups and stews are also oily.

The rice is not very flavoursome so you probably consume less than you would Turkish rice and as I say, the body does not assimilate that sticky rice very well.

I also found fresh fruit and vegetables to be expensive in Korea and the vendors would not sell small quantities so after 36 hours much of it was covered in fruit flies and spoiling.

I was not slim in Korea but slimmer than in the UK and part of the reason was the food was such hard work to eat I could never be bothered to finish it. Those slippery noodles in soup were so difficult to eat during my short dinner break, trying to keep my clothes clean was just too much effort.

The snack food in Korea is not terribly tempting, some starchy stuff on sticks in chilli sauce, dried squid (ok but you can only eat so much) or silkworm larvae - easy to resist.

Korean homecooking is delicious and probably balanced but restaurant fayre relies on cheap ingredients and the food the school ordered in for us consisted of a lot of deep fried pork and chicken.

I personally think I am better nourished in Turkey, no fatter, although my stomach felt better in Korea I have to admit. Turkish cooking gives me terrible stomach cramps.

Anyway Ghost glad you are in shape and getting benefits from life in the Land of Morning Calm.

[ghost]

Ghost does not eat out very much. Mostly home cooking in Korea, with the main staples being the 'usual suspects' - pasta, rice, beans, tuna fish, bread, fruits, salads. Ghost does have a weakness for cheese (continental kind) and uses that for protein, in addition to tofu, and eggs. The fruit prices are outrageous in Korea - 5 oranges for around $8.00 U.S. dollars.

When ghost eats out in Korea, it usually selects a rice dish with an egg on top, kimchi and radish as a side dish. Simple with all the essential food nutrients.

Ghost also frequents an Uzbekistani restaurant, which caters to Uzbek workers in Korea. There, the ghost can relish a hearty home made soup, real bread, salad, and Russian style tea. The uzbek workers are somewhat mystefied as to why a teacher with an obviously decent salary would wish to eat in such a modest and unpretentious place. Ghost just smiles and says 'Salam Aleykum' to the Uzbek guys, who send most of their Korean wages home to their impoverished families. The uzbek people seem to practice a modest form of Islam, because their women are quite 'forward' in the way they address foreigners, but ghost is on its guard because some of the guys have a gangster like demeanor and ghost would not want to get on their bad side.

Dominoes Pizza in Korea is ridiculously expensive - around $22.00 U.S for a medium sized pizza.

There are loads of restaurants in Korea where you can eat for between $4.00 to $5.00 U.S. but you have to be wise in your selections. The side dishes are free (kimchi and radish). Ghost prefers to avoid most soups in Korea, because the sodium content is ridiculous in Korea. If it selects a soup it will be spinach soup. The seaweed is also good.

Ghost prefers the Turkish fare, but concedes that Korea also has some tasty dishes - but the difference is that Korea also has a lot of simply awful dishes as well - whereas in Turkey, basically everything is good - even though some of the stuff may also be unhealthy (in Turkey) - especially those delicious cheese and meat Pides, and other Eastern Turkish dishes heavy on meats and sauces.

Ghost in Korea

[tarte tatin]

Ghost, have you noticed any similarities between Korea and Turkey? On the face of it I expected them to be quite different, religion, food etc. but I have also encountered some striking similarities:

Family culture - son often staying at home with parents after marriage
Weddings - mainly an exchange of cash (and gold in Turkey)
General lack of forward planning
Queue jumping and barging in public spaces
Not calling older people by first name, even siblings
Shoes off indoors
Putting fork or chopsticks into communal dishes
High noise level, car horns, election campaigns etc.
Nosy questions
No need for personal space
Willingness to pick up a stranger in car
Tactile with members of same sex
Old ladies going on weed collecting expeditions in groups
Gardeners only growing vegetables, not flowers

and so on....

[ghost]