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rainism
Joined: 13 Apr 2011
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 Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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| No_hite_pls wrote: |
Back home I ran 5 miles a day and lifted weights at a beautiful gym with great pool (five of seven days a week), here I hike a mountain about three days a week. I ate at least one FRESH green vegetable a day back home green beans, asparagus, spinach. Here the quality of vegetables is lacking and they are crazy expensive.
When I go to the gym here people stare at me working out, touch my muscles, wander why am I sweating. It's just not that comfortable working out in Korea.
There are many things I love about Korea but I wouldn't call this place healthy. Sure on average Koreans eat a lot less fat than Americans but North Americans can chose to eat very very healthy if they want too. In Korea it is much more difficult to get really healthy foods than in North America. If you never left your car and were obese back home you will probably lose weight. Average westerners or unversity educated westerns will not fine Korea that healthy. There are a lot meals that consist of pickled vegetables, bleached white rice and low protein fatty meats in Korea. |
oh you are 100% correct.
BUT!
Americans can ALSO choose to eat FAR FAR less healthy if they want (and we usually do, the unhealthy stuff is often delicious and far far far more convenient. It's EVERYWHERE.
that's a major part of the problem for ME.
and as noted previously, in America, I can pork up a little without feeling too self conscious because I'm surrounded by fatsos every which way. |
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laynamarya
Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Location: Gwangjin-gu
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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I lost a ton of weight when I first arrived (20-ish pounds) and maybe a couple more since my mother-in-law started giving me organic veggies from the farm and well meaning advice.
I eat maybe an 80% Korean diet (my husband is Korean), and I am just not a huge fan of the Korean college student diet (kim-bap, ramyeon, and ddeokbokki), so it works out. Koean food can definitely be unhealthy, though. I've seen how much corn syrup goes into some of those side dishes. |
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gem
Joined: 06 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| I pretty much only ate Korean food, threw out most of the rice and lost 15 lbs after 3 months. Just in time for summer. One of the few positives that came out of my trip to Korea. |
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rainism
Joined: 13 Apr 2011
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:44 am Post subject: |
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| gem wrote: |
| I pretty much only ate Korean food, threw out most of the rice and lost 15 lbs after 3 months. Just in time for summer. One of the few positives that came out of my trip to Korea. |
so you essentially went on the starvation diet.
no wonder  |
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Whitey Otez
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: The suburbs of Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:45 am Post subject: |
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I gained a bit. I eat more whole foods in Korea and far fewer Big Gulps.
I guess the difference is that in America I drank microbrews and could comfortably afford a six-pack every week or so, and in Korea I drink about 17 beers on a Saturday night and maybe three or four on Wednesdays. Plus I never found a gym in any of my neighborhoods that was a supportive environment. That may be an excuse, though. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Modernist wrote: |
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| You should lose weight when you come to Korea - if you stick to a Korean diet. |
Another kimchi-hugger!
Amazingly, as soon as a plate of Korean food is placed in front of me, I suddenly lose whatever appetite I had. So I guess that would work. In my case it would result in starvation, however.
I haven't ever weighed more than 140 lbs [I'm ~5'9"] since at least high school. No matter what I eat I never gain any weight.
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| However, it seems that a lot of the Americans on here just can't live without their cheap Tex-Mex or pizzas. |
I can, in fact, but given the choice between disgusting Korean food and basically anything else, I will take the latter. Luckily I have access to Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Indian [plus a good amount of 'cheap pizza' and other fast food, though unfortunately no Taco Bell] relatively near my home. |
If you don't speak the language, can't read hanguel, and don't know the names of any dishes, it's kind of hard to go for Korean food. That was my problem my first several months here. Only food that's recognizable is chicken, pizza, etc. Small kitchens make cooking a nightmare. After that going to restaurants and discovering things was cool. But had already gained the weight by then. Maybe it's different in Seoul. |
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blm
Joined: 11 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| rainism wrote: |
| gem wrote: |
| I pretty much only ate Korean food, threw out most of the rice and lost 15 lbs after 3 months. Just in time for summer. One of the few positives that came out of my trip to Korea. |
so you essentially went on the starvation diet.
no wonder |
It was similar for me but entirely unintended.
I just couldn't eat that much plain boiled rice and found even a small amount quite filling. |
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Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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First I gained weight and then I lost it all plus a bit extra. I gained because I was eating too much Korean food, which was provided by the school. I lost after I changed jobs and no longer had the opportunity to shovel a massive load of rice and fatty meat bits soaked in corn syrup into my face every day.
In normal situations I don't have any problem resisting but when it comes to free food I have NO self-control. |
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alwaysgood
Joined: 15 Aug 2011
Location: Changwon
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| I lost a couple of pounds at first. Then I gained weight my second year, due to eating out, beer, and getting delivery food often. Pizza School being next door didn't help. These days I eat healthier and am about 10 lbs lighter than when I came (165 down from 175 lbs) |
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gem
Joined: 06 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:25 am Post subject: |
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| rainism wrote: |
| gem wrote: |
| I pretty much only ate Korean food, threw out most of the rice and lost 15 lbs after 3 months. Just in time for summer. One of the few positives that came out of my trip to Korea. |
so you essentially went on the starvation diet.
no wonder |
D@mn straight up!  I had little options so I embraced the diet changes and after a while, my appetite shrank altogether. My main coteacher was practically skeletal too- certainly not someone who cared if I ate even a grain of rice. She tossed most of it out each day and so did I.
Honestly, I complained alot to my friends over skype that I was starving. I try to ignore food as much as possible when it's hot any way, no matter where I am. I must admit that it was a he!!uva lot easier to do in Korea though. |
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weebil
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| Most people gain weight here. There is huge lack of FRESH vegetables here and little variety. |
lol, no. |
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jazblanc77
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| Yes, every single foreigner loses weight in Korea. I know because I am omniscient. |
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ATM SPIDERTAO
Joined: 05 Jul 2009
Location: seoul, south korea
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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can't speak for women, but i've noticed korean girls have FAT legs... like i didn't really care about girls with nice legs before but korean girls have some nasty fat legs. even tho their upper bodies look pretty decent. so i would have to imagine that it's hard for girls to keep a nice weight going on because of the smaller portions and high carbohydrate intake. and if they're dieting, they're probably doing it incorrectly and making the body think it is starving instead of getting it to burn the fat. so what happens when u eat that bowl of rice? your body converts 100% of it into fat. so u get FAT
i was a pretty athletic, muscular type. at 215lbs at 6'1" when i got here in 2008
after like a year and i half, i got down to 185. that's 30 pounds of both muscle and fat. and i looked like a puny, regular asian guy
now i'm back up to 200 lbs and with it, a lot of fat from this stupid high carb diet. i dont' look fat but if i bend over without a shirt on, there's rolls baby haha
so ya, i would say for GUYS, it's pretty damn easy to lose weight. especially if you worked out before. gym buddy for a more intense workout, eating out with gym buddies, actually able to buy what u wanna eat = BEEFCAKE
here, i'm surprised if i stay at the gym for even 45 minutes. it's SOOOO BORING |
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