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Fatter or thinner?
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Did you become fatter or thinner?
gained fat
50%
 50%  [ 6 ]
lost fat
50%
 50%  [ 6 ]
Total Votes : 12

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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 12:14 pm    Post subject: Fatter or thinner? Reply with quote

Did you become fatter or thinner since living in Korea?

I suspect if most were honest, they would answer fatter.

So why is that? Isn't Korean food supposed to be healthier than Western food?

Nearly every lifer I meet is significantly overweight.

Is it more due to drinking or white rice?

I'm thinking Koreans might be better able to metabolize simple carbs. So many of them drink a lot and eat a lot of white rice, yet the average Korean is a lot less overweight than the typical middle aged English teacher living in Korea.
Quote:
High-glycemic foods like baked Russet potatoes (111), white baguette (95), cornflakes (93), white rice (89), pretzels (83), instant oatmeal (83), rice cakes (82), Gatorade (78 ) and French fries (75) induce higher blood glucose levels than ordinary white bread and are best consumed infrequently and in small quantities.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/the-fats-you-dont-need-to-fear-and-the-carbs-that-you-do
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Hokie21



Joined: 01 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I lost quite a bit of weight while living in Korea....about 30 pounds actually and I wasn't that big of a guy to begin with. I walked a lot there and led a pretty active lifestyle which def helped. Regarding diet I ate lots of soups/stews and veggies. Whenever they would give me a side of rice I would eat maybe half of it.

But I agree with your observation, most of the westerners I encountered gained weight while over there. I'm thinking it was due mostly to rice and booze....esp the booze.
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PRagic



Joined: 24 Feb 2006

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've fluctuated, especially when studying full time (read: sitting on my arse too much), but by-and-large living here makes it easier to stay within the bounds of a reasonable weight limit compared to if we lived in the US.

At least it seems like that to me. Tough to say as any time I go back, we're on vacation so everyone wants to power feed us.

I lost a ton of weight when I first moved over, but I was in my 20s, working a lot, and had a better metabolism! Now that I'm pushing 50 and married, we eat home a lot so the crap food is not in the picture.

Plus, and in this I agree with Hokie 21, city living means we walk a LOT more than the typical American in the burbs. Don't suck back the beers like I used to, either.
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Lazio



Joined: 15 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where is: "no significant change"?
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Fallacy



Joined: 29 Jun 2015
Location: ex-ROK

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lazio wrote:
Where is: "no significant change"?
This. Yeah, me too.
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yodanole



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: La Florida

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:43 pm    Post subject: Comparatively ... Reply with quote

One thing is, back home, if you are 5'10" and weigh 350 lbs, you can look around and say "Hey, I'm a lean, mean, twerking machine!"

Here, if you are 6' 2" and 220 lbs, you look around and think "Oh my God, I'm a big, fat slob Sad "

A matter of perspective;
https://spiritualartwork.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/all-about-perspective.jpg
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SeoulNate



Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa

PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

About the same for the last 8-9 years. Every year or two I go through the same 10-ish lbs cycle.
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Junk food in Korea is abundant, easy to obtain, is cheap and tastes good.
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 8:31 am    Post subject: Re: Comparatively ... Reply with quote

yodanole wrote:
One thing is, back home, if you are 5'10" and weigh 350 lbs, you can look around and say "Hey, I'm a lean, mean, twerking machine!"

Here, if you are 6' 2" and 220 lbs, you look around and think "Oh my God, I'm a big, fat slob Sad "

A matter of perspective;
https://spiritualartwork.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/all-about-perspective.jpg


220 is not real heavy for 6' 2".
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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, it is:
http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/ideal_bw_men.htm
Fifty pounds over.
Perhaps you consider yourself "big boned"?
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The Cosmic Hum



Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space

PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

World Traveler wrote:
Actually, it is:
http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/ideal_bw_men.htm
Fifty pounds over.
Perhaps you consider yourself "big boned"?

Or muscular.
Those charts don't acknowledge muscle farmers.
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ghostrider



Joined: 27 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have definitely gained fat- about 30 pounds. I attribute it to feeling bored and miserable much of the time and turning to eating and drinking as an escape. I don't buy all the GI hype about simple carbs. A calorie is a calorie. If you eat more calories than you burn off you'll gain weight.
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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
"There is a growing feeling that we need to go beyond low-fat diets, that was too simplistic a vision," Ludwig said. "Instead, focus on reducing highly processed carbohydrates."

Heavily processed carbohydrates - white bread, white rice and some breakfast cereals, to name a few - make sugar readily accessible, rather than securing it to more healthy elements, like the fiber in an apple. Ludwig said easily absorbable sugar leads to a rapid surge and crash in blood sugar after a meal, which can wreak havoc on weight loss.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/calorie-calorie-harvard-study-compares-popular-weight-loss/story?id=16654506

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnDgbQTJspM
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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Cosmic Hum wrote:
Those charts don't acknowledge muscle farmers.

English teachers do farming on the side? C'mon, man. You are being ridiculous. To have six pack abs at 220 lbs, a person would have to be juiced to the gills. For most, that's not genetically possible- with or without steroids.
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The Cosmic Hum



Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space

PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

World Traveler wrote:
The Cosmic Hum wrote:
Those charts don't acknowledge muscle farmers.

English teachers do farming on the side? C'mon, man. You are being ridiculous. To have six pack abs at 220 lbs, a person would have to be juiced to the gills. For most, that's not genetically possible- with or without steroids.

Not sure how easy it is or isn't for others...at any weight.
But those charts don't take into account muscular weight. Only weight.
To suggest that a person with 25% body fat at 220 is the same as a person with 15% body fat at 220 is ridiculous.

I am not 220. Perhaps 160ish...and ripped.
Cheers
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