Korean Job Discussion Forums

kiwiliz · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Location: New Zealand

Hi,
Since I came to Korea I seem to have put on weight which is odd as I had been told Korean food is healthy and I eat Korean food for lunch at the primary schools I teach at. I then find I am not terribly hungry at dinner and eat a sandwhich or a salad.

I also walk heaps, and at a reasonable pace, and go uphills when I can.
So why am I putting on weight?

I am wondering if its the salt. I never cooked with salt at home, only having it on the occassional fish and chips and potato crisps. You actually get enough in bread. Can it be the salt making me retain fluids? Sad

and if so..does anyone know what I can take to help reduce the fluid levels? or any other idea? My clothes are getting tight! and I don't want to buy new ones!!!

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

kiwiliz · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Location: New Zealand

Thats just it..I don't snack. if I do want something its fruit but I find if I eat Korean food for lunch I am not hungry for much and only want a light meal because I should..and yet the clothes are tight!

I am watchful of what I eat. And I don't drink beer either.

cornie_man · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Location: Sparkling in Korea

Then maybe it's muscle from all all that hill walking, assorted exercise etc, you are doing...

Colorado · Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:32 pm Post subject:

Get thee to a Gymnasium!

I lost 20 kilos when I moved to Thailand, but have gained it all back in Korea and I don't even like Korean food. I started going to the gym and cutting back on fast food. It's my new hobby. The progess is slow but the alternative is too ugly to contemplate. Good luck.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

[quote="kiwiliz"]Hi,
Since I came to Korea I seem to have put on weight which is odd as I had been told Korean food is healthy and I eat Korean food for lunch at the primary schools I teach at.

When did you come to Korea? i.e are you still relatively 'new' here? I ask this because I see you mention primary schoolS (plural). I visit several schools on a rotational basis, and find that because I'm so infrequently at the same school the kitchen staff treat me as though I'm new, and a 'visitor', and heap up the food on my tray, way over and above what the Korean teachers get. When I was newly arrived I thought it was impolite to not eat it all, (especially because all the Koreans watch me intently every lunchtime to see what/how I eat Evil or Very Mad

) and initially gained heaps of weight. But now I just eat the side dishes and a little of the rice and turf the rest out, and couldn't care less what the Korean teachers think.
Since then I haven't lost any weight (because I don't agree with exercise Wink

) but I have stopped stacking it on.

semphoon · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: Where Nowon is

Is the weight fat or muscle? When people say "I've put on weight" they usually mean fat.

How much excercise do you do? How often do you drink beers? Do you snack at night?

Here's so good advice - sprint up a hill and walk back down. Repeat until you vomit. 2 or 3 days later, do it again. Repeat until you are superman.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

It could be the beer. I have a theory that they put something in the beer to fatten people up. When I went back to Canada for three weeks and drank Canadian beer, I lost a lot of weight.

canuck in Ansan · Joined: 27 Jul 2005

My theory is that the rice makes many people (especially women) gain weight.. I think the koreans are just used to it, their metabolisms have been handling it since they were kids, eating it for 3