Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bloopity Bloop]

What's your excuse for being overweight?

As someone who used to be about 265 at my heaviest, I am now a fit 180 at 6'1". All the weight loss came BEFORE my arrival in Korea (been the same weight for almost 5 years now--arrived in Korea 3 years ago).

Obviously, my path to 265 precludes me from possessing those magical genes that keeps some of those people you know skinny as a rail despite scarfing down pizzas and hamburgers all day every day. I actually have inherited my mom's propensity to gain weight relatively quickly.

I will say though that since changing my lifestyle towards my senior year in high school, losing those 85 pounds of fat (I've actually gained muscle) wasn't all that hard. I don't enjoy my life, food-wise, all that much less than what I did. I certainly feel MUCH, MUCH better about myself and have infinitely more energy than I used to. That makes up for any of the very small sacrifices I had to make to get in shape.

So, bloopity bloop, how DID you lose that weight?

Honestly, the first step was cutting out soda. I used to drink a few cans a day. I got it down to a can or two a week and I dropped 20 pounds pretty quickly. I also started riding this old stationary bike my parents had lying around our house collecting dust for the better part of a decade. A few months on that at an hour or 2 a day while watching TV/playing video games and I shed another 25 or so. I had fun doing it, too. If you're into what you're watching or playing or reading, you won't even feel like you're working out. You'll be surprised at how rapidly you will lose weight with a slightly better diet and some sweat loss.

Over a period of three years or so, the weight just came off. I tended to avoid fried foods more than once or twice a week, but I still gorged myself on buffets more than your avg. human being (3-4 times a week). I've always eaten a LOT. As long as you work out for 45 minutes a day (I'd recommend P90X or GSPs Rush Fitness--saves you time from hitting the gym since I'm assuming fatties don't go due to laziness), you'll keep that weight off and--BOOM--get in shape.

It is ridiculously easy to lose weight and keep it off. My friends always ask me how I can eat seemingly whatever I want and stay fit. Well, once you get down to a healthy weight, as long as you keep working out, eating whatever you want becomes a reality. I had 3 dinners last night (fried chicken and fries, two burritos, and a gyro).

I'd love to help someone change their life like I did with mine. I don't believe in that, "BUT I HAVE BAD GENES" BS. If you're going to approach fitness with that attitude, you deserve to be fat forever. Only like 1 in a few thousand actually have that problem. Most of you either don't care or are just too lazy. I'm telling you it isn't that hard.

So if you have any questions at all, let me know and I'll do my best to help.

[MoneyMike]

I've always wondered just how bad people have to eat to get massively overweight. I mean I eat pretty poorly a lot of the time, yet just a few trips to the gym a week keep me pretty fit. (or at least looking pretty fit hahaha)

I think the reason most people fail at losing weight is that they come at it from the wrong angle. People want to go on a diet and exercise plan, but then quit once they lose some weight. Of course if you go back to eating what you used to and exercising as little as you used to you're eventually going to be back to your original weight.

Good advice to quit the soda. I'd add that juice is almost as bad a lot of the time, and is entirely unnecessary. People really shouldn't be drinking anything other than water, tea, and the occasional coffee.

Oh, and beer. Lots of beer.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I'm 6 pounds overweight. I like cheese. My boobs look awesome, though.

[JustinC]

Good job, Bloopity Bloop for losing all of that weight, it's supposed to be so hard to lose a lot and keep it off. I probably lost 30lbs in a couple months once but it was just a change in diet (no cheese or bread) and a little more walking around. You say you eat a lot but don't give actual amounts or types of food except to say you cut down on fried foods. If you have large helpings then large helpings of what?

Oh wait ... fried chicken and chips, two burritos and .. er, what's a ... oh! ha ha, a doner kebab! Heh. That's a big dinner, bro. You can't be working that amount off every day, surely?

[No_hite_pls]

I eat too much, mostly healthy foods though and I eat when I am stressed. I do exercise a lot too but I am still overweight.

[NilesQ]

Weight gain, like weight loss, is the cumulative effect of incremental change. If you consume more calories than you expend you store the remainder as fat. Do this every day for 10 years, and you'll gain a lot of body fat. Just like how the OP lost 85 lbs over the period of 3 years. He strung together 3 years of days where he expended more calories than he consumed.

As we get older our body's rate of calorie consumption while sedentary decreases. Meaning we need to be aware of exercise and calorie consumption ratios as our metabolic rate changes.

I think a lot of this is mental. The ability to regulate what we eat and stay comitted to physical activity is the most important factor. I've been reading some interesting stuff on the physical reaction to flour and sugar that some people have. This reaction sets off a craving. The same reaction that drug addicts and alcoholics seem to exhibit toward their drug of choice, occurs in the brain of some people when they eat processed sugars and flour. A group called FAA - Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous deals with this issue and recommends abstinance from flour and sugar, in the same way that AAs refrain from drinking alcohol. When I looked further into it, there is a lot of science that backs up the flour and sugar allergy concept. Look into it if you're struggling with weight and cant seem to moderate intake. We rarely hear of someone who struggles with moderating intake of salad or fruit. Eventually they feel full. But many people struggle with controlling ammounts of sugary foods, breads, cakes, and soda. They can abstain more easily than moderate.

[fermentation]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

It's an annoying trade off. I'd like to drop the 6 pounds, but then I'll go down half a cup size. I'll likely drop a few pounds on my vacation home this summer, as I have some sporty things planned (camping and hiking) and do a LOT of walking around the city.

[fermentation]

[waynehead]

My excuse was ignorance. I just never really thought about it, and through my late teens early 20s I just ate whatever, whenever, without any consideration at all for what I was putting in my body.

About 3 years ago something just went off in my mind, and I realized it was now or never for losing weight and getting in shape. I am 5'8 and was about 210 lbs. Over the course of the next year and a half or so I lost about 55 lbs, which is where I've been for the last year and a half.

A lot of what others have mentioned rings true for me, but the big things that made a change in my life:

1) I bought a scale and I weigh myself every morning. Nothing keeps you honest and focused like that.

2) I eat breakfast everyday, without fail. All of that hullabaloo about the most important meal of the day is true: if you eat breakfast, you're much less likely to binge later.

3) I count calories like a maniac (especially when I was dieting). It's simple math: expend more that you take in, and it will come off.

4) I'm not a fanatic about eating healthy all of the time, just most of the time. I let myself have what I want (mostly) on weekends, but it's veggies/tea/diet sodas on weekdays (for the most part). It helps keep me sane, and I've maintained the same weight for almost two years doing so.

5) I try to exercise everyday. Living in Korea, most of us walk a lot more than we would back home, but it still helps to jump rope a few times a week or something.

Good luck to those of you beginning a diet! It can be done, believe me, I was obese for nearly a decade but staying focused and setting reasonable, incremental goals really works.

[Zyzyfer]

I wouldn't consider myself all that overweight but I do have a bit of a beer belly. 6'/183cm and 190lb/87kg.

I actually put on 20lb or so since coming to Korea. Filled out, really. I was pretty scrawny at 170.

Considering the junk meals I eat and the boozing, I'm kind of surprised I don't weigh more. I do a few things, not all on purpose, that I'm sure help with this.

- no soda (or juice), I don't enjoy drinking it aside from with a meal anyway, so I only have soda once or twice a week at most
- no sweets, sugar just isn't my thing, I don't like to regularly eat cakes and cookies and ice cream
- no snacking, just rarely ever think about nibbling on stuff
- relatively moderate portions, I stuff my face sometimes, but as a general rule, I figure out how much of a particular meal will fill me up and stick with that

Exercise is important to being fit at whatever your weight is, and I tend to recommend that over dieting (even to the ladies), but I think sugar, portion sizes, and snacking habits play a major role in weight gain and loss. If I knocked out the beer tomorrow, I'm sure I'd drop to 180 without any effort, but I'd rather turn the fatass 190 into muscle 190 by getting back into exercising.

[Underwaterbob]

My excuse is that I'm only overweight by some measure that doesn't take my 6'5", gangly size into proper consideration. As far as I'm concerned, they can take their BMI calculators and shove 'em. I'm healthy - that's all that matters.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

No excuse but am amused at how SK has warped your brain Have a Big Mac and lighten up

[wishfullthinkng]