Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stvwrd]

I've seriously got to get rid of my belly that I've been having an epic battle with for the last ten years. I exercise regularly and eat decently (don't count calories, but stay away from fast food... bring my own lunch most days), but my weight/body fat doesn't seem to budge. Neither does my cholesterol which is the more serious problem I guess.

I've looked at South Beach diet, Adkins, etc, but all seem fairly impossible to do living in Korea. I'm giving some thought to the Abs diet though, even though I don't really expect to ever see my abs, but I read Men's Health a lot and they're always pimping it. It seems fairly doable just because of its simplicity.

They are pretty generous with info on the website:

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=weight.loss&category=abs.diet&conitem=a72a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____&page=1

It seems like it would be simple enough to get translations of the 12 power foods into Korean and just stock up...

Might go ahead and get the book too. Thoughts?

[Guri Guy]

I am on a form of that diet. However I also go to the gym and work out regularly. I take a multivitamin and always bring 2 litres of water to work which I drink over the day.

I eat oatmeal for breakfast with protein powder mixed in. It may be an aquired taste but I quite enjoy it now.

I eat an egg for a mid morning snack everyday. The green tea egg flavoured ones you can buy at the convience stores are excellent. At 65 calories with 6.5 grams of protein they are excellent.


I eat lunch at my school but I try and limit the rice and load up on vegetables and have some soup.

For a mid afternoon snack I eat another egg and 23 (one serving size) almonds and maybe an apple or decent sized carrot.

Before I go to the gym I drink some low fat milk or orange juice and maybe a triangle kimbap along with some protein powder.

After working out I have some more protein powder and then go to a seafood restaurant and eat Cham chi Hwae (Tuna Sushi). 8000 won.
Sometimes I will go to the roast chicken place by my apartment. 6000 won/chicken or 10000 won for 2. I don't eat the skin of course.

With this diet I am rarely hungry since I am eating every three hours. My carb intake is not too high and I get enough protein to build muscle. I don't drink much besides water except green tea. I allow myself one cheat item a week. A Baskin and Robbins yoghurt cone thingee for 3500 won is what I really like.

My body fat is below 10% now (I think I was around 20% when I came to Korea originally) and I have the old six pack back. I feel great. I have lots of energy and I feel mentally sharper. I don't drink or smoke either so maybe I am a little boring.
Men's health is an excellent read and the diet is good. You can definitely do something like it in Korea. If you have any questions PM me.

[maeil]

Hi, just one thing about your post stuck out at me, Guri guy, and that was the eggs.

I agree, eggs are a great way to get protein for not too many calories, but the problem with them is cholesterol. If you're eating 2 eggs a day, you're eating about 140% of the cholesterol you should be getting in a day. Sorry to say it. Here's the link: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c201t.html

(A really great website.)

I'm sure you know this, so I'm just posting it for general information... all of the protein is in the white of the egg, and all the fat and cholesterol is in the yolk. I eat a lot of eggs, but I try only to allow myself a few yolks a week.

A good way to eat eggs is to hard boil them, and just use the white in a salad or something, or make an egg white omelet with a lot of veggies. Yummy.

[in_seoul_2003]

...

[stvwrd]

Guri:

For your workouts do you do the circuit training suggested for the Ab Diet?

I've been doing primarily a lot of weight training, but my knees are in terrible shape (I'm just 28 but my knees are in their 70s it seems...), so I basically do upper-body lifting, working out opposing groups back-to-back with no reps between sets, and just a minute or two between changing exercise groups (similar to super-sets I guess?).

The past week I've been switching it up to cardio. Truth is, I've got a ton of muscle already, it's just hiding. My goal isn't to be one of those big musclely guys, I just want to be lean and healthy. I guess I can afford to lose some muscle if it will help me cut fat quicker. My body fat's at 28%. I'm weighing in at 123kg (down just 1.5 kg from when I started working out again like 3 months ago).

Generally I work out over my lunch break, which gives me just 25-30 minutes to work out, but I can do it 3-4 times a week. Plus my co-worker is giving me private Judo lessons on Monday mornings before work in exchange for teaching his son English once a week.

I'm thinking of also joining the boxing club near my subway station and going in the evenings/weekends 2-3 times a week. I did MMA training a couple years ago and remember that the boxing workout was wonderfully intense, even though I thought the grappling was more interesting.

I think I eat fairly healthy. I didn't know egg yolks had THAT much cholesterol, thanks maeil, I'll start cutting back on the yolks. I've totally cut out fast food. I eat a lot of chicken breasts, don't eat white bread, don't eat sweets (except occasional dark chocolate). I have a drink about once a week. [EDIT: should have said "I drink about once a week" I do drink more than I should when I'm with friends. I enjoy a single glass of wine in the evenings occasionally, but I think that's okay]

But... something in my equation just isn't adding up. Think I need to start keeping a food diary or something.

[oxfordstu]

The men's health link doesn't work, at least on my computer here at school. I get re-directed to this site:

http://cleani.busanedu.net/

[maeil]

I have a question for you guys... how do you get your body fat percentage? Do you use one of those special scales?

I'd kind of like to know what mine is. I'm in fairly good shape, though I know I need to increase muscle (especially in my upper body), but mostly these days I'm focusing on trying to lose about 5 kilos before I go home in November. I'm doing it through morning cardio for 45 minutes, plus stretching and some toning (squats, pushups etc). Three protein and veggie heavy meals, two snacks, no food past 8, and 30 minutes of evening cardio. Oh, 2 liters of water a day as well.

I've only been on this plan for a few weeks, and though I haven't seen any results yet, I feel fantastic. I guess that's a start, right?

[stvwrd]

The gyms usually have these scales with hand grips that sends a very slight electric current through your body measuring... resistance I guess?

I don't have all that much confidence in their accuracy. Best way to do it is to just buy calipers and do it yourself, which I would do if I knew where to find them. Maybe they can be found on mass119.co.kr?

Okay, so, I haven't really looked all that hard for them either, I admit.

[rawiri]

Diets don't work. There is no easy way to six pack glory, mass cardio and mass isolation of the muscle is the only way you will get there.

[maeil]

You're right, rawiri, diets don't work, but a lifestyle of healthy eating does. I'm not so much dieting as I am trying to change my eating habits.

I don't go to the gym, nor can I imagine I'll spend any time looking for those calipers, so I guess I'll just focus on what I'm doing. I'm not looking for a 6-pack (I'm a woman, anyway), just some more toning and a smaller pair of jeans.

[oxfordstu]

[JJJ]

Quickest way to a flat belly....get food poisoning.

I lost 10 kg in one day, which was one of the worst experiences in my life.
But...damn I looked good the next day. My stomach was flat again and I was back to my university weight. I put back 3 kg and I never want that spare tire to come back. Anywho, painful but quick way to beautiful abs.

[oxfordstu]

[Wrench]

Diet works just fine. Diet is the term for your daily eating. You can adjust diets to any form you wish. I have had great result on low carb diet.

[oxfordstu]

Yeah but I've found that a low carb diet is near impossible in Korea. Every meal is served with either rice or noodles.