having a really hard time abroad (*vent*)

dcole710

The first time I came to Korea I dropped over thirty 30lbs within the first 8 months. I'm assuming it was because my eating habits changed so drastically and I started exercising on a semi-regular basis. There is a really strong drinking culture here but I'm not fond of alcohol so I was able to keep my consumption to a minimum but there were definitely a lot of empty calories wasted. Nevertheless, I was slowly but surely dropping the weight. Then in March I went home for 4 months. It was so good to be home and around all of the food I had missed for two years. But. I was determined not to gain any weight and to work hard to keep losing. I lost about 10 lbs while I was home but it was a struggle simply because there was so much temptation. Almost every morning on the way home from the gym I would end up going to the supermarket walking up and down the aisles delighted by the large selection and amazed that everything was in English! lol I spent a lot of money trying to specially tailor my diet and buy only "healthy" foods.


Now, I'm back in Korea and I have been gaining weight like crazy! I have been back just over a month and I'm sure I've gained over ten pounds based on the way my clothes fit. I'm too terrified to step on a scale. I'd like to blame it on the huge explosion of carbs in my diet (especially white rice and thick noodles, since I don't think I had any the whole time I was home and here they eat rice at least three times a day). But I know it's not just that. I'm still pretty active, I live in a big city and I pretty much walk everywhere, I'm climbing stairs all day, and I joined a gym that is right next door to my apartment building but I haven't been going as frequently as I was when I was home. There's also a big park with a huge track across the street and my friends and I go walking together when it's not so hot. But I eat out at least twice a day. And half the time I have no idea what I'm eating. I am a teacher and I work at a public school so all the teachers eat lunch together. It's kind of buffet style so you fix your own plate. I try to guess and pick things that seem healthy and avoid the fried foods, dessert and too much rice. Koreans in general are small people but boy can they eat! And since I am the ONLY foreigner in the whole school they love to watch my eating habits. If I only take a little rice they assume (and repeatedly ask) that I'm sick or if I skip something another teacher will get up and bring me a plate of everything that I skipped like I was blind and just didn't see it. But all the ways out are considered rude. If someone brings me food and I refuse, it's considered rude. If I stay in my office and don't eat with the other teachers, it's considered rude. I've even tried to explain that I'm on a diet, which you think they would understand since I'm the only fat person in the room, but I'm just told I need to eat MORE rice and MORE kimchi. The new semester starts on Thursday and I am going to start bringing my lunch everyday. But I'm afraid they might expect me to eat my lunch plus the school lunch! No one really brings their own lunch.


Anyway, I have decided to get refocused on my diet. There is a big focus on "well-being" foods here in Korea but, to put it nicely, those foods are not suited to my taste buds. And things that say 'well-being' , quite often are still LOADED with sugar. Veggies are relatively cheap but fruit is expensive (especially when I factor in that I live by myself and it tends to spoil before I can finish it) and so is meat except pork(most Korean meat dishes contain pork). Generally, it is drastically cheaper to eat out than to buy groceries and cook. But I can't be one hundred percent sure of what's in the food, I'm lucky if I even know the basic ingredients since everything is in Korean.


Right now my diet consists of boneless skinless chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, hard boiled egg whites, salads with homemade salad dressing, and almonds. Once I indulged and had some bland but low-cal take-out Korean porridge. But I love food and that's just not gonna cut it for much longer before I crack and go running to the McDonald's around the corner. I miss the variety that was available at home. I mean the variety of diet friendly foods in the supermarket.

And I am surrounded by temptation. I already mentioned the McDonalds around the corner but there is a bakery on the first floor of my apartment building, another bakery two doors down, at the end of the block there is a homemade icecream and waffles shop, a pasta restaurant, 3 fried chicken restaurants, 4 coffee shops(i.e. more cake and other sugary baked goodies), 5 pizza places (including a giant two story Pizza Hut), a convenience store full of snacks in every apartment building, and 2 all you can eat 'international' buffets. This is all within a two block radius. I kid you not. I don't remember the temptation being so great before I left but I also lived in a different neighborhood.

Basically, I frustrated and I really want to reach my goal this time. I feel like my willpower is being tested a hundred times a day. I would love to make all sorts of homemade healthy foods but finding even half the proper ingredients is a challenge.

Any simple ideas and suggestions to add variety so that I am satisfied with the foods I can eat at home would be greatly appreciated. (^ ^)V

hannie75

I love love Korean food. Most of it should be vegetables and rice. Nothing wrong with rice. I grew up having rice 3x daily. Perhaps your body is just re adjusting to being back in Korea. Think positively and dont stress out TOO much or your body will know and resist weight loss. Good luck with everything and will keep an eye out on your food diary

PS:
what about trying brown rice instead of white? I just recently made the change to brown rice, its taken a long time to get used to it but its true what they say. It makes you feel fuller for a longer time. I think just by modifying that you can still eat most of whats out there being served to you at work

Ryhenblue

I would really try and learn to use what you can buy in the markets. Maybe buy some cookbooks or ask your co-workers for some recipes. Traditional Diets are healthier than the western diets and rice is a big part of Asian Traditional Diet. 3 cups of Steamed Rice is only 110g of carbs. If you pair that with lots of vegetables and some protein you'll have a good well rounded diet. I know you said pork was a big meat there but what about seafood? It'll take some getting used to but they do have lots of great healthy food there for you to eat.
As far as eating out it's part of the culture. I would stay away from the more western restaurants and eat at the more traditional ones. They use local foods and tend to be healthier. I think your co-workers would learn to accept you bringing your own lunch as long as you're still eating with them. Just tell them you need to eat a special diet.

StuAblett

I live in Japan, but I have done so for 20 years now, but I do feel your pain and understand the problem.

The "being rude" thing, I just gave up on that a LONG time ago, I do my very best to NOT be rude, but hey, I'm just the dumb white foreigner, I'm going to screw up and they expect it, in fact I think they don't like it when I constantly follow all the right protocols and procedures:laugh: I say DON'T worry about being rude, and I'd even turn it back on them and explain, as nicely as possible that by offering food when you don't want it, that is RUDE where you come from. If you will indulge me I'll tell you a funny story about a cross cultural miss-communication that happened to some friends and I.

I came to Japan 20 years ago, to stay for SIX months to study Aikido a Martial Art, some of my non-Japanese friends were into Zazen, the self meditation, one guys did it daily at a Zen temple. At new years, we got invited to said temple for the making of Mochi, an steamed rice that is then pounded into a dough like consistency that I like fresh, but not cold, lots of Japanese people enjoy it as a kind of staple food in the winter especially.

We helped them all day, we carried all the big heavy stuff around and cleaned up, after the days work they had a party of sorts for us, the monks and the others who helped out. Most of us Aikido guys were fairly poor, and living in Tokyo and being poor sucks, it is an expensive city to live in. At the party the brought out these huge dishes of fresh sushi, and I just LOVE sushi, so did my buddies, well we ate a TON of sushi, and drank a bunch of beer, and they kept bringing fresh plates of sushi and pouring us more beer, this went on for I swear two hours, we were just simply stuffed and they kept bringing us more food and drink. We all thought it was really rude to NOT eat the food they were putting down in front of us, THEY thought it was really rude to run out of food...... :noway: in the end we finally called "No Mas" and just about fell on the floor, they were relieved too, and when we finally sorted out the cultural cross up, let me tell you, we ALL had a HUGE laugh :laugh:

I would eat how you want to and I would politely ignore their offerings of food. It might take a week, but they will eventually stop, if they don't stop, then they are really being jerks and are not worth of your concern of being rude to them.

just my opinion, I hope it helps!

ThaiKaren

Hi there, know how you feel, I live in Thailand and everyone assumes that Thai food is healthy, but the oil they use when they fry is way over the top, the cocnut milk curries, all the sweet stuff, and of course all the fast food places here. I really have to talk myself out of over eating sometimes. I just adore noodle soup as well. Anyway keep on trying, you'll get there x