Welcome to MFP in China
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rogerbosch
Posts: 343 Member
Good that you found this group! If you are in China, or if you are planning to move to China and at the same time stay fit, this group might offer some good tips to help you cope. And although China might be to big to get everyone to meet in person, we all have AT LEAST in common that we are far from home, and use MFP. That should be enough to find some online friends here!
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Hey, depending on your political view I am currently living in ROC, in Taiwan. Just moved here 2 months ago and trying to find my way. How long have you been in China for? How long have you been trying to lose weight in China? How's it going for you?0
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Been here for 7.5 years now (teaching English all this time) - and 4 months ago I decided it was time to get in shape! I've got a 4 year old son so I can't stay behind. Since I would not like to go to a local gym I'm doing my workouts at home; got my weights at Taobao, one of the advantages of living in China!
What do you do in Taiwan?0 -
I'm also an English teacher. Teaching kids at a cram school. This is my first time teaching English. Before, I was teaching adults in Canada for a year and a half. Before that, I taught in N. Africa.
Asia is definitely interesting. I'm not sure what it's like in China but in Taiwan their idea of healthy is eating lots of noodles and rice. I'm trying to do my best and steer away from most of it but I sure get a lot of odd looks when I ask for no rice with my meal. The culture where I am is very much into eating out for 3 meals a day.
I'm doing my own circuit training and fitness videos. It is A LOT hotter here than in Canada, where I'm from, so it seems like I'm burning more calories doing the same types of exercises.
What do you find are your biggest challenges of being healthy in China?0 -
One of the things I hate here is that either there is no caloric information on the products, or in case of imported stuff, a huge sticker has been placed exactly there to replace it with Chinese humbug info.
I find the local Walmart a disaster: no tuna, no muesli, no whole wheat bread. If I want to get decent food I need to go to Metro, where I'm facing the sticker problem.
Eating out I usually visit the local sushi bar, korean food or a beef steak restaurant. I know it sounds awkward being in China, but I try to stay away from Chinese food.0 -
Wow! In Taiwan they have a lot of nutritional content on their food packaging. The odd thing doesn't. It's just the eating out part that kills me a bit. I haven't been here long enough to know how much oil, salt, and sugar that they put in their food. I have started dipping my cooked veggies in hot water and it takes off some of the oil.
When I get my schedule sorted I'll be able to cook more at home.
I like your idea about keeping away from Chinese food in China. I also seem to be doing the same thing.0 -
Hi i am also an English teacher in China. Its been 2 years i am living in the Shandong province. I have decided I have to lose weight once and for all but I miss home and my friends who used to be my cheerleading team. It is hard to get healthy and find a good gym where I live I mostly cook all the time so I know what I put in the food but sometimes it is hard ****ing calories when there are no labels or the indication is false. Well i just put the zumba DVD i am waiting for my mom to send it to me .0
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Hey, everyone! It is so good to see there are other MFP users in China. I just moved to Hebei province a month ago to teach English. Since the school has provided me with some money to spend in the canteen, I've been eating a lot of meals there. However, there is so much oil. I really need to start cooking some healthier options at home.
There isn't much of a smog problem in my city, so I've been able to walk and run quite a bit. I find it interesting that a lot of people online have talked about problems with gaining weight here. Prior to coming to China, I had though it would be easy to lose weight if I stick to the Chinese diet. I now know that is not always the case.0 -
Welcome Emily,
I totally thought I could lose weight here easily too. I listened to a lot of my Asian friends in North America that said the food was so healthy here. Now I know their idea of what healthy food is QUITE different then mine.
Oh and Nadine I'm a huge fan of Zumba! Have the dvds and the Zumba 2 on Wii. They don't do that much sitting on the shelf though
. I did 30 mins today which felt great. 0 -
Well I can wait to receive my package. So I can Zumba. I lived in Dominican Republic for 2 years and I iss dancing so I am counting the day 23 to be actually right now I am walking everyday I have 30 day shred from Jillian but its getting borring I dont want to go to the gym they are really dirty and the smell is awfull . So no other choice i order everything from the States and my mom sends it to me . God bless her .0
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An alternative to having DVDs shipped from the U.S. is to purchase them through iTunes. You have to watch them on your computer, but at least it is free delivery and instant. I just bought a yoga video on there.0
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Hey do you guys have Moon Festival in China or mooncakes. Just went through my first festival. I tried one mooncake and had no idea there were 1200 calories in it! Thankfully I only ate a bite. It wasn't even that good to me.0
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Hey ONEBLUESOCK!
I am also in Taiwan. It's SO hard to eat healthy here unless you take full advantage of the veggiemarts. I've been here for 3 years. Gained weight my first year but learned my lesson and started cooking in more than eating out and trying to avoid the late night 7-11 runs.
I'm in Kaohsiung. Where do you reside?0 -
Hey do you guys have Moon Festival in China or mooncakes. Just went through my first festival. I tried one mooncake and had no idea there were 1200 calories in it! Thankfully I only ate a bite. It wasn't even that good to me.
My friend sent me a piece in the NYTimes last year talking about the Mid-Autumn festival, which explained that the mooncakes are PACKED with calories! For something I do not think tastes good, it's amazing they can be so high in calories.
Just started up with MFP about 4 days ago, and I am so happy/surprised to find a group for expats in China! Glad I am not the only one trying to get fit while living in the land of oil soaked foods.0 -
Welcome rmims316. Hope everyone is still doing okay in China! I know I am. Two months ago I got a membership at Powerhouse Gym - go there abt 4 times a week. It's a welcome change after having constantly worked out at home.
Still hard to find good foods without paying too much, so mostly I stick with chicken breast, although I'm pretty sure that what they feed the chickens here can't be all that good.0 -
Hello everyone......been in China for 3 1/2 years.....started as a teacher and now work for a French Pharma company in Guangzhou. Lived the last two years in Chengdu and the food there was amazing which it seems helped me get into the shape I am now. Too much Sichuan food......Joined a gym a couple of months ago and slowly working my way out of the hole. Recently found MFP and it's been great helping keep track of calories even here. I am surprised at the number of times I scan the upc code and it actually pulls up nutrition info.....anyway.....Hi and good luck to everyone on their goals!0
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Hey everyone! Hope you didn't fall too hard off the horse over the holidays.. I am back on my 30 Day Shred after a few hiccup days of my own for XMAS and New Years. I am in a rather small town in Hubei, which has severely limited me to at home workouts.. I am doing Jillian Michaels 30 DS- it's fast and intense, and easily done in my room! For those of you who might be experiencing troubles of not having a gym to go to down to I strongly suggest looking for some at home workouts! I personally suggest the 30DS, it's quick and gives you real results! Good luck guys! Stay strong!0
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Good to see you back on track Rmims "Jillian" 316! What's everybody first name anyway? Mine's not hard to guess.
I'm curious about your New Year's prepositions if you have any at all… I've taken up the idea to run half a marathon in March, which is part of Chongqing's International Marathon event. It means I'm giving my legs a little bit more attention (2 days a week instead of 1) and I've started a running schedule, where I try to be careful not to run on leg day. Also spent three days analyzing my feet and finding the right shoes, resulting in ordering a pair of Newton's from Taobao (probably fake ones hehe).
Well, it's 2013. I have to say, health-wise the year started a lot better than the last. Hope this goes for everyone here.0 -
Been working for a tech firm here for about 5 years now. First day with MFP, and I was surprised how many things I can just type in the Chinese pinyin for and find it, even breakfast street food. Probably not the most accurate count for the rare times I eat it, but at least gives an idea. My hangup when I tried other similar plans is I couldn't find nutrition info for most of the food here, but seems MFP has a much larger collection of items.0
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你们好！Fellow Chinese expat here. I moved to Beijing from Canada at the end of August 2012 and have lost about 35 pounds since. I'd love to share tips for staying healthy here in China. With food safety concerns, I often find my stress levels around food choices and grocery shopping pretty high. Also when I do need to eat in restaurants, discerning what the healthiest choice is and the nutritional content can be a bit of a struggle. Any suggestions that have helped you manage here?0
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Hi everyone!
Lived in Beijing for about two years; gained over 10 kilos. Now I'm in Shanghai. I was able to lose some weight when I visited home for a month, but now I'm falling off of the wagon. That Chinese food, I just love it!
Glad to see there are other people around, too! Hoping to get that motivation back.0
