Lose Weight with Korean Diet - Part 1

Dear Korean,

I have been trying to lose weight. I have lost some, but I am down to the last ten pounds, and can not seem to dispel the weight. Most of the weight loss information I obtain seems to be wrong, so I need a new perspective. I thought viewing weight loss through another culture's view point might help me. How can Korean diet help lose weight?

Audrey

Given that weight loss is always high on the list of new year's resolutions, the Korean figured this is a good question to open up the new year. Can Korean diet help you lose weight? Allow the Korean to put it this way:  Korea is the thinnest country in the developed world, while America is the fattest. As of 2009, only 3.5% of Koreans over the age of 15 was obese. The same number in America was an astounding 34.3%. Obviously, there are reasons other than diet that Koreans are slimmer than Americans. (For one, ready availability of public transportation in most cities, leading to more walking. Genetics, for another.) But it should be equally obvious that Korean diet and eating habits have a great deal to do with the svelte figures of Koreans.

A few more caveats about Korean food and eating habits are necessary. First, as Korea is a country marked by rapid change, Korea's diet and eating habits are changing rapidly as well. For example, the unhealthy kinds of Western food are freely available in Korea, and Koreans have come to eat a great deal of them because they taste great. The Korean will present the healthy kind of Korean diet and eating habits here, but that is not to say that everyone in Korea eats in a traditional manner.

Second, even if we confined ourselves to traditional Korean food and eating habits, there are still certain things about traditional Korean food and eating habits that are rather unhealthy. An easy example is sodium -- generally, Korean food has a lot of salt. (Remember, kimchi is essentially salted cabbages, and Koreans eat a ton of it!) Another easy example is that the way Koreans drink, particularly as they eat. Again, the Korean will remind everyone that this post is not saying: "If you ate exactly the way Koreans ate, you will lose weight." Rather, the point of this post is to say: "there are a lot of healthy things that Korean food and eating habits have, about which people would do well to learn."

With that said, let's get right to it. How can you lose weight like a Korean?

1.  Eat Less

If you must only take away one point from this post, take away this point:  Koreans are slim because they eat less. Forget all those gimmicky diets for a minute, and focus on the obvious -- if you eat a lot, of course you will gain weight! As long as you lower the caloric intake enough, you can lose weight while eating nothing but Twinkies and powdered doughnuts.

Here is an alarming observation. Based on the Korean's experience, American portions are between 50 to 100% larger than Korean portions. This is particularly egregious at restaurants. The Korean is not small at all -- he is 6' 1", 195 pounds. Yet he can comfortably split, say, one order of fried rice from a nearby Chinese food into a full lunch and dinner. However, the Korean sees plenty of people around him in the restaurant, finishing the entire order in one sitting.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.




Just think about this -- for every meal, Americans eat as much as double the amount of food that Koreans eat. How could you possibly not get fat with that much food? Don't be deceived by "one order" of food in America -- nobody needs to eat that much. Split one order into two meals. Or if that is still too much temptation, immediately throw away half of the food that you ordered. The Korean absolutely hates wasting food as much as you do, but consider it as a price to pay to lose weight. Or better yet, do what Koreans do and . . .

2.  Cook at Home

If you cook at home, you can control the portion, adjust the level of unhealthy elements in food, and avoid the delicious but unhealthy things with which restaurants and processed food companies cram their food. As the Korean said earlier, Koreans' eating habits are changing, and fewer Koreans eat home-cooked meals. But it has been the Korean's experience that Koreans eat at home more frequently.

To be fair, the fact that Koreans are more likely to eat home-cooked meal is not completely positive, because it is women who are staying home to cook. But as far as health and weight loss is concerned, there should be no question that home-cooked meals are better.

But of course, it would depend on what you eat at home. So . . .

3.  Eat More Vegetables

For this point, a picture will be better than a thousand words. A little bit of background is necessary here. The Korean Parents visited the Korean's house in the winter of 2010, and the Korean Mother prepared a party meal for the Korean In-Laws and some friends. This is what the prepared table looked like:

This post was written by: Korean Lovers

Korean Lovers is a professional blogger korean Addict, web designer and front end web developer. Follow him on Twitter