Takin’ Off Weight (and Puttin’ It Back at Home)

With all due respects to Sài Gòn blogger Cottontimer , I have this whole weight thing figured out – and it ain’t genetics.

Many westerners are overweight, yet very few Vietnamese are overweight.  Noodle Pie did a great story on hefty Saigonese children back in, but in Hué (and most of Việt Nam), the only overweight Vietnamese one sees are Việt Kieu.

Before Cottontimer writes a rant in the comment section, I do believe some folks have a propensity to put on weight easily, and certainly getting older slows down one’s metabolism, hence there are more chubby sexagenarians than twenty-somethings.  But for the most part, westerners are fat because of their life style.

I am walking proof.

During the five months we were in Hué, I lost 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms), and the Mystery Guest Blogger lost 15 (6.8).  We certainly didn’t try to loose weight, but we did.

But, we bicycled everywhere we went (with the exception of the times we walked someplace), and we took the stairs up to our fourth floor room several times a day.

And, we ate healthier and we ate less.  For instance, we made one concession to convenience and just fixed toast for breakfast in our room each morning.  Toast and jam, with tea.  Now that’s a light breakfast.  Lunch?  A bowl of bun thit nuong was good, or maybe some seafood – maybe even a sandwich.  The evening meal was the one time we might go “western”, but it also was often a big bowl of phỏ at Phỏ Saigon.

We have been back in America for about a month now – and have put most of the weight back on.  No surprise there – we eat too much, and exercise none at all.

In Hué, I couldn’t eat that peanut butter sandwich at bed time because I had no place to store extra food.  I couldn’t order a steak for dinner because the Vietnamese use meat for a condiment, not the main course.  I didn’t have to worry about getting enough exercise because I did not have a car – or an elevator.

When I am through living in Việt Nam, I have it all figured out.  To retain the girlish figure I developed, I will do the following:

•    Have only enough breakfast food in the house for the following day – a quart of milk (no more) and a box of cereal.  Maybe a quart of juice.  Maybe a small bowl of fresh fruit.  Oh yeah – a can of coffee.  No peanut butter – no cans of pork and beans – no cheese or cold cut meats – no bread – no ice cream.  No other food at all in the house.  I found in returning to America from Việt Nam that I eat merely because it is available.
•    For my other meals, I would go out to eat – but I would carefully plan where and what I would eat.  Eat a good sandwich at Subway – a bowl of phỏ is good – maybe a salad somewhere.  But, never order a hamburger just because its there.  Plan meals before leaving the house.
•    Of course, I would also have to move.  I would have to find a home in a place that is not car-centric.  It would have to be a place where I could ride my bike (or walk) to the store to buy my quart of milk, or to eat.  I would sell my car, and get around by foot, mass transit, or bicycle.  Done right, I would need no “exercise plan” because I would force myself to live a life style where I would not be able to cheat and take a day off from walking.

As I sit here writing this, I just ate four M&M candies.  Of course I was eating to relieve the stress of figuring out how I was going to persuade the Mystery Guest Blogger into living this most decidedly un-American life style.

Comments

[Lei]

hahaha You must think I'm a genetics diehard! ;) No rant here just a lot of nodding in agreement. While I'll never be a size 2, I also know I'm not a size 8 because of my lifestyle! :(

[wastedpuppy]

I am really enjoying your blog. I just wanted to share.

Alot of the stuff you posted put a smile on my face because it's so true. The only fat people in Viet Nam are either Vie^.t Kie^`u or Tourists.

[Hanoi's favorite carrot top]

See, I have a conflict. First hand, I know 5 girls who moved to Vietnam, biked at least an hour a day and gained weight. Our theory was the carb. intake. Or maybe the access to western food?

[robert]

When I got back from Vietnam in June, I lost 10 lbs and felt much better, it not because i not eat, in fact I ate more when I was there, but most of the food was fruits and veggie and cook in such a way that it was very good. most meat I ate was fried or broiled, but mostly it was the way the food was cooked that made it very filling. and traveling was a lot of walking, I was treated with lot of respect but I was a lot of their humor, I was 286 pounds when I when there and was 276 when I came home I gain back 4 lbs but trying hard to lose it. Most Viet namese never seem Fat people and I had my belly rubbed a lot for luck and told I had a Buddha belly. I believe that me being respectful of them in turn got me a lot of respect.

side note I a Fine art student, the viet namese people made me feel very much at home and I was treated as a Artist, the Big artist but as a artist, I did have my ego stroke because of that, and It felt good to be known for what you do and not by the country and money you have.

Robert

[m3dave]

Wow Doug can I relate! I had a similar weight spike after leaving the University (where I walked to work and around campus - 4-6 KM a day) and ate less. I have had to adjust my calorie intake downwards and make sure I walk in the mornings and evening (to beat the heat). And of course walk the airport concourses while traveling. Weight has dropped back to where it was. Amazing what a finely balanced machine we humans are and how easy the metabolic balance (intake and output) can get out of kilter.

[Russ]

What can I say Bro, 3 months of sitting on my tush after surgery and I can't get into my 34's anymore. Thank the Mystery Guest Blogger for giving me some more room.

[Steve]

Difficult one - I eat less here. Mostly because I eat out all the time - even when its western food the portions tend to be smaller here. In addition, there is no snacking here simly because I always eat out so my fridge is always empty.

Then again I do no exercise here. It is too damn hot to walk so much as a hundred yards so I end up getting xe oms everywhere. Hanoi is regularly in the late 30s now and humidity is frequently around the 70% mark. I have lost quite a bit of weight since I got here but I have also noticed that what is left is saggier than it used to. (Going to have to start swimming again - by my reckoning the only do-able exercise in this heat).

It is true that western women do put on weight here. The same thing happened when I was travelling - all the men I met had lost weight and all the women had gained. I think there is an easy explanation. If you eat out all the time then the portions here are smaller than your average male portions back home. While the average female portion here is probably larger than they would normally eat.

The only other thing that makes a big difference (and sorry to mention this) is how often the food you eat spends a very short space of time in your digestive system. I find food poisoning is not a huge problem in Vietnam for me but I also reckon that on average food spends about a third less time in my system. I'm no biologist but a third less time in the system equates to a third less nutrients/calories taken from it. Or am I wrong?

Finally (shameless plug time) - cycling is obviously a great way to lose weight - no doubt these guys will come back very skinny indeed:
http://www.extremecharity.info

[Lei/cottontimer]

I don't know about Steve's theory on why Western women put on weight in Vietnam. I personally think it's because most of them used to work out of the home when they were in their home country and upon coming to Vietnam, they just don't have much to do it they don't have a job. And because so much of the housework is taken care of by apartment housekeeping or domestic helpers, that's another form of exercise that is obsolete. Men, on the other hand, probably lose weight for the reason Steve described.