The picture on the left was taken on March 26th, 2006 when I first arrived in Bangkok. The picture on the right was taken right before I returned home about three months (and over 30 pounds) later. Three cheers for having a chin!! (I swear this is the only "before and after" photo I have or will ever subject you to).There were a number of things that contributed to this positive change. I realize that not everyone can afford to just go to South East Asia whenever they feel like it. Thus I'm going to frame this in an everyday context that will be useful for a broader audience. So here we go, you can call this the "Thai Diet" if you want (all your friends will be impressed with your worldly knowledge and Google my blog. A perfect trap!!!). There are just three rules:
- Eat lots of fresh whole foods - Every single one of you has heard something to this effect at some point. Thailand is different from the US in that fresh fruits and vegetables surround you all the time without having to visit a grocery store. Fresh whole pineapple on a stick while I'm taking a walk? 30 Baht? It's cold, delicious, and good for me? Sold! Visiting a local Farmers' market in the US is a great way to emulate this. Buy just enough produce to get you through the week and plan your meals. This will reduce waste, keep your fridge happy, and support local farmers and businesses. Seriously! Do it! Why do you need your carrots from Albertsons?
- Stop eating beef - I know you don't want to hear this. You love cheeseburgers and Firestone Tri-Tip sandwiches. I'm pretty un-American for even advocating a boycott on beef! Truth is that in Thailand there are no cows. Well, that's not true. There are some that look mostly like this little fella over here.
It's confusing because in basically any Thai restaurant in the United States you can get beef put in anything. This is not true most of the time in cities outside of Bangkok (a city where you literally can get anything you want). But anyway, I digress. While living in Chiang Mai I went a whole week not even noticing that I had been vegetarian. It's not hard to do because everything is delicious. Let me rephrase this thought so it sinks in: You don't ever think to yourself, "OK I'm going to be a vegetarian because it's ethical, humane, saves water, preserves crop land, and is better for me." The thought is more like "OH MY GOD THAT IS FANTASTIC!! CAN I PUT MORE THINGS LIKE THAT IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW?!?!?!" I think one of the problems with vegetarianism in the United States is that you truly have to be a neo-hippie wack-a-doodle to enjoy being vegetarian. The food here for vegetarians sucks. There I said it. Now I will say that I think that in California it is about as good as it gets (although I've never lived in Oregon). I have had some truly delightful vegetarian food here. The difference is that I have to seek it out here, there you are enveloped in it and don't have to think about it. (Note that I did not suggest even for a second giving up cheese. Oh cheese! Lights that do mislead the morn!) - EXPLORE!! - Last but not least. It actuals ties into the second rule nicely as well. This coming weekend get on (Ok, stop thinking about cheese. I know! It's hard for me too!) your bike or put on some comfy walking shoes and find a restaurant that you've never tried before that has half a chance of having some wholesome food. I'll admit that in some cities this can be next to impossible. Walk to three local markets and buy some veggies you've never cooked up. I know you're not really going to do any of that but the larger theme here is to get outside and do stuff! It really doesn't matter what. Since I didn't have a car or a bike in Thailand I basically just walked everywhere (if it was really far I jumped in a Tuk-Tuk). I went on Architecture tours. I walked along the Mekong. I went river rafting. I tried to find the Post Office. Before I start getting too romantic you get the point right? Just go do stuff. It's that easy. You know that physical activity that you kinda like to do sometimes? Go do that. The longer you sit with your books and your laptop and your emo playlist and get all intellectual on the world with your dumbass blog the fatter you ge--
I admit that changing our culture is a little out of my reach (presently) but there are small battles you can win everyday. Watch a little less TV, only visit Facebook once a day, stop reading stupid blogs by authors who refuse to be concise, etc. The biggest change you could make would be to find a way to ditch your day job or find one outside or spend less money and take out fewer loans by living within your means or _____. For more (conventional) ideas and ways to "Take Back Your Time" visit TimeDay.org or just do a general search. Just don't spend too much time doing it ;-)
P.S. On average, we work nearly nine full weeks (350 hours) LONGER per year than our peers in Western Europe do. What would you do with nine weeks off?
Do you think the heat has anything to do with it? I spent a month and half traveling south east asia, off my regular running and strength routine, eating whatever I wanted (granted I tend to choose healthy and the options are, as you noted, mostly fresh and healthy) and drinking beer nearly every night. I came back not having gained weight. I chalk it up mostly to the walking around all day and sweating my ass off all the time. Oh what I'd give for a life of ease!
ReplyDeleteAnd I applaud your healthy efforts - I was going to say that you look way slimmer than you I remember you in high school.