Lose Weight Living like a Thai ?A Western perspective on a low fat Eastern lifestyle

It's off to Thailand. I was a recent college grad seeking to experience a new culture and improve my martial arts skills. After some careful planning I selected the land of smiles for my first international adventure.

I obviously got a dose of culture shock jumping into a culture radically different from my hometown in Littleton, Colorado. The city of Bangkok was humming with traffic non-stop. The tropical climate offered a hot and humid atmosphere. And I discovered the cheapest place is the world to get a foot massage.

Although I enjoyed experience a new culture I quickly felt the withdrawals from some my western amenities, namely easy access to a weight training facility. After some asking around and creative thinking (like using elastic bands or dumbbells for resistance) I eventually found a few workout facilities that got the job done.

I then was a little surprised to see that most Thais don't engage in structured exercise (especially weight lifting). However the vast majority are extremely thin especially compared to my home country's standard waist line. To further perplex the situation I noticed that they really didn't express a big concern about dieting. Every time I ordered an iced coffee (temperatures are usually hot in Thailand) it always came loaded with sugar. Most of their food dishes where loaded with fried items. Fried rice, friend chicken, fried noodles, fried anything Thais would eat it. Their alcohol consumption was comparable to the U.S. (maybe slightly less).

So how does the country of Siam stay so skinny? It could be partly due to genetics but I really believe that this phenomenon comes down to four factors: food portion control, frequency meals, low stress and plenty of activity (not just structured exercise).

In Thailand cooked meals are readily available almost everywhere you go. The locals get up early in morning to fire up their small portable grills. They would offer food of multiple varieties: fried chicken, fried sausage rolls (at least it looked like sausage), fried bananas, fresh fruit. There were also several small walk-in restaurants wherever you went. Most of them offered dishes that included combinations of rice, seafood, vegetables or poultry. Whenever I went to order a meal from one of these restaurants they would give me a small (but tasty) portion of food. I was tempted order more at first but learned to eat slowly and to stay satisfied with just one serving. Their restaurants were also consistently busy. It didn't seem like there were set eating times in Thailand. Everybody would drop into eat whenever they felt hungry. This would usually be several times a day (5-6 small meals).

As for transportation getting around most Thai cities (especially Bangkok) could be a very frustrating endeavor that was further compounded by the language barrier. They seemed to have non stop traffic jams with cars, mopeds and motorcycles everywhere. Despite the chaos I saw people smile and wave whenever a potentially road rage conflict presented itself. Someone would cut off my Taxi cab and the driver would just laugh. The same was true for off the road. Wherever I went people just smiled. They seemed happy to be living out their lives. Any feelings of discontentment were seldom noticeable. This contrasted greatly from where I was brought up.

I know that excess stress can negatively influence our hormone levels (especially cortisol). How many times have you become extremely angry and frustrated because you got stuck in a traffic jam? How many times have you felt impatient while waiting in a line at convenience store, grocery store, coffee shop, etc? How many times have you lost sleep over things that you KNOW are relatively unimportant? I'm not sure what causes this problem, but it's certainly not tipping the scales in our favor.

As for activity I didn't see very many Thai's engaging in structured rigorous exercise. The weight gym facility I worked out at had a Ping Pong table which was much more frequented then the bench press. However I did notice some Thais did engage in one excellent fitness activity; Muay Thai Kickboxing. Just to give you a little about Muay Thai it is an ancient martial art that has grown into an ultra competition international sport today. Training in Muay Thai requires that you have both endurance and explosiveness. Inadvertently Thais are using both slow twitch and fast twitch muscles when training in their sports. This aerobic/anaerobic combination burns a great amount of calories. A vigorous sessions of hitting punching/kicking thai pads can burn anywhere from 300 to 600+ calories an hour.

So what does this boil all down to? Well for the average person looking to stay in shape and have a relatively low body fat I would recommend the following:

1. Food portion control: Eat small meals of 400 to 600 Kcal depending on your body size. Overeating can cause insulin level spikes, an expanded stomach and puts a lot of unnecessary stress on your digestive system.

2. Meal Frequency: 5-6 six small meals a day, preferably spaced out every 2-3 hours. If you don't have time to eat take a protein supplement in between meals.

3. Calm down: yes America is certainly stressful country. However life is by no means easier in Thailand and they manage to stay collected. Take a lot of deep breaths, get plenty of sleep and find healthy ways to channel stress. Remember that your work, your life and your choices are YOURS. The Thais I met don't lose hair over trying to earn a six digit income (in US dollars of course) and you shouldn't either.

4. Activity. I realize that not everybody has the time exercise, but almost anybody does have the means to be more active. Take a walk on your lunch break. Better yet use that hour to workout at a local gym. The ideal workout routine would involve a combination of weights/cardio. If you are strapped for time try to find an activity that combines both aerobic/anaerobic exercise. A few recommendations would be structured aerobics classes that combine both weight training/cardio (most American gyms offer some variety of this) or a martial arts program, I would personally recommend a kickboxing class for almost anybody.

The only negative thing I noticed in Thailand it is that weight loss supplements cost a fortune. Protein supplements are about 2-3 more expensive. Costs for weight loss products are outrageous. If you reside in the U.S. I would highly recommend www.discountanabolics.com for protein supplements. Also if you are looking to take a few shortcuts (promise me you won't down a bottle of ephedrine) to lose weight I would suggest the fat loss supplement Phire! from www.axislabs.net.

 
 

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