I want to lose it, not gain again.

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I am currently a 23years old woman, Korean. I was size 12 in the states when I decided to live in Korea for 6months. While living in Korea, I lost about size or two. Now that I am going back to the states, I am concerned about how to maintain the weight I lost and proper way to lose it.

I am 5'4, I have very curvy figure unlike Asian body type. I gain weight easily and not a picky eater.
What are some simple yet easy ways to follow exercises to help myself to get into shape? It is hard for me to stay motivated to workout, what are some of the ways to stay focused? I would love to see myself fit and healthy. I love my curves and I would love to bring it out with fit figure.

Thank you!

ANSWER: Hi Judy,

Before I can answer this I need to know one very important fact:

why could you maintain your bodyshape in Korea but not in the USA?

Please be honest so I can give you the best response.

Kind regards

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The lifestyle in Korea consists of lots of walking, I go on the subway and buses all the time. But in USA, car is a mandatory transportation. And foods in USA are more fattening and oily. I guess most of my concern is asking how to stay off the fatty foods and how do I become motivated to stay in shape.

I've failed many diets in USA because of foods. The more I eat the foods at a restaurant, I have the crave to have some more. I guess that is the problem. Foods in Korea are definitely less oily and addictive.

Since I am an Asian, my main meal consist of rice. I do not know the proper way to consume foods to help my diet.

I am just confused. But I did learn to value my body more by losing weight naturally. I am just wondering how I can make it more natural thing to lose more weight. I want to enjoy my diet, not just take it as a chore.

I hope this cleared out the question I was really seeking help for.

Thank you!  

Answer
Thank you Judy,

Having been to America a number of times I know what the food situation is like. It is not that the food is more oily or fatty...but that there is the ease of getting these foods. There is such a wide choice in the supermarkets and that is where the crux of your problem lies: you need to CHOOSE to buy the healthy foods in favour of the fatty/oily ones.
It also means cooking for yourself way more often than using a restaurant.

I am of Asian origin, so I also know what the diet is like.
Unfortunately, the rice and wheat products in the western world is too refined, so try to avoid it as much as possible. Choose wild rice, brown rice, brown wholegrain or wheat free alternatives.

If you drink milk, choose a non dairy alternative like soy or goats milk.

The best book I can recommend is called The L.A. Shape Diet by Dr. David Heber. Don't be fooled into thinking it is just another diet. The word 'diet' is referring to a healthy way of eating. It is an excellent resource for understanding why diets don't work and what foods to choose. It also has examples of meals to make.

I use it as the basis for our programmes to help people lose weight...and we've been going for 28 years solid with success in 70 countries- so you can be confident it works!

Hope this helps.

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