sirant
New member
Hi all,
I am a Canadian who has been living in China for the past 3 years. And as cool as travelling and seeing the world is, it does have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to losing weight and getting fit. I was wondering if there are any other travellers out there willing to relate some experiences and advice about getting fit while abroad. For me in China, it is a mix of good and bad. Heres how:
Good
#1 - Fresh Food! The Chinese culture is widely known to eat primarily rice and veggies for most of their meals, and the average family buys all their daily food every day. No stocking up of pre-processed crap. You buy it one day and eat it that same day. Many people I know here do not even have refridgerators, or need them.
#2 - Veggies over meat! I remember growing up the struggles my mother had getting us kids to eat our veggies. It was always a battle which required a pay-off in the form of dessert or some other such "sweet" reward. Here it is exaxctly the opposite. Kids needs to be almost force fed their meat, but they will fight over the last piece of brocoli on the plate..... And dessert? Whats Dessert?
#3 Tofu, Tofu, Tofu! What wonderful stuff! Not only a great form of protein, but can be bought fresh and pure everywhere, all the time! Scientists around the world have been baffled at China's ultra low Cancer rates (Less than 1% of ALL the women in China have breast cancer!) The scientists put this on the huge amount of Soy Beans that are consumed here on a daily basis!
#4 Chinese fast food vs. western fast food. Oh McDonalds and KFC are here, but thats pretty much it. Aside from the odd Pizza Hut, the selection of nasty Fast Food Joints severly limited. What Chinese people consider to be fast food is a veggie (and a little meat sometimes) dish served on a plate of rice. The thing that makes it fast is the fact you aren't ordering several dishes and rice, just 1 plate with rice and 1 food item. Certainly not fast food by western standards.
#5 Transportation - These Slippers Were Made For Walking! On average, a western working person walks LESS than 1 kilometer per day (not us fitness orientated folks mind you, but we ALL know where this stat comes from right???) Usually the walking we experience in the west involves walking from the house to the car, car to office, office to car and car to house.... In China and many other asian countries, the average person walks 10km+ each and every single day. Now of course there are always exceptions on both sides, but you decide.... Is the one with less than 1Km walked skinnier or the other??
#6 Government supported fitness training! The Chinese government uses money made from its lotteries to put exercise equipment absolutely everywhere! Outside my home is a 1 kilometer little park stuffed FULL of ingenous little exercise aides, like rowing machines, treadmills, weight lifting equipment, core(ab) exercisers, treadmills, etc etc etc. My complex alone must have 100 different pieces of well designed exercise equipment. I am going to make a video soon showing some of this great exercise equipment on my blog. Our own western governments could learn a thing or 50 about what to do with all that lottery money. But I guess those poor lottery board members back home do need their 3 luxury cars (each) too.....
And China has one other BIG HUGE MASSIVE bonus for those of us inclined to exercise. Saunas..... Oh how I love Saunas! I can go work in the gym for 45 minutes, hit the treadmill or stationary bikes for 45 minutes, all with full service and they provide the clothes and towels to sweat in, then I trundle past the restaurants, movie theatre, pool and ping pong tables, tea shop and lounge, for a nice little foot and shoulder massage then into one of the 7 (yes SEVEN) jacuzzi tubs (2 ice cold, 1 cool, 3 hot, one therapeudic tea pool), a giant steam room and just as giant a dry sauna! Basically this is the full service SPA treatment only the ultra rich have come to know and enjoy in my own culture, yet here it is cheaper than eating a meal at McD's back home.... And if you spend $15 dollars or more on massage (thats foot and shoulder for me) the sauna fee ($12) is waived. Have a look at the sauna I go too! The site is all in Chinese, but click one of the photos and it will take you to a main photo page and you can click the different boxes to see all the facilites.
Those are a few of the pluses of living in China when it comes to weight loss, but now lets look at some minuses.
Bad
#1 Willpower!!! Or in fact, lack there of. Even with all the positive things I listed above, somethings can sabatoge even the most diligent of us. Simply put, things cost MUCH less here than back home. That means we can have all the luxuries we enjoyed from home (and new ones) and pay a lot less. Example: Beer. They make Super Yummy Chinese beer here. For a 650ml bottle (thats a big bottle) you pay less than .50 cents on average. For a HUGE meal that feeds 8 people, you might pay $15-$20. And even though China is behind the times in Fast Food Joints, don't kid yourself, they still have all the nasty potato chips, chocolate bars and icecream we have back home, just at 1/3 the price (or less!) So you can eat and drink more than ever before for a fraction of the price. Ouch!
#2 White rice and bread! The Chinese people of course LOVE their white rice and sweetened bread. You have to look far and wide to find a nice whole grain or brown anything! I have been lucky enough to find some french bakeries here where I can get real wholegrain bread and specialty shops for whole grain brown rice, and I am the ONLY one I know here who eats it! So other than at home, I have no access to such healthy foods outside.
#3 The heat! Oh that heat! I am living in South China, which is a sub-tropic zone. Meaning we have nice, warm, snow free winters, but summer is 6 months long (or more) and ranges from 32-45 degrees celcius with a humidity of 85-99% That makes it SUPER ROUGH to get outside and exercise, let me tell you! Most locals and (I would be happy to guesstimate) ALL foreigners pretty much stick to the indoors and rarely move outside. The Chinese have a polite saying when you are leaving anywhere "Man Zou" Which means "Go Slowly", and they mean it! Unless you really enjoy POURING with sweat, it is really the only way to go. And you still pour sweat anyways. Luckily for us, sweating is a common and normal activity here and you would never hear someone saying "Ewwww! Look at that sweaty pig!" here. It does not suffer the same social stigma as it does back home. The Chinese people don't care so why should I?
#4 Westernization. Yep, its happening in a bigger way here than I ever thought. The roads are filling with cars, there is a 7-Eleven, McD's and KFC on almost every block and people are starting to "look" more like westerners, by that I mean fat. Children are the worst hit, with over 20% obesity rates in a country that NEVER had that problem before! When I first came to China I looked in McD's and saw the menu was similar, but not the same. Like the Quarter Pounder, for example, did not exist here then. The reason being, most Chinese people would be completely turned off a 1/4 pound of meat. A typical Chinese family (the whole family) might eat that much meat for an entire meal or even an entire day! However, now I see Steak Houses opening up and Chinese restaurants offering Western size portions of individual meat dishes, and yes, Quarter Pounders are here!! Sadly in the mad rush to Westernize China, they are picking up not only the good points of the western culture, but they are TOO quickly picking up the worst parts too. Popular media doesnt show America the way it really is, with obesity becoming the next biggest killer of the population, and the Chinese are eating it all up..... Literally!
#5 The Fitness Craze. Remember those machines we used to see that would "wiggle" the fat off our bums while we stood there, shaking, reading a newspaper? Remember how we thought creams, potions and magic pills would make us skinny with no effort at all? Then you may also remember that as a society, most of us smartened up and figured out they were yanking our chains, taking advantage of our insecurities and stealing our hard earned money. Well, with the failure and debunking of so many of those products in the west, and the current "expansion (around the belly)" of the Chinese population, those same vultures have jumped the pacific ocean and are now pedalling their snake oil and fat creams here. And because the people honestly dont know any better, they are buying it like mad and at insane prices!
#6 The Eating Culture. One thing is for sure in China, Big is Better! A big gas guzzler car means you are rich! An oversize, gaudy gold chain means you are successful! And HUGE belly doesn't mean lazy or fat here, it means you are strong! I have NEVER felt so admired and respected in all my life by people than I have here. Men encourage me NOT to exercise! Women tell me how handsome and attractive my belly is and grandmothers praise my weight and wish their sons and grandsons could look the same. But in a society where the past has not been an easy run, eating has evolved as the most important social activity, bar none! The more you eat, the more you have! The more you have, the more rich and respected you must be! I have NEVER EVER EVER in my WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE been hit on and flirted with as I have here in China. Women have literally thrown themselves at me and fought over who would get to go out with me on what night. And being happily married doesn't help, they still try! This is the same computer engineer who spent 5 lonely very SINGLE years alone, without even a date, before coming to China. So here, fat is good and most people will encourage you NOT to lose weight....
sirant
I am a Canadian who has been living in China for the past 3 years. And as cool as travelling and seeing the world is, it does have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to losing weight and getting fit. I was wondering if there are any other travellers out there willing to relate some experiences and advice about getting fit while abroad. For me in China, it is a mix of good and bad. Heres how:
Good
#1 - Fresh Food! The Chinese culture is widely known to eat primarily rice and veggies for most of their meals, and the average family buys all their daily food every day. No stocking up of pre-processed crap. You buy it one day and eat it that same day. Many people I know here do not even have refridgerators, or need them.
#2 - Veggies over meat! I remember growing up the struggles my mother had getting us kids to eat our veggies. It was always a battle which required a pay-off in the form of dessert or some other such "sweet" reward. Here it is exaxctly the opposite. Kids needs to be almost force fed their meat, but they will fight over the last piece of brocoli on the plate..... And dessert? Whats Dessert?
#3 Tofu, Tofu, Tofu! What wonderful stuff! Not only a great form of protein, but can be bought fresh and pure everywhere, all the time! Scientists around the world have been baffled at China's ultra low Cancer rates (Less than 1% of ALL the women in China have breast cancer!) The scientists put this on the huge amount of Soy Beans that are consumed here on a daily basis!
#4 Chinese fast food vs. western fast food. Oh McDonalds and KFC are here, but thats pretty much it. Aside from the odd Pizza Hut, the selection of nasty Fast Food Joints severly limited. What Chinese people consider to be fast food is a veggie (and a little meat sometimes) dish served on a plate of rice. The thing that makes it fast is the fact you aren't ordering several dishes and rice, just 1 plate with rice and 1 food item. Certainly not fast food by western standards.
#5 Transportation - These Slippers Were Made For Walking! On average, a western working person walks LESS than 1 kilometer per day (not us fitness orientated folks mind you, but we ALL know where this stat comes from right???) Usually the walking we experience in the west involves walking from the house to the car, car to office, office to car and car to house.... In China and many other asian countries, the average person walks 10km+ each and every single day. Now of course there are always exceptions on both sides, but you decide.... Is the one with less than 1Km walked skinnier or the other??
#6 Government supported fitness training! The Chinese government uses money made from its lotteries to put exercise equipment absolutely everywhere! Outside my home is a 1 kilometer little park stuffed FULL of ingenous little exercise aides, like rowing machines, treadmills, weight lifting equipment, core(ab) exercisers, treadmills, etc etc etc. My complex alone must have 100 different pieces of well designed exercise equipment. I am going to make a video soon showing some of this great exercise equipment on my blog. Our own western governments could learn a thing or 50 about what to do with all that lottery money. But I guess those poor lottery board members back home do need their 3 luxury cars (each) too.....
And China has one other BIG HUGE MASSIVE bonus for those of us inclined to exercise. Saunas..... Oh how I love Saunas! I can go work in the gym for 45 minutes, hit the treadmill or stationary bikes for 45 minutes, all with full service and they provide the clothes and towels to sweat in, then I trundle past the restaurants, movie theatre, pool and ping pong tables, tea shop and lounge, for a nice little foot and shoulder massage then into one of the 7 (yes SEVEN) jacuzzi tubs (2 ice cold, 1 cool, 3 hot, one therapeudic tea pool), a giant steam room and just as giant a dry sauna! Basically this is the full service SPA treatment only the ultra rich have come to know and enjoy in my own culture, yet here it is cheaper than eating a meal at McD's back home.... And if you spend $15 dollars or more on massage (thats foot and shoulder for me) the sauna fee ($12) is waived. Have a look at the sauna I go too! The site is all in Chinese, but click one of the photos and it will take you to a main photo page and you can click the different boxes to see all the facilites. Those are a few of the pluses of living in China when it comes to weight loss, but now lets look at some minuses.
Bad
#1 Willpower!!! Or in fact, lack there of. Even with all the positive things I listed above, somethings can sabatoge even the most diligent of us. Simply put, things cost MUCH less here than back home. That means we can have all the luxuries we enjoyed from home (and new ones) and pay a lot less. Example: Beer. They make Super Yummy Chinese beer here. For a 650ml bottle (thats a big bottle) you pay less than .50 cents on average. For a HUGE meal that feeds 8 people, you might pay $15-$20. And even though China is behind the times in Fast Food Joints, don't kid yourself, they still have all the nasty potato chips, chocolate bars and icecream we have back home, just at 1/3 the price (or less!) So you can eat and drink more than ever before for a fraction of the price. Ouch!
#2 White rice and bread! The Chinese people of course LOVE their white rice and sweetened bread. You have to look far and wide to find a nice whole grain or brown anything! I have been lucky enough to find some french bakeries here where I can get real wholegrain bread and specialty shops for whole grain brown rice, and I am the ONLY one I know here who eats it! So other than at home, I have no access to such healthy foods outside.
#3 The heat! Oh that heat! I am living in South China, which is a sub-tropic zone. Meaning we have nice, warm, snow free winters, but summer is 6 months long (or more) and ranges from 32-45 degrees celcius with a humidity of 85-99% That makes it SUPER ROUGH to get outside and exercise, let me tell you! Most locals and (I would be happy to guesstimate) ALL foreigners pretty much stick to the indoors and rarely move outside. The Chinese have a polite saying when you are leaving anywhere "Man Zou" Which means "Go Slowly", and they mean it! Unless you really enjoy POURING with sweat, it is really the only way to go. And you still pour sweat anyways. Luckily for us, sweating is a common and normal activity here and you would never hear someone saying "Ewwww! Look at that sweaty pig!" here. It does not suffer the same social stigma as it does back home. The Chinese people don't care so why should I?
#4 Westernization. Yep, its happening in a bigger way here than I ever thought. The roads are filling with cars, there is a 7-Eleven, McD's and KFC on almost every block and people are starting to "look" more like westerners, by that I mean fat. Children are the worst hit, with over 20% obesity rates in a country that NEVER had that problem before! When I first came to China I looked in McD's and saw the menu was similar, but not the same. Like the Quarter Pounder, for example, did not exist here then. The reason being, most Chinese people would be completely turned off a 1/4 pound of meat. A typical Chinese family (the whole family) might eat that much meat for an entire meal or even an entire day! However, now I see Steak Houses opening up and Chinese restaurants offering Western size portions of individual meat dishes, and yes, Quarter Pounders are here!! Sadly in the mad rush to Westernize China, they are picking up not only the good points of the western culture, but they are TOO quickly picking up the worst parts too. Popular media doesnt show America the way it really is, with obesity becoming the next biggest killer of the population, and the Chinese are eating it all up..... Literally!
#5 The Fitness Craze. Remember those machines we used to see that would "wiggle" the fat off our bums while we stood there, shaking, reading a newspaper? Remember how we thought creams, potions and magic pills would make us skinny with no effort at all? Then you may also remember that as a society, most of us smartened up and figured out they were yanking our chains, taking advantage of our insecurities and stealing our hard earned money. Well, with the failure and debunking of so many of those products in the west, and the current "expansion (around the belly)" of the Chinese population, those same vultures have jumped the pacific ocean and are now pedalling their snake oil and fat creams here. And because the people honestly dont know any better, they are buying it like mad and at insane prices!
#6 The Eating Culture. One thing is for sure in China, Big is Better! A big gas guzzler car means you are rich! An oversize, gaudy gold chain means you are successful! And HUGE belly doesn't mean lazy or fat here, it means you are strong! I have NEVER felt so admired and respected in all my life by people than I have here. Men encourage me NOT to exercise! Women tell me how handsome and attractive my belly is and grandmothers praise my weight and wish their sons and grandsons could look the same. But in a society where the past has not been an easy run, eating has evolved as the most important social activity, bar none! The more you eat, the more you have! The more you have, the more rich and respected you must be! I have NEVER EVER EVER in my WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE been hit on and flirted with as I have here in China. Women have literally thrown themselves at me and fought over who would get to go out with me on what night. And being happily married doesn't help, they still try! This is the same computer engineer who spent 5 lonely very SINGLE years alone, without even a date, before coming to China. So here, fat is good and most people will encourage you NOT to lose weight....
sirant
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