How on earth do you Diet in Thailand ?

[newbee2022]

On 8/22/2024 at 6:04 AM, DonniePeverley said:

 .... as in trying to lose weight, not maintaining. 

 

Calories aren't a major weapon used here - unless you look to buy heavily processed ready  made meals. 

 

I was eating a single Pad Kaprao a day for a week, and some fruit on the evening. Didn't lose anything. 

 

Went behind the scenes to see how this Pad Kaprao was being made (under the guise of being a good customer). My goodness this isn't some healthy meal, little bit of chicken mixed into some spicy veg and some rice. Hell no. Instead the volume of oil used was enough to burn a building. She then proceeds to add 20 large spoons (i literally lie to you not) of sugar, followed by endless volume of a salt called MGM. So you think that's it ... no there were more. Once finished she began to put some butter into it, a proper massive lump !!!!!

The sheer volume of salt and MSG put into the rice was astonishing.

 

I came away thinking this isn't just some minor small meal. This is a one hell of a calorie laden meal. 

 

My question is to you all ... how on earth do you count calories here and lose weight ?

Go for intermediate fasting (17 hr rule) Works out perfectly by drinking a lot of tea or plain water. 

 

[sipi]

Sit side saddle on your step through scooter, chain smoking roll-your-own cigarettes, drink cheap whiskey and play morlum music at full volume and you'll be built like a Greyhound.

It works for the locals.

[john donson]

butter? in a 65 baht dish

 

palm oil transfat at best, aka margarine

[ignis]

2 hours ago, Luuk Chaai said:

100% !!!

I eat a min of 3000  "calories"  a day ..   

Beef ( 500 -1000 grams),butter, bacon, eggs size 0 ( 6-8), fish,clams, lamb ..   no carbs!  no fiber!

the worst thing I put in my mouth is a cup of coffee with heavy whipping cream ..   'cause I like it !

Atkins diet ?

[Luuk Chaai]

1 hour ago, ignis said:

Atkins diet ?

Carnivore

[Gaccha]

Most of the diet recommendations on this thread fail to grasp the reason why dieting generally does not work. 

 

You have to have a system of losing weight which is effortless. If it is difficult or a struggle there is a very high chance that you will give up and/or return to your previous weight.

 

Your absolute priority is to stop the hunger or desire for food. And we now know how to do this. 

 

Cut out sugar or anything that spikes your insulin levels from your diet outside of a 4-6 hour eating window.

 

Eat anything you want during that eating window, but outside it severely restrict yourself to only tea/ coffee with no milk and no sugar/water/ginger tea.

 

It sounds like torture but in fact since all your hunger pangs will go it will just feel normal after a couple of weeks. You'll have no desire to eat more.

 

You then start to gain large amounts of energy, and then you'll feel the desire to run or walk long distances.

[Lorry]

22 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

Most of the diet recommendations on this thread fail to grasp the reason why dieting generally does not work. 

 

You have to have a system of losing weight which is effortless. If it is difficult or a struggle there is a very high chance that you will give up and/or return to your previous weight.

 

Your absolute priority is to stop the hunger or desire for food. And we now know how to do this. 

 

Cut out sugar or anything that spikes your insulin levels from your diet outside of a 4-6 hour eating window.

This is all true.

But it presumes the only reason I eat is because I am hungry. 

Actually, I am almost never hungry. 

 

When/why do I eat? 

- after sex

- when I am bored

- when I am frustrated

- to be polite if someone has cooked for me/ bought something for me/ shares some food with me/wants to talk to me which in my home country we only do in a restaurant

 

I want to lose weight, so:

- no more sex

- never get bored, keep myself busy and excited by dealing with Thai tax and immigration rules 

- don't meet others, so they can't seduce me to eat cr@p or overeat

- but then I get frustrated - see above...

 

 

[Will B Good]

4 minutes ago, Lorry said:

This is all true.

But it presumes the only reason I eat is because I am hungry. 

Actually, I am almost never hungry. 

 

When/why do I eat? 

- after sex

- when I am bored

- when I am frustrated

- to be polite if someone has cooked for me/ bought something for me/ shares some food with me

 

I want to lose weight, so:

- no more sex

- never get bored, keep myself busy and excited by dealing with Thai tax and immigration rules 

- don't meet others, so they can't seduce me to eat cr@p or overeat

- but then I get frustrated - see above...

 

 

 

Taken a screenshot......70 kg here I come.

[sampson]

A lot of the food here is pure garbage, that is true. I wince when I read comments on social media about all that amazing healthy Thai street food. 

 

Salt, MSG, Sugar and old or even second hand oils are the norm and often crazy amounts of it.  They are even loading salads with sugar. Check out how bad diabetes is here .. In the defence of Pad Krapow thoug, it's comfort food, it's not supposed to be healthy  as such.

 

The only way you can really be sure about what you're eating and it's preparation is to cook it yourself. Even the vegetables are full of pesticides though.   If you're on holiday you're probably not going to do that but if you live here and eat every meal out then being genuinely healthy will be a struggle.  Most places to rent don't have ovens but buy a large air fryer and that will do most tasks for you and the hob the rest.  A rice cooker / steamer all in one combo might be a good investment too. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lorry]

2 minutes ago, sampson said:

Even the vegetables are full of pesticides

Correct.

Whereas in the West, meat is a big cause for cancer,  they once did a study in Taiwan and it turned out vegetarians had more cancer,  from the pesticides. 

 

I never ever buy fruit or vegetables from a cold climate, like cabbage or apples,  it is imported from China, and guess why the Chinese bought up all baby food in Europe?

 

[Lorry]

9 minutes ago, sampson said:

second hand oils

Gutter oil is not very common here

[sampson]

32 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Gutter oil is not very common here

 

I have heard from more than one  about larger restaurants / hotels selling their oil. It's taken away and re-sold/used by smaller ones. Whether true or not I don't know but wouldn't surprise me? 

[BigStar]

7 hours ago, cooked said:

It still confuses me why Farangs still recommend olive oil here

 

Can imagine why anyone wouldn't, unless skint.

 

7 hours ago, cooked said:

unadulterated and VERY expensive.

 

Only way to fly. Gimme my daily veggies with Bertolli. Love them polyphenols.

 

7 hours ago, cooked said:

Coconut oil is a much better solution.

 

For what is the question. Dr. Berg gets some love here. He happened to write about the differences last month:  Coconut Oil vs Olive Oil Which is Better.

 

[Irish star]

I can’t eat in this heat I lose lose lose 

[Irish star]

2 hours ago, Lorry said:

Gutter oil is not very common here

Thank god that YouTube video is disgraceful 

[Irish star]

2 hours ago, sampson said:

A lot of the food here is pure garbage, that is true. I wince when I read comments on social media about all that amazing healthy Thai street food. 

 

Salt, MSG, Sugar and old or even second hand oils are the norm and often crazy amounts of it.  They are even loading salads with sugar. Check out how bad diabetes is here .. In the defence of Pad Krapow thoug, it's comfort food, it's not supposed to be healthy  as such.

 

The only way you can really be sure about what you're eating and it's preparation is to cook it yourself. Even the vegetables are full of pesticides though.   If you're on holiday you're probably not going to do that but if you live here and eat every meal out then being genuinely healthy will be a struggle.  Most places to rent don't have ovens but buy a large air fryer and that will do most tasks for you and the hob the rest.  A rice cooker / steamer all in one combo might be a good investment too. 

 

 

 

 

 

I never eat street food , no handwashing pissing  in bottles No thank you , I watch the cooks ho straight from toilet to restaurants in malls 

[Lorry]

38 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

Can imagine why anyone wouldn't, unless skint.

 

 

Only way to fly. Gimme my daily veggies with Bertolli. Love them polyphenols.

 

 

For what is the question. Dr. Berg gets some love here. He happened to write about the differences last month:  Coconut Oil vs Olive Oil Which is Better.

 

I really don't trust Bertolli, olive oil for Americans... but I may be wrong.

 

About coconut oil vs olive oil Dr Berg quotes a study from Ramathibodi.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8148021/

 

"Replacement of PUFAs with coconut oil significantly increased HDL-c and total cholesterol –by 2.27 (0.93–3.6) mg/dL and 5.88 (0.21–11.55) mg/dL, respectively—but not LDL-c."

(PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acids, as in olive oil or canola oil; HDL-cholesterol good, LDL-cholesterol bad)

 

I am not surprised that a study from Thailand doesn't see a problem with coconut oil. I would equally not be surprised if a study from Canada founds lots of advantages of canola oil. 

[sampson]

1 minute ago, Irish star said:

I never eat street food , no handwashing pissing  in bottles No thank you , I watch the cooks ho straight from toilet to restaurants in malls 

 

I wouldn't assume a restaurant has any better standards.

 

My Thai girl said the Thais have a saying, something about don't worry about what the kitchen looks like or you'd never eat anything.

 

Mostly I've been ok in Thailand but Cambodia was another matter altogether

 

 

[DD86]

On 8/22/2024 at 6:04 AM, DonniePeverley said:

 .... as in trying to lose weight, not maintaining. 

 

Calories aren't a major weapon used here - unless you look to buy heavily processed ready  made meals. 

 

I was eating a single Pad Kaprao a day for a week, and some fruit on the evening. Didn't lose anything. 

 

Went behind the scenes to see how this Pad Kaprao was being made (under the guise of being a good customer). My goodness this isn't some healthy meal, little bit of chicken mixed into some spicy veg and some rice. Hell no. Instead the volume of oil used was enough to burn a building. She then proceeds to add 20 large spoons (i literally lie to you not) of sugar, followed by endless volume of a salt called MGM. So you think that's it ... no there were more. Once finished she began to put some butter into it, a proper massive lump !!!!!

The sheer volume of salt and MSG put into the rice was astonishing.

 

I came away thinking this isn't just some minor small meal. This is a one hell of a calorie laden meal. 

 

My question is to you all ... how on earth do you count calories here and lose weight ?

Butter? Margerine is what you mean, I presume. If you don't know the difference, well............

[BigStar]

44 minutes ago, Lorry said:

I really don't trust Bertolli, olive oil for Americans... but I may be wrong.

 

 

44 minutes ago, Lorry said:

"Replacement of PUFAs with coconut oil significantly increased HDL-c and total cholesterol –by 2.27 (0.93–3.6) mg/dL and 5.88 (0.21–11.55) mg/dL, respectively—but not LDL-c."

 

And olive oil is low in PUFA, as the study recognizes:

 

Several studies have indicated that MUFA derived from plant (e.g., olive oil) or animal (e.g., lard) sources is not equivalent to PUFA with respect to the effect on CVD [24,25,26].

 

The emphasis is more on coconut oil vs seed oils high in PUFA. Though PUFA is touted as beneficial by the seed oil industry itself, the low carb/keto/whole foods advocates will disagree. The correlation between the rise of the obesity epidemic and seed oil consumption is quite striking, but explainable in the context of total dietary changeover towards more processed food and carbs.

 

The study is consonant with the general rehabilitation of saturated fats in non-Thai studies. 

 

HDL may increase w/ a corresponding rise in LDL, for multiple reasons, including a lower carb diet w/ saturated fats. LDL may as well, but low carb says that's not significant if low carb is adhered to, the weight's in a healthy range, and the TG/LDL ratio's good. It helps that TG is usually lower. The increased LDL, if any, seems to be of less-harmful larger particles.

 

 

 

[Lorry]

 

36 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

 

 

And olive oil is low in PUFA, as the study recognizes:

 

Several studies have indicated that MUFA derived from plant (e.g., olive oil) or animal (e.g., lard) sources is not equivalent to PUFA with respect to the effect on CVD [24,25,26].

 

The emphasis is more on coconut oil vs seed oils high in PUFA. Though PUFA is touted as beneficial by the seed oil industry itself, the low carb/keto/whole foods advocates will disagree. The correlation between the rise of the obesity epidemic and seed oil consumption is quite striking, but explainable in the context of total dietary changeover towards more processed food and carbs.

 

The study is consonant with the general rehabilitation of saturated fats in non-Thai studies. 

 

HDL may increase w/ a corresponding rise in LDL, for multiple reasons, including a lower carb diet w/ saturated fats. LDL may as well, but low carb says that's not significant if low carb is adhered to, the weight's in a healthy range, and the TG/LDL ratio's good. It helps that TG is usually lower. The increased LDL, if any, seems to be of less-harmful larger particles.

 

 

 

I must say, you are well read.

Whereas you have convinced me of low carb (maybe less of keto, and maybe not as extreme as you)  - thank you -  I am unsure what to make of the seed oil controversy. 

One thing I learned from the Thai study above: these relatively small (if significant) changes in lipids don't look like they are of big clinical relevance.  Just one small brick in the wall.

[BigStar]

10 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Whereas you have convinced me of low carb (maybe less of keto, and maybe not as extreme as you)

 

I'm just ordinary low carb, not keto. Keto's definitely extreme and like work to do correctly. I wouldn't see the point unless it would seem optimal to resolve a particular problem.

 

14 minutes ago, Lorry said:

these relatively small (if significant) changes in lipids don't look like they are of big clinical relevance.  Just one small brick in the wall.

 

Should be put in context, true.