I was chatting with my hairdresser who is 55yo, she's 55kg and 148cm, she looks a little overweight but ok, anyway i said I'd check her BMI and she falls in the obese range and so has a higher risk of weight related health conditions, i was surprised but shows why so many are getting diabetes etc

Check your wives and girlfriends BMI before they get some weight related health condition, diabetes is popular

Was at the Govt hospital in Nong Bua Lamphu yesterday for a follow appointment after a very nasty accident. I was doing the usual weight and blood pressure stuff before seeing my consultant Mrs Utalk2mutt jumps on the scales, 42.5 Kgs (93.7 lbs) 53 years old and eats like a horse. How just how? I only have to look at a cream cake and on goes another pound. Somehow I don’t think she’s got too much to worry about but you’re right to point this health stuff out.

 

As an aside whilst I was in hospital I was in a small area of 8 beds, all occupied by Thais except me obviously. Of the 8 people in this area 6 were diabetics. Diabetes is rife here.

Yesterday, I had problems getting off the BTS.

In front of me, blocking the complete exit, about 3 meters wide, was a female human being of Asian extraction, probably Thai, of dimensions I have never seen before (I haven't been to the US for a long time).

I really had problems finding a way around this deleted.

So much for the petite Asian girls. 

 

Before, I had been at Lotus. Hard to find any product without added sugar.

And in the food court,  there is exactly 1 (one) place that doesn't use palm oil.

Lots and lots of white rice everywhere,  but sorry, I don't need the calories to  work in the rice fields,  and I don't know anybody in Bangkok who does.

I think it starts off young and parents have the responsibility to ingrain portion size and moderation. I can envisage grandma looking after kids and killing them with mounds of calorific love!

 

I got everything I wanted as a kid and was fed mostly junk. My sister turned out obese, but lucky I got smart and adapted.

Thais - mostly in BKK - adopting Usofan diet: processed foods + sugar overload.

7 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Thais - mostly in BKK - adopting Usofan diet: processed foods + sugar overload.

Add to that absolutely no exercise at all. Use motorcycles, taxis and cars to get around and rarely walk at all. 

 Adopting junk food categories from obese hot spots.

Sweet sodas, donuts (Dunkin, Kreem?), stuff like Oreo, ice cream, bubble tea (pure poison)...

The list is endless.

Walk through a mall on a family weekend and see yourself.

The older generation (upcountry) did not grow up with the junk and can't afford it.

Less obese.

Seeing some baby elephants makes me sick.

The fattest people I see are the retired blokes in Bangkok. 

I'd be too ashamed to leave the house if I had a belly like I see on some farangs.  
 

Just now, Freddy42OZ said:

The fattest people I see are the retired blokes in Bangkok. 

I'd be too ashamed to leave the house if I had a belly like I see on some farangs.  
 

The role models 

4 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

The fattest people I see are the retired blokes in Bangkok. 

I'd be too ashamed to leave the house if I had a belly like I see on some farangs.  
 

But, nobody cares if you have a fat belly, nobody................🤫

On 11/13/2025 at 7:40 AM, Utalk2mutt said:

Mrs Utalk2mutt jumps on the scales, 42.5 Kgs (93.7 lbs) 53 years old and eats like a horse. How just how? I

She has worms. Pretty common in these parts.

Look at the schools, they sell so much junk food the whole day, most kids in my 6 year old daughters class get 20baht a day to spend at school and they buy candy. I am the mean dad who will not give 20baht to my daughter each day to buy candy, I explain to her about the health aspect thou she would still prefer the candy but Lam aware of the health implications, so tough love. The school provides a good lunch each day.

2 minutes ago, stupidfarang said:

Look at the schools, they sell so much junk food the whole day, most kids in my 6 year old daughters class get 20baht a day to spend at school and they buy candy. I am the mean dad who will not give 20baht to my daughter each day to buy candy, I explain to her about the health aspect thou she would still prefer the candy but Lam aware of the health implications, so tough love. The school provides a good lunch each day.

They do, have you tried it................😬....................🤭

On 11/12/2025 at 12:48 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I was chatting with my hairdresser who is 55yo

 

Get her off the carbs and put her on Keto and restricted time feeding.

 

If people don't want to do that, then they will stay fat.

 

I learned the hard way. Reintroduced carbs and 3 meals a day and it was a disaster.

 

Exercise can't fix this problem.

 

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

 

Get her off the carbs and put her on Keto and restricted time feeding.

 

If people don't want to do that, then they will stay fat.

 

I learned the hard way. Reintroduced carbs and 3 meals a day and it was a disaster.

 

Exercise can't fix this problem.

 

You can lose weight on carbs, just not junk carbs, eat real food. 1939 the basket cases were given the Kempner rice diet to lose weight or die

2 hours ago, Freddy42OZ said:

The fattest people I see are the retired blokes in Bangkok. 

I'd be too ashamed to leave the house if I had a belly like I see on some farangs.  
 

Probably beer mainly 

Amongst many Thais, it is now a status symbol to be fat.  It shows (a) you have lots of money to buy lots of food and (b) you don't have to work hard at manual labour . . . 

From looking around, it still seems a lot better here than in the west, especially the US.

What is the source for the OP BTW?

45 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You can lose weight on carbs, just not junk carbs, eat real food. 1939 the basket cases were given the Kempner rice diet to lose weight or die

 

White rice diet. Not sure if it's a hoax. But maybe they completely cut out fats.

Also, there is such a thing as The Randall Cycle. Eating carbs and fats at the same time is a big problem. The body can only use one fuel at a time.

Also, doesn't mean it's healthy long-term.

 

Anyway, a lot of studies seem to claim that keto long-term is unhealthy, but now I am beginning to think these studies are fake.

 

I simply cannot lose weight with carbs.

 

Also, this is a very long video, but worth a watch if you have time.

Seems like some marathon or other high performance athletes have been consuming to ingest high carbs to perform at high levels. Some of them have gone up to 1000 carbs. Sometimes they run for 4 hours ... triathlon .... This recent study showed that running off fat (keto) doesn't affect performance AND these athletes get diabetes. Even though they are not getting fat and burning off the carbs during exercise, they still have diabetes from all that glucose long-term.

 

They've been telling athletes you need carb loading for marathons, but it seems the body does well on stored fats / ketosis.

 

I am going back to KETO and I will ignore all the so-called studies that claim it's harmful. I never had an easier time keeping my weight down. With carbs, it's impossible. One person said after the age of around 40, many people have difficulty processing carbs.

 

In fact, I may start a Youtube channel attacking these high-carb guys. It makes most people fat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first came here 20 years ago, the only fat people were tourists, but just like most countries, Thailand is adopting the standard American diet (SAD), high fat, high sugar, processed carbs

IMO Thailand can place much blame on Mitrphol, the massive Thai sugar corporation , for its obesity and diabeties problems. So many Thai products are packed with sugar, in many disgustingly so!  

 

I am an insulin dependent Type 2 diabetic and I used to have many problems trying to find sugar free food products on Thai shelves. 

 

No problem here in Siem Reap, my supermarket has a vast range of sugar free food products suitable for me, interestingly many imported UK brands from the Co-oP and Morissons. 

23 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

IMO Thailand can place much blame on Mitrphol, the massive Thai sugar corporation , for its obesity and diabeties problems. So many Thai products are packed with sugar, in many disgustingly so!  

 

I am an insulin dependent Type 2 diabetic and I used to have many problems trying to find sugar free food products on Thai shelves. 

 

No problem here in Siem Reap, my supermarket has a vast range of sugar free food products suitable for me, interestingly many imported UK brands from the Co-oP and Morissons. 

Except it's not the sugar, fruitarians only eat sugar, it's the fat that blocks insulin receptors. The real enemy is junk food, fat/carb combined, most people don't seem to know that

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

 

White rice diet. Not sure if it's a hoax. But maybe they completely cut out fats.

Also, there is such a thing as The Randall Cycle. Eating carbs and fats at the same time is a big problem. The body can only use one fuel at a time.

Also, doesn't mean it's healthy long-term.

 

Anyway, a lot of studies seem to claim that keto long-term is unhealthy, but now I am beginning to think these studies are fake.

 

I simply cannot lose weight with carbs.

 

Also, this is a very long video, but worth a watch if you have time.

Seems like some marathon or other high performance athletes have been consuming to ingest high carbs to perform at high levels. Some of them have gone up to 1000 carbs. Sometimes they run for 4 hours ... triathlon .... This recent study showed that running off fat (keto) doesn't affect performance AND these athletes get diabetes. Even though they are not getting fat and burning off the carbs during exercise, they still have diabetes from all that glucose long-term.

 

They've been telling athletes you need carb loading for marathons, but it seems the body does well on stored fats / ketosis.

 

I am going back to KETO and I will ignore all the so-called studies that claim it's harmful. I never had an easier time keeping my weight down. With carbs, it's impossible. One person said after the age of around 40, many people have difficulty processing carbs.

 

In fact, I may start a Youtube channel attacking these high-carb guys. It makes most people fat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keto is probably the easiest way to lose weight but it's a trick really, can't eat carbs and sugar, you'll panic sooner or later with high LDL the fuel of the Atherosclerosis fire

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

From looking around, it still seems a lot better here than in the west, especially the US.

What is the source for the OP BTW?

Source was Deepseek, feel free to verify it

I was chatting to my thai lawyer friend last night, i wanted her to check her BMI,  59kg and 168cm she has BMI 22 in the healthy range, height is a massive factor vs the hairdresser in the op who was 55kg 148cm BMI 25.1 obese but doesn't look it

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Keto is probably the easiest way to lose weight but it's a trick really, can't eat carbs and sugar, you'll panic sooner or later with high LDL the fuel of the Atherosclerosis fire

 

Nah, I'm sick of the Keto fear-mongering.

It's all BS.

It had me fooled for a while.

Every month, a new "Keto diet will kill you" study will come out.

And from now on, I will ignore these pseudo-studies.

 

Most people will never give up carbs because it's like a heroin fix. 

But I'm sick of being overweight.

Just went to an Indian restaurant. Ordered the tandoori chicken -- No rice or nan.

damn that tandoori is good.

 

I may start a Youtube channel attacking these high-carb gurus. 

It's bs and most people cannot handle all these carbs. 

 

 

14 hours ago, hidbehindthesofa said:

Amongst many Thais, it is now a status symbol to be fat.  It shows (a) you have lots of money to buy lots of food and (b) you don't have to work hard at manual labour . . . 

 

Yeah, in Africa the fattest guys used to get all the girls because it showed he could afford to eat a lot. 

 

5 hours ago, gargamon said:

She has worms. Pretty common in these parts.

That could be so.  I weigh the same now (at 76yrs of age) as I did in my 20’s.  Can’t for the life of me put on more weight.  However, I’m not a fan of junk food, cook from scratch, high quality organic food and oils.  I work out at the gym and have good muscle definition, but oh how I wish I could add on another 2-3kgs!  BTW, I know I don’t have worms! 😊

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

 

Nah, I'm sick of the Keto fear-mongering.

It's all BS.

It had me fooled for a while.

Every month, a new "Keto diet will kill you" study will come out.

And from now on, I will ignore these pseudo-studies.

 

Most people will never give up carbs because it's like a heroin fix. 

But I'm sick of being overweight.

Just went to an Indian restaurant. Ordered the tandoori chicken -- No rice or nan.

damn that tandoori is good.

 

I may start a Youtube channel attacking these high-carb gurus. 

It's bs and most people cannot handle all these carbs. 

 

 

Once you lose weight and sustain it for many years then you can give advice about dieting and nutrition, in the meantime I'll continue eating high carb low fat and stay slim and athletic