Do Expats Slim Down Eating Only Thai Food?

[Tippaporn]

I exercise regularly with my wifey. And I'm not talking about pumping iron.

[steveromagnino]

I exercise regularly with my wifey. And I'm not talking about pumping iron.

Ah yes, thanks for that, perhaps more info than we needed to know?! Please produce an Anna Jamp video though, just so we can be sure

I'd say most people in the west eat healthy enough food, but the servings are crazily big, and the proportions are often a bit out of wack. How can you possibly need a massive steak - in fact how does anyone manage to meet some of the steaks served in USA?!

Lots of Thai food is not fried; most Thai people choosing a few dishes would go for some fried, some soup and so on.... cannot make generalisations about street food as there's plenty of healthy stuff around. But if you eat massive amounts of it, well you could get fat on most things if you eat enough of them.

Eat the right amount, not eat until you feel full. The reason for increasing obesity in most developing countries is the reduction in exercise as people start living in cities plus the increase in completely dead calories of junk food - coke, McDs, chocolate bars, potato chips and so on.

For expats I cannot see how it can be that hard to lose weight here from diet; but the heat which makes exercising a little tougher and some people's inability to eat the more healthy Thai food for whatever reason combined with cheap booze and going out all the time are probably what makes at least a few balloon out.

[Jack Jones]

With reference to the carbs in white rice, remember that the starch in the rice will turn to sugar in your body if you don't burn it off. So, yes you can put on weight if you don't burn off the calories from the rice.

[otherstuff1957]

When I first came to Thailand I lost about one Kilo per month. Needless to say, I ate Thai food 90% of the time. After one year, I had gone from 90 kilos to 80 kilos ( I'm 185 cm tall - 6'1"). Now, I'm back up to 82 ot 83 kilos. I think my metabolism adjusted to the different diet!

[Uma~~]

When I first came to Thailand I lost about one Kilo per month. Needless to say, I ate Thai food 90% of the time. After one year, I had gone from 90 kilos to 80 kilos ( I'm 185 cm tall - 6'1"). Now, I'm back up to 82 ot 83 kilos. I think my metabolism adjusted to the different diet!

Same same, when I first came I found that I lost too much weight on a diet of 99% Thai food, albeit mostly quality Thai food but I didn't really eat enough which was probably down to all the Spy Classis I was drinking.

Nowadays I have found that I don't put on weight but I don't lose it either, and as a result I look much healthier.

[qualtrough]

Anyone noticed a difference in the way M/F farangs are affected by Thai/Asian food? Years ago I recall reading something to the effect that Western men and women process carbs differently, and as a result many Western women tend to gain weight in Asia whereas the men tend to lose weight. At the time this thesis fit in with my observations. When my sister came for a prolonged visit I mentioned this to her and was dismissed as a hopeless sexist. By the time she left my skinny sister looked like she was going to burst out of her clothing.

[falang74]

I have been back in country about 3 months and the pounds are starting to dissapear.

The differance is I eat spicy thai food, lot's of Guay Dtiaow Gai or Moo, Dtam Thai, fruit and vegetable plates. In all I add chilli. Never before did I enjoy chilli but now I'm hooked.

I try to only have one peeset(special or farang size) and the rest I eat Thai sized portions. Stay away from too much fried foods as those are not only fatty but unhealthy heart cloggers.

If you take to Thai style and don't just adapt Thai food to a Falang buffet portion you should see a decrease in my opinion.

As for sugar if you want to reduce the amount learn "Mai Sai Nam Dtan Khrap" many Thais prefer un-sweetened style it will not be an unusual request.

The best way I found to accomplish this is move to a place where the KFC's and Pizza Companies are at a distance, difficult, yes, but it sure helps not having the temptation nearby. For example, I live on Thanon Jan and Soi Yejit in Sathorn I only find Thai vendors within short walking distance.

Lastly, get out and sweat. Look for the local temple or Suan Lumpini style outdoor gym for 5 or 10 baht per day and get a great workout you can make some local friends . One less fat sweaty farang won't be missed, I promise.........

AC

[Donz]

depends what you eat. If you eat alot of veggies you and not so much meat you lose weight, other way around you gain weight. Also portion size is the key too.

[katnip]

Look for the local temple

Am I missing something ? You mean for the exercise walking there or is there something else ?

Anyway, my tip is to eat your take-away Thai foods with extra salad/veg and brown rice. Brown rice is easily found here and much better for you than white rice as it's a complex carb.

[Ulysses G.]

I would lose lots of weight if I only ate Thai food because I don't much like it, however there is plenty of Italian, American, Greek, Israeli, Japanese, Chinese food here that I DO like, so I keep getting bigger and bigger!

[Mr Jones]

depends what you eat. If you eat alot of veggies you and not so much meat you lose weight, other way around you gain weight. Also portion size is the key too.

Sorry donz you have that arse about face.

High Carbohydrate vegetables potatoes, rice, etc you will put on weight if you eat enough.

I’m not talking about the green vegetables that are very low in Carbohydrates.

Meat and animal fat contain no Carbohydrates there for you cannot get overweight (see Eskimos) Iceland had no diabetes until after ww2 and the introduction of high carb food, north American Indians, the same

Lesson 1.

Carbohydrates are ingested and turned into glucose, not sugar, or calories, a calorie is a unit of heat.

Your pancreas produces insulin and it is used to transport the glucose to the parts of the body that uses glucose ie muscles the brain, any extra glucose the insulin stores as body fat.

Then the problems of over consumption of Carbohydrates start, your pancreas cant produce enough insulin and the glucose remains in the blood the kidneys do their bit but its not enough, you are always thirsty, you pee all the time, you feel weak and tired, so of to the doctor and you are then diagnosed as a diabetic or the very wrong diagnosis “pre-diabetic”

Then the fun really starts, the diabetes doctors/nurses advise a low fat high carb diet, the very freekin diet that has caused the western worlds very high incidents of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes should not be confused with type1 there is no cure for type1, type 2 is curable.

[dave111223]

I always lose alot of weight here, but think its not the food, but the heat.

I eat Thai food for most meals, but still manage to find a pizza joint or KFC a couple of times a week. I probably lost about 30lbs in 3 months.

However i tend to eat alot more frequently here but still lose weight.

However the opposite is true when i go back to the US i put on weight very quickly.

[meadish_sweetball]

There will be many different answers because people lead different lives.

If you are used to eating one plate of the food in front of you and to eat up everything in front of you (mama, j'accuse!), and happen to like food and eat regularly Thai style with lots of different dishes on the table, you may find it difficult to stop eating even when you are reasonably full, so you will gain weight.

Also, as has been said, the heat and activity level are important too. When I travelled in Thailand I always lost weight here, because I spent lots of time outside in the sun, often walking, swimming, biking etc.

As an expat I spend a lot of the time in air condition and little time outside, and do not have a physically active job. I still love Thai food though. As a result I have gained quite a bit of weight over the past few years. Right now I have put myself on an exercise regime and reduced the general amount of food, and in particular the carbohydrates and sugary foods. It seems to work. Lost one kilo last week.

[mrbojangles]

Drank Chang/Singha nonstop and skipped meals - seem to lost weight after 3 weeks? (new diet trend?????)

CHANG DIET!!!!!

Thats working for me too .

Same, same. Now, when anybody calls and i'm not in, the Mrs just says "no, he gone to pub for Vitamin"

[ronw]

do not know if this relevant,but when i first came to asia, I weighed 87kilos...spent two years in sumatera...and dropped to 70 kilos...have been in LOS for three years now...and my weight changeth not...

I must admit that previously I was drinking about 8 or 10 pints of ale /night....and eating five meals a day....

now i eat three meals/day...and only drink a few small bottles of what I call Eurofizz [lager]per week.....maybe there is a slight possibility that the change of intake had something to do with it!....

[nostrel]

you have to consider how much exercise the average expat gets it cant be much .its taxis everywhere and not much walking.

[pitrevie]

Jasper Carrot the British comedian I think put his finger on it, the reason people get fat is that the hole the food goes in is bigger than the one it comes out.

[girlx]

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

[terry57]

i have lost about 20 pounds since i got to thailand a year and a half ago, eating only thai food.

i lost 10kg in 9 months eating thai tucker,

got back home and friends said i looked sick, but i felt fantastic.

put the wait back on, friends said, you'r looking good.

but i felt like <deleted>

[jing jing]

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

Sounds just perfect as you are right now, unless you're taller than 5'6" or so. Actually, to give a more accurate assessment we would need pictures...

[too true]

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

Sounds just perfect as you are right now, unless you're taller than 5'6" or so. Actually, to give a more accurate assessment we would need pictures...

Jeez Loueez! No wonder young girls today have such body image problems! 5'5" and 108 lbs sounds perfect??? On a western woman? I would think that 5'2" would be the tallest you could go and still look voluptuous on 108lbs. And the people in the circles I run in (not farang circles, either) would take voluptuous over stickbug any day. Although part of me would give my eye teeth to be in girlx's predicament, I can understand how she might feel as though she's lost more than just pounds.

But to add my own experience - I have gained weight here. I think it's teh sticky rice. I eat plain white rice maybe 3 or 4 times a month. It's sticky rice every day at our house. When I go home for holidays (apparently not often enough) I lose loads of weight and my husband (thai) puts on loads. Then we come back and he loses weight and I gain again. I'm almost positive it's the sticky rice. And the beer. And maybe just an itsy bitsy little bit because I've had 2 kids since I've been here. With the first one I went back to prepregnancy weight (although a little bit softer in the middle) after a month, but the second one..... no matter how much exercise I did/do, there are about 5kg that just won't go.

[changchang]

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

Sounds just perfect as you are right now, unless you're taller than 5'6" or so. Actually, to give a more accurate assessment we would need pictures...

Actually, no ... that would put her at least 10 pounds underweight by medically recommended standards. (Guessing she's a young woman.)

[Donz]

How tall are you girlx, and I agree with jing jing, post some pics so we can have a accurate assessment. Or just PM me

[suegha]

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

Eat more!

I always lose weight when in Thailand. Thai food slims me down. I do not eat less, I eat more, that coupled with the fact that I only ever drink beer in Thailand, seems contradictory, but it's true!

[sooboofarang]

Ok we see plenty of rotund expats eating their hearts out at Sizzler & other western restaurants.

How about those expats who eat only Thai street food for months & months on end, without touching western food? ooh, those juicy tender mouth watering imported steaks, pizzas with melting cheese etc

Do they actually lose weight eating spicy som tam & fried rice & other delicious thai street food?

Aroi...

hahaha 555 you get fatter i think drink more beer and to eat pork most nights I live up in the jungle bankruad

and she is a great cook so I eat more

jungle patato,s aroy mak and of cause they but suger in every thing

and you seem to eat alot of rice cause it seems to be not so filling

well I not care I am now 78kg's before i was about 70kg's so about 8 killo's in 3 month I try to lose weight at home in australia

[girlx]

How tall are you girlx

5'7"

i live on a remote beach on an island, not easy to get snacks etc. here. i eat twice a day but i don't think about food much beyond that.

[westcoastnative]

I was in Thailand last year for 15 days. I only lost 3 pounds but I lost a couple of inches in my waist size. I attribute it to all the walking I did on my trip. At home I work in an office and I sit much of the day, but on vacation I was very active. I ate pretty much what I wanted to eat.

[miminem]

As stated earlier white rice is not good for you as most people think, its not a complex carbohydrate. The pork is very fatty and the fried food is especially bad as they cook in pork fat mostly and don't change it often enough so it becomes a trans fatty acid and can be carciogenic.

Having said that I eat thai food every day but just not too much.

The only way to succesfully lose weight is not to eat more calories than you expend each day, easy really.

I fully agree with the last sentence. I do not drink alcohol, I do not eat white rice , I eat once a day some home made thai food, usually tom yum and som tam, then a coconut milk pork or chicken curry. But it must be too many calories anyway as I am putting weight. But i cannot decide yet which dish should I give up first.

One question though: I eat a small portion of sticky rice, which has more gluten I think. Does it change anything? May be I should start my diet without the sticky rice?

[Pakboong]

Ok we see plenty of rotund expats eating their hearts out at Sizzler & other western restaurants.

How about those expats who eat only Thai street food for months & months on end, without touching western food? ooh, those juicy tender mouth watering imported steaks, pizzas with melting cheese etc

Do they actually lose weight eating spicy som tam & fried rice & other delicious thai street food?

Aroi...

It seems that eating thai causes Expats to leap of tall buildings.

[kittyinbangkok]

Ok we see plenty of rotund expats eating their hearts out at Sizzler & other western restaurants.

How about those expats who eat only Thai street food for months & months on end, without touching western food? ooh, those juicy tender mouth watering imported steaks, pizzas with melting cheese etc

Do they actually lose weight eating spicy som tam & fried rice & other delicious thai street food?

Aroi...

I arrived one month ago in bangkok (we will stay here for 2 years). My family and I don't want to buy imported products or eat what you call western food (which is american food, IMO) all the time. we especially eat : veggies, chicken, pork, rice and fruits. In thailand we eat more rice than in france. In france, we used to eat more red meat, which is fatter than the white one. I also eat more cream than here. But, here, lots of dishes with various curry are cooked with coconut cream, coconut milk, palm sugar, white sugar. But here, we eat more fruits than in france!

My husband and I have lost maybe 2 or 3 Kg but my son didn't lose anything! (ouf!).

Sorry for my english, I tried to do my best.