Korean food
I hate to say this but Obesity rate in America is one of the highest in the world and has 35 percent of the overweight population.
Canada and UK follow this figure having 30.1 percent and 29.8 percent of their population overweight. (29 most obese countries in the world: worldatlas.com)
Where does Korea fall in the picture?
Korea has only 4.7 of the population overweight. OECD (2014)
The perfect bodies of Korean women do not come overnight. I share the secret of the Korean perfect physic, sexy look and supreme confidence (even though cultural prejudice seems obvious) and discuss the Korean food.
The inception
The plane has been flying over the ocean and the land passing the different countries along the way. Everyone was asleep but was not the woman on my right side, possibly from the west. (ok, I saw a flag on her phone.) Family, a pastor and a group of friends, she was flipping to see pictures. To my amazement, the people on the phone seem to have one thing in common. They are all overweight. It seems a lazy conclusion or ‘politically incorrect’ as some put it in the west. But the woman was also overweight. Her breath was so deep that I feel the breath on my arms. She was probably not comfortable with the high altitude and crammed plane space.
I was soon reminded of a story once my friend told me about the woman that she met in South Africa. She told me that some African women have to gain weight before wedding days. The woman is thought to please her man with a larger body. Some are forced to gain weight while others gain with limitless lifestyle.
I looked back at the woman again. She was out as she leans down at the back of the front seat, open mouth and tired.
I could not control my critical mind. I looked around. People seemed more obese than usual.
‘Excuse me’, I said touching the woman trying to pass the narrow alleys of the plane to go to the bathroom.
She didn’t respond. Stressed I checked her pulse pinching her to wake up.
She woke up and confused she passed me.
I walked in front and stood in line. I noticed a big guy at the front seat. His face is covered with white hair and his body is all over the place. He leaned in and rested on the shoulder of the girl next to him. I looked her back, she looked at me and smiled.
‘Are you ok?’ I asked with a sign.
‘Yes’, she responded whispering and nodding her head.
She slowly pulled herself out of the man and she slowly came toward me.
She smiled and looked at the toilet. ‘Oh occupied’, she said trying to start a conversation.
‘We shall wait’, I replied smiling. ‘Ya’, I said. Is that your father
‘No, he is my uncle’ She smiled. ‘He is diabetes. He is a bit overweight.’ She added. ‘We had to come on a trip. He was mourning. His wife passed away.’ She looked down.
‘He will be fine. And You go first. ‘
After hours of flight, I arrived at Seoul airport. People, there were thinner than the rest of the world.
That mere realization helped me ask what makes a society fat or thin, smart or otherwise? The answer is not simple but yes, it is possible to answer.
The answer
Weight loss is not a technique but it is a culture. What makes people fat or thin for life is not the industrial supplements (even though these are also effective) they take or to lose weight fast techniques but the lifestyle they follow. Being thin is a lifestyle, it is a culture that should be embedded in family, even though the whole world is otherwise.
Here are the five secrets of Korean perfect body that I chose to share with you.
1-Smart eating/ smart diet- Korean food
The second day in Seoul, a group invited me to join for dinners. After arranged in a long row in one of the traditional places in the city, the waiters started bringing on the food. First, they put a bowl of spicy soup with a slice of meat. After enjoying the food and the vegetable soup, the servers brought the second course, kimchi, a dish of fermented vegetable (cabbage and daikon radish) Korean traditional food with rice.
After the second course, the third came. Then the fourth. For every course, our guide explained not the taste of the food but the nutrients and the advantages of the food for the body. ‘This is kimchi, it has vitamin A, B, C. It is good for Metabolism’ she said, ‘it is good for digestion.’
After the fifth and final course, there comes a green soup in a small bowl. I could not taste the sour taste of the soup. ‘This is served for respected people in ancient Korea’, she continued. ‘The food has advantages for the heart and the brain. If you eat this daily, you will be healthy. ‘
Korean food is different in many senses. Most Koreans don’t eat to only be full; they prefer nutrients. As the woman was explaining the food based on nutrients, the west could learn to eat not in size but in breadth. What food did you eat and what was the content?
The Korean food, as you saw was various in size and in fact in course. I have not eaten 5 rounds of food. Amazingly, the small portion, the vegetable, the weed, all take small calorie, you won’t get weight. But the variety of Korean food increases your nutrition value.
The Korean food and Korean body tip 1: eat for nutrition, not for size
2-Eat as much as you can but eat healthily- Korean food
The next few days I stayed in the country I noticed the Korean food has lots of vegetables, rice along with the high-energy foods. Even on the first tip, you noticed there were six courses of food. That looked surplus for the west. Yet, the food is natural and healthy.
The Korean food and Korean body tip 2: eat natural
3-Always watch for the Calorie until it becomes a culture.
Most Koreans food is low in calorie. The daily foods like Kimchi are low in Calorie and are part of their consumption culture. Koreans enjoy Low-calorie in different forms and with other Korean foods. For example, Kimchi has more than 180 varieties with completely different presentation and taste. This helps you enjoy the same food with different taste throughout the day and yet your calorie intake is low. The Korean food calorie is much lesser than a single burger.
The Korean food tip 3: watch that calorie
4- physical exercise is a must after Korean food
The youth in Korea has a taste of exercise. This includes cardio, muscle building and running. The Seoul city presents large gardens and riverside parks that people can walk and bike through. The spaces provide free gym equipment. Koreans also prefer walking than taking the bus. The tram system in Seoul is one of the best in the world. But the trend in the country helps the young to walk than wait for these public vehicles.
The Korean food and Korean body tip 4: wake up and hit that road
5-Image is everything
What do we see on TV? I remember someone asked me years before. What you see is what you become. What models do you have in your life? In Korea (based on mere conclusion) a model is not what they wish they were but what they aspire to become. (don’t get me wrong, I saw many unconfident people)
Many celebrity-based TV shows us does not inspire us to become our best. They discourage us. The magazines of supermodels and the unattainable skinny bodies and the photoshop face all make us hate ourselves. The fictional utopian living standards they show us give us negative impressions of ourselves.
Most young people in Korea also have the syndrome. If it was not for the less utopian dilemma that the censored TV presents, the syndrome could have been the same as the west.
The Korean food and Korean body tip 5: focus on your self
conclusion
Finally, the world has a different view of the body. Having other than the normal body weight does not mean you are a loser. Having that particular weight is a result of your lifestyle. Discipline in the industrial world is a success. If you focus on the ingredients of the food rather than the type of the food; on the quality of the food than the amount of the food, then you will see an instant change in your life. Always think your life is your lifestyle and your lifestyle are your life. What you put in daily makes your life. Change your attitude and self-image then the rest is easy.