When overseas-how come so many people lose weight?

[zboy1]

It's a question that I have always wanted to ask: Why is it that when most people go overseas--they tend to lose a lot of weight?

For example, since I have been in China, I've lost maybe 10 pounds already. And, the odd thing is, I have virtually stopped jogging or working-out and going to gym, since I came here. I used to work out fairly often each week back in the States, but I still weighed over 200 pounds at 5'11 inches tall.

My only explanation is that I've eaten less food while in China, but looking at it more closely, that has not been the case. In fact, I've eaten just as much as I did back in the States. I also eat a lot of snacks after dinner--and still do in China. So what can explain this weight-loss?

And this isn't limited to Asia, either. In fact, when I lived in Europe (stationed in a U.K. Air base), I experienced the same weight loss as I have in China. The food in France, for example, was amazing! The best food I ever ate was in that country!

Here's a book by a French author about how when she came to the U.S., she gained so much weight that when she returned back to France, her parents and friends were shocked! She then was shamed into going on a diet, but she did not diet like the usual American way; instead, she just did what the French have naturally done for decades and enjoy life and eating fine foods whenever she felt like it. So, naturally...she lost all her weight back in a few months.



The French Diet: Why French Women Don't Get Fat








Several possible factors:

--I practically walk everywhere on foot--whether it's to my school, going shopping, or eating at a restaurant. Sometimes I just--for the fun of it--walk for 30 minutes or more, just to explore the town I'm in.

--Maybe the food is healthier? I know China has a reputation for awful quality of food, but it's seems like I feel a lot healthier and stronger here...mmnnn? Maybe it's because of all the GM food, chemicals, preservatives, MSG/High Fructose Corn Syrup garbage that's in most foods in the USA, that make me feel so unhealthy and sick all the time...? I don't know...Too many processed foods in the diet of most Americans, I believe.

--I eat a lot of freshly made food in China. That's how they do it here. Maybe that's healthier than eating all the fast-food KFC, McDonald's, Pizza-Hut processed-crap in America?

--Strangely, even all the well-known Western/American fast food chains taste better overseas--especially in other parts of Asia (e.g. S. Korea). My parents and my sister went to S. Korea a couple years back--and they told me that even the Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, and Starbucks tasted miles better there than it did back in the United States...

--Asia (as a region) has some amazing food here...Whether it's Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Japanese, etc...I love the food in this region! (with the exception of the Philippines, of course, LOL!).

--I know it isn't because I stopped eating because I've eaten some very tasty Chinese food while in the country. Even the stuff served at my school is fresh and amazingly tasty...I've eaten quite a lot, actually...since I've been here.


Anybody else with a similar experience to mines? I'd like to know...
--

[gsjackson]

Yeah, I lose 12-15 pounds every time I go to Europe for the summer. I assume it's all the walking, and maybe fewer female hormones in the food. It goes back on just as fast as it came off when I go back to the States.

[zboy1]

Yeah, I lose 12-15 pounds every time I go to Europe for the summer. I assume it's all the walking, and maybe fewer female hormones in the food. It goes back on just as fast as it came off when I go back to the States.

Yeah, that happened to me too, when I came back to the States from Europe. Also, when I came back from South Korea a couple of years ago. I'm sure I'll gain plenty of weight back when I go back to the States next summer.

[nicho12]

It's a question that I have always wanted to ask: Why is it that when most people go overseas--they tend to lose a lot of weight?

For example, since I have been in China, I've lost maybe 10 pounds already. And, the odd thing is, I have virtually stopped jogging or working-out and going to gym, since I came here. I used to work out fairly often each week back in the States, but I still weighed over 200 pounds at 5'11 inches tall.

My only explanation is that I've eaten less food while in China, but looking at it more closely, that has not been the case. In fact, I've eaten just as much as I did back in the States. I also eat a lot of snacks after dinner--and still do in China. So what can explain this weight-loss?

And this isn't limited to Asia, either. In fact, when I lived in Europe (stationed in a U.K. Air base), I experienced the same weight loss as I have in China. The food in France, for example, was amazing! The best food I ever ate was in that country!

Here's a book by a French author about how when she came to the U.S., she gained so much weight that when she returned back to France, her parents and friends were shocked! She then was shamed into going on a diet, but she did not diet like the usual American way; instead, she just did what the French have naturally done for decades and enjoy life and eating fine foods whenever she felt like it. So, naturally...she lost all her weight back in a few months.



The French Diet: Why French Women Don't Get Fat








Several possible factors:

--I practically walk everywhere on foot--whether it's to my school, going shopping, or eating at a restaurant. Sometimes I just--for the fun of it--walk for 30 minutes or more, just to explore the town I'm in.

--Maybe the food is healthier? I know China has a reputation for awful quality of food, but it's seems like I feel a lot healthier and stronger here...mmnnn? Maybe it's because of all the GM food, chemicals, preservatives, MSG/High Fructose Corn Syrup garbage that's in most foods in the USA, that make me feel so unhealthy and sick all the time...? I don't know...Too many processed foods in the diet of most Americans, I believe.

--I eat a lot of freshly made food in China. That's how they do it here. Maybe that's healthier than eating all the fast-food KFC, McDonald's, Pizza-Hut processed-crap in America?

--Strangely, even all the well-known Western/American fast food chains taste better overseas--especially in other parts of Asia (e.g. S. Korea). My parents and my sister went to S. Korea a couple years back--and they told me that even the Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, and Starbucks tasted miles better there than it did back in the United States...

--Asia (as a region) has some amazing food here...Whether it's Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Thai, Korean, Japanese, etc...I love the food in this region! (with the exception of the Philippines, of course, LOL!).

--I know it isn't because I stopped eating because I've eaten some very tasty Chinese food while in the country. Even the stuff served at my school is fresh and amazingly tasty...I've eaten quite a lot, actually...since I've been here.


Anybody else with a similar experience to mines? I'd like to know...
--

Well the answer is very simple and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. American food is so artificial, which is to say it's genetically modified food. I too am African, and experience the same thing, overseas(outside America or even Canada), the food is very natural with may be 2 to 3% preservatives added to it, in America it's like 90 to 95% of preservatives and other artificial modifications added to it which not only makes people fat, but it loses it's natural taste. For-example when I eat pork or goat meat whenever am in Uganda, it tastes like pork or goat meat, but here in America it almost has no taste at all, you can't even tell that you're eating pork.

You have to understand that America is built for making money and business, so the farmers are not going to wait for long in order for their chickens, or cows or goats or whatever to grow at a normal rate before they can sell them, they will be losing a lot of money, so they instead add all these unnatural chemicals in them in order for them to grow much faster which in turn makes people fat. That's what happens when you only think about making money

[momopi]

Speaking from personal experience, I walk a lot more when I'm overseas, but I'm not driving there.

In the US people fight over parking slots that's closest to the store, as if walking another 20 feet is going to kill them or something.

[somedude]

Better quality food readily available outside the U.S. imo. It's expensive to eat healthy in the U.S. which is bass akwards from what it should be.

[davewe]

It's a question that I have always wanted to ask: Why is it that when most people go overseas--they tend to lose a lot of weight?

--

I just assumed it was all the sex I have when overseas

[HouseMD]

It's all of the artificial crap in our foods. Nothing is natural. Meats are loaded with fillers that bloat them with calories, vegetables have been processed and stripped of their nutritional value, fat, salt, and sugar are added to nearly everything to make it more appealing. This is aside from all of the chemicals that are added to foods that have a substantial impact on our bodies to a degree that we do not fully understand.

The walking helps, but I'm putting it mostly on the food. I mean, I drink 24/7 overseas and eat out for every meal, yet I always come home five to ten pounds lighter.

[momopi]

Food serving size also tend to be smaller overseas. Oddly, given the same spicy Taiwanese beef noodle, a bowl in Taiwan is a lot smaller than a bowl in the US.

French cuisine use a lot of butter and fat, but they don't eat fried chicken by the bucket, and their croissants are not American XL sized. If you've ever made croissants from scratch, you might faint from the amount of butter used. Or fat used for making duck confit.

Last week, I went to dinner with my SO at a diner in LA. Typical $8-$10 dinners, soup or salad with entree (prime rib, baked potato, veggies) and dessert. The serving size for 1 dinner was really enough for both of us, but we ordered 2 dinners and ended up packing half of it to go. The "slice of pie" looked like 1/4 of a pie. I looked around at the other diners and noticed quite a few had pot bellies.

This week, I ordered fried pork chop w/rice from a Taiwanese place and the pork chop was like the size of a plate. >_> It gave me flashbacks of the chicken fried steak served at Claim Jumpers. I'd really appreciate smaller servings at a discounted price.

OK, now I just had a flashback of breakfast at Corky's. Their pancake is like the size of a steering wheel. One breakfast entree is good for 3 days worth of breakfast. ;p

http://www.corkyskitchenandbakery.com/




http://www.divinecaroline.com/self/well ... hen-vs-now

[Rocky Top]

Food serving size also tend to be smaller overseas. Oddly, given the same spicy Taiwanese beef noodle, a bowl in Taiwan is a lot smaller than a bowl in the US.

French cuisine use a lot of butter and fat, but they don't eat fried chicken by the bucket, and their croissants are not American XL sized. If you've ever made croissants from scratch, you might faint from the amount of butter used. Or fat used for making duck confit.

I disagree somewhat about the serving sizes being smaller (or significantly smaller). I've had several meals in Central and South America that were comparable to a similar meal here in The States. I tend to think that it is the combination of the walking and the stuff that is actually in (or not in) the food.

[momopi]

Food serving size also tend to be smaller overseas. Oddly, given the same spicy Taiwanese beef noodle, a bowl in Taiwan is a lot smaller than a bowl in the US.
French cuisine use a lot of butter and fat, but they don't eat fried chicken by the bucket, and their croissants are not American XL sized. If you've ever made croissants from scratch, you might faint from the amount of butter used. Or fat used for making duck confit.

I disagree somewhat about the serving sizes being smaller (or significantly smaller). I've had several meals in Central and South America that were comparable to a similar meal here in The States. I tend to think that it is the combination of the walking and the stuff that is actually in (or not in) the food.

I have not been to central or south America, so I will defer to those with more travel experience.

Speaking from personal experience, I attended culinary school for few months under an old school French chef in the US, and have traveled to France for couple of weeks. I can say that a croissant in France is just as loaded in butter and fat, except its' less than half the size of an American croissant.

IMO those who eat American jumbo/XL sized croissants and muffins should look at the portion size, before placing the blame on GMO or whatever else.

Earlier, I had posted a photo from my local Jack in the Box. The poster on the window reads "Go Big, or Go Hungry":



This is a terrible way reinforce bad consumer expectations, as we should not be eating until we're completely stuffed on daily basis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irene-rub ... 69910.html

[Robert77]

I lost 15 pounds in colombia....

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

The Philippines has thickest women in Asia. Nice.
#SkipsIndonesia

And even at that, I had a hard time seeking out thickies, BBWs, and SSBBWs.
But I "tapped" quite a few Pinays in the Phippines like that!

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

I lost 15 pounds in colombia....

And I bet you were "putting it down" (i.e. eating it all) by eating all that rice and still lost the weight.

[tre]

It depends on where you are overseas. I gained weight faster in the Philippines than I did in the USA. Processed sugar is put into everything in the Philippines. Whole Grain anything is rare. There is no public transportation system so you don't get the benefits of walking around as much. I was also very stressed in the Philippines as my job in the USA was terrible at the time and I REALLY dreaded going back to it....I had a hard time relaxing.

I lost weight very fast in Singapore. The food portions are very small and I walked A LOT. I had stress, but less than I did in the USA.

I think stress causes fat gain more than people think. Also, constant walking is better than running on a treadmill in the USA. If you are consistently burning more calories than you consume and your thyroid is working as it should (stress hormones minimized as well), you WILL lose weight.