The Southeast Asia Oreo Diet®1
17 October 2009 in Miscellaneous, Society, Travel
A Dunkin' Donuts in Seoul has mostly Western patrons. We are addicted to this stuff! When I visited Japan in 2001, I couldn't find a decent donut, just an unsweetened poor attempt at one. This year, however, I found my favorite, Krispy Kreme. American fast food is spreading around the world, setting the human race up for failure.
Lose inches FAST! Drop pounds NOW! Eat anything available including a daily dose of Oreos®! For a limited time only, this diet is available COMPLETELY FREE! Willing subjects are needed to validate this revolutionary diet! Here are the steps:
- Travel to SE Asia2, finding accomodation2 in rural areas.
- Get a good night’s sleep every night.
- Walk everywhere—to the laundry, grocery store, tourist sites, etc—covering at least 5-10km every day.
- Enjoy local cuisine when hungry. Snack on one unhealthy treat per day3.
- Report your success!
Ok, so here’s the deal: I need a belt. Two months ago, I purchased a pair of shorts in Saigon, Vietnam. I found a heavy duty camouflage pair I really liked, and tried on the XL size. Too small. I tried the 2XL. Too small. I asked for the 3XL. Not available. 2XL was the biggest size stocked in Vietnam. They were too tight around the belly and I was worried about the button either breaking or bruising my stomach. I really needed some quality shorts with secure, button-down pockets (for my camera and wallet), so I took the undersized 2XL pair, hoping that the cotton wouldn’t shrink much when laundered. Today, about 9 weeks later, those shorts are too loose and I find myself constantly pulling them up, only to have them fall right back down, nearly passing over my hips. Yesterday, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I weighed myself on two scales: 74 Kilograms4 (163 pounds), a full 10 kilograms (22 pounds) less than when I left home.
I left the United States in mid-June, weighing 185 pounds plus or minus a couple. In Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, I continued my “American diet.” That diet included regular fast food and limited exercise. During those early travels, I spent a week in the Mongolian wild. That week I dined on bone marrow and sheep tail (both delicious, by the way) and could feel myself losing weight and getting fit. That feeling disappeared when I returned to South Korea and Japan and their ubiquitous American fast food chains. There I was, in early August, as pudgy as when I left the US. In my last days in Japan, early August, I weighed in the low 180s. That was the last I would see a scale for over a month.
I didn’t even recognize it (weight loss) was happening until I stepped on a scale at a 7-11 in Chiang Mai, Thailand and saw that I was 81 kilograms (178 pounds). Without shoes and gear, I was probably just under 175 pounds. That was a month ago. Having lost about 10 pounds since leaving home, and mostly since leaving Japan, got my attention.
How did I lose so much weight so fast, most of it in the last two months, without even trying? I don’t know exactly, but I suspect my body adjusted to a lower caloric intake even while my daily exercise, walking, was increasing. During my remaining weeks in Thailand, I weighed myself every other day or so and was much more conscious of the weight loss. My diet was a nearly daily meal of my favorite Thai dish, curry soup with pork or chicken, flanked by rice. My “dinner” would be a package of Oreos or another bowl of curry or Pad Thai. Every few days, I would eat a pizza, but my typical daily diet remained one or two bowls of curry with rice and one pack of Oreos. Now that I’m in Cambodia, I’ve replaced Oreos, which I can’t find anywhere, for ice cream5, and the weight has continued to melt away. It’s almost as if my body decided recently it should weigh significantly less and is in a race to reach that new set weight. I’m not exercising vigorously, starving myself, or otherwise putting much effort into losing weight. It’s just happening.
For whatever reason, Oreos, rice, and chicken are enough to sustain me. I don’t experience the hunger pangs I experienced in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Obviously, the Southeast Asia Oreo Diet isn’t a seriously recommended diet6. Replacing Oreos with several daily servings of fruits and vegetables would be far healthier. Nonetheless, I have quickly lost significant weight without doing anything extreme, simply walking around and eating Asian-sized meals, with a daily sugar fix.
These last couple months I have become even more of a believer that chemically-enhanced, technologically engineered food, i.e., American fast food, is the primary culprit in weight gain. I warn some of the locals I meet in these countries that once they start getting saturated with McDonald’s and the like, it is only a matter of time before weight gain becomes a serious national problem for them. I don’t believe in big government and think it would be a big mistake to regulate food products, but maybe something should be done to regulate how that food is produced. Fast food has properties that are creating longterm destructive results for people. Fast food is the new cigarettes, but worse. How many years will pass before we do something about it?
I’m all for personal responsibility and think most able-bodied, able-minded people are responsible for their conditions. That said, there is something about the processed, pre-packaged, chemically-manipulated fast food and soft drinks that makes it extremely difficult for many people to ignore. Like alcohol, gambling, and other addictions, some of us have extreme difficulty controlling our fast food and soft drink intake. With fast food, however, I think a much, much larger percentage of the population is predisposed to the addiction. Most Americans I know are overweight. We’ve all seen the statistics.
Fast food has become the default meal in the United States. My American friends and family who eat well take much more effort and planning to be healthy. They have to maneuver around our so-called Fast Food Nation in order to make nutritious meals. They go to special grocery stores, look for “free range” products, spend time preparing meals, carry homemade meals to work, avoid dining out with other friends, etc. In Thailand and many of these neighboring countries, eating healthily is the default. I can’t find much fast food. Even finding ice cream for me takes a lot of walking. I have to earn it! Though a significant effort to find a Burger King or McDonald’s, it’s a piece of cake to walk outside and find street vendors selling meats and eggs and fruits. Restaurant menus are chockfull of rice and vegetable dishes. This has been my secret to losing weight—I’m losing weight by eating what’s available. The available food is natural and healthy.
I’ve been down this weight loss road before. One of the reasons for leaving my career, in fact, was because I was literally getting sick more often, getting fat, and in a cycle that seemed like it wouldn’t end without drastic action. In 2006 I ballooned to 190-195 pounds. In 2007, with a New Year’s resolution to drop weight, I muscled my way to 162 pounds with a lot of running and lifting. In 2008, once again, I ballooned to the 185-190 pound range. Here I am in 2009 back in the 160s. This time, though, was almost effortless. I’m not trying to lose weight here. I’m just living, going about my travels, walking where I need to go, eating the food available, and not eating unless I have an appetite. Yes, there is something broken in American (and, increasingly, other Westernized nations) society where being fit requires such an effort to exercise and eat well, when in other countries being fit is effortless, part of the natural lifestyle.
Asian women are known for their slight builds, and it is quite obvious to anyone that they are shorter and overall smaller in stature than average Europeans and North Americans. I ask many of them their weights, out of curiosity. The smaller women are about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) and the “heavy” end of the scale is about 50-55 kilograms (110-121 pounds)! They complain about having to lose one or two kilograms. Their perspective on weight and exercise is so much different. Not many struggle the way we do.
Walking around in the evening is one of my favorite things to do here. People congregate in parks to socialize with physical activity, doing calisthenics and playing soccer and other games. Working out casually with each other is part of the national social fabric. In Gifu, Japan, I witnessed this while at a water park. A whistle blew and everyone stopped playing in the water to do 10 minutes of calisthenics! I’ve seen similar things in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Between the healthy food easily found on every street and the commitment to exercising for fun, the citizens in SE Asia have got it nailed.
My journey to SE Asia is quickly coming to an end. I’ll be home in the United States at the end of the month. I fear my lost weight will quickly return. What scares me? This: Burger King® chicken sandwich plus cheese, large chocolate shake and fries. A&W Rootbeer® float. Arby’s® large roast beef sandwich with chocolate swirl shake and curly fries. Buffalo Wild Wings® 18 traditional Parmesan Garlic™ wings with potato wedges. Wendy’s® 1/4lb single patty cheeseburger combo with chocolate Frosty™ and medium fry. McDonald’s vanilla reduced fat ice cream cone. Fuddrucker’s® 1/2 lb bacon cheddar burger with large chocolate shake and fries. Dairy Queen® Oreo® Blizzard®. Pizza Hut™ New! Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pan Pizza. Krispy Kreme® Original Glazed Hot Doughnuts.
I know weight is such a sensitive issue, particularly with Americans and, really, anyone who struggles. What do you think? Is fast food to blame? Should we be holding ourselves totally accountable? Should government get involved by regulating or heavily taxing fast food, like what has been done with cigarettes? Is fast food proliferation the #1 threat to civilization?
1.Registration Pending.
2. To be paid by subject.
3. Oreos® have been effective in limited trials.
4. Though the metric system (used by 190+ countries) is clearly inferior to the American system and possibly inferior to the systems of the two only other nations in the world not using the metric system (Liberia and Burma), I use it here in deference to local standards.
5. Chill, an ice cream parlor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia makes its own ice cream in-store and is the best I’ve tasted anywhere in Asia, bar none.
6. If you have success with this diet, feel free to send me a check or money order for an amount you feel is appropriate.
Not being in proximity to Big Mac (the person, not the food) has probably positively impacted your waistline. I know when he goes to Guam I drop weight like crazy. It is not wise to try to eat like a 6′5″ 220 lb guy with the metabolism of a 16 year old. We can compare stories of how our respective relationships with Big Mac is unhealthy. I just wish I truly could blame him and not myself!
So so glad you have touched on this subject. You need to pick up the book Fast Food Nation! I just read it the other day on this very subject. Was published around 2000. YES!!! believed it before I read the book and was totally validated by the book and now by what you are saying here in your experience. I too have recently started cooking more at home and avoiding fast food and have dropped 30lbs almost effortlessly. It’s not about big government but about appropriate government that looks out for the people. Not the fast food executives!!!!! The best way to fix Iraq, drop a big mac factory in there and that will slow them down enough we can catch’em. That last was a joke by the way.
Awesome awesome topic. I could go on and on about this one. But please if you can catch a copy of that book, check it out!!!
One more thing can I substitute oreos for nutter butters?
Wendy, yes Nutter Butters can be substituted one for one! I love those, too!
I’ve seen a couple of the fast food documentaries (Supersize Me, and I think Fast Food Nation was made into a documentary?). They are shocking. I’ll find the book version in a library when I get home.
It sounds like you have had great success, and had to make a big change to your cooking habits, and had to consciously avoid fast food. It takes that kind of commitment in the US to be healthy. Here in SE Asia they don’t don’t have to avoid anything or change habits. They simply eat what is available to them and do casual exercise as a lifestyle.
Mrs. Big Mac, I try to blame Mr. Big Mac for all my problems. For starters, he has negatively influenced my waistline and opinions on counter-zombie security measures. Eating lunch with him usually means buffets, which means overeating. In fact, I’ve been dreading (and looking forward to) going to an Indian lunch buffet in S’port if I make it there.
Discussing this recently, I had pointed out to me something obvious, but also something we take for granted: the enormous income disparity between Americans and SE Asians. I didn’t touch on the economic aspect in the post, but it is precisely that income disparity that restricts their options. I mentioned several times that it was easy for me to lose weight while here, simply by eating the limited options available. As Americans, everything is available. We have the choice to easily and cheaply eat junk food, even if that food manipulates our bodies into wanting/needing more.
Maybe you’ve read about the recent push to add a soda tax to pay for health care. Interesting government intervention. Hmmmm?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124208505896608647.html
Mary, I like it, and think it should be extended to all junk food. That’s seems like a perfect way to solve this problem. Tax the foods that cause the fat. If people (myself included) want to pig out on trashy food, harm their bodies, and burden the medical system with their problems, then a tax on those foods seems appropriate—just like with cigarettes. Make people pay heavy taxes on McDonald’s fries and Big Macs, but the normal tax rate on McD’s “healthy” dishes. I think this would work.
I don’t know that taxes wouldn’t just make us pay more for the only option we have. In order to address obesity, you need to accept systematic views on it. You have to believe that our culture and way of life is designed and detrimental. Once that is accepted, then you can go about changing the system. As it is now, I think people probably think it is just up to themselves, that they are in control of every decision they make, completely unaware of every marketing strategy, consumer behavior study, and opinion surveys out there making sure we “choose” what is for sale. I go to the food court at the base and realize that if I don’t want sugary soda water, the only other option is water. In Ukraine, a variety of juices and lemonades were on the menu at every place. Tea is also a big option. Wine, which in moderate doses, was usually an option. I think its a little funny that I can drink a 64 oz soda at lunch but not a glass of wine.
Beyond just the products that are available, we have shorter and shorter lunch periods at work to boost productivity (i.e. people working more for less money to produce more goods at a lower cost) which really helps drive the fast food market. If I have a 30 minute lunch break, I’m not going to head home and have a nice meal. I’m going to dash to McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc, or the vending machine. Maybe I’ll bring a sandwich, but man does that get old. Eventually you want to eat something hot. In Europe, an hour and half for lunch was not uncommon. It included real food and a glass of wine.
Then there’s the architecture. Many folks live in the burbs and we don’t build sidewalks anymore. If I go to a shopping area, I have to dart through 5 lanes of traffic to go from Books a Million to Kmart. It’s not designed for walking. Right now where I live, I need to walk 2.5 miles along a heavily trafficed road with no sidewalks to get a gallon of milk. I’m going to drive. If there was a nice walk way along the bayou, I’d probably walk, or at least bike. It just isn’t designed that way.
Glenn, thoughtful comment as always. First, I remember nearly falling out of my chair when I was in a Pisa, Italy military base cafeteria, and saw soldiers drawing themselves glasses of wine from a spigot next to the soda fountain. And yeah, pretty much every country I’ve been to has easy-to-find juices available. Kids in SE Asia eat fruit the way Westernized kids eat candy.
I think all your points are excellent. Our entire American system is built for production and consumption and to keep the pedestrians and any other non-producers out of the way. You are right about our availability to food being limited, too, even if of our own doing. Whereas Cambodians have to put in significant effort to find and afford junk food, Americans have to put in extra effort, time, and money for healthy food. It’s opposite! SE Asians are in their predicament because of lack of money/development. We are in our predicament because we have overindulged in tastier, faster, cheaper, chemically-enhanced food alternatives; the healthy options have been marginalized. Now, we’ve boxed ourselves into being a “Fast Food Nation.” Fast food products thrive, while healthy foods sit on shelves and expire worthless.
As Americans, a land of individuality and liberty, it is difficult to face the idea that we aren’t fully responsible for our choices. You mentioned it, that the marketing is engineered to manipulate our behaviors. Compound that with the engineered food, full of additives containing zero nutritional benefit, but affecting insulin levels, tricking our bodies into feeling hungry after eating an enormous amount, and overall messing up our physiology, and you have a recipe for a national bodyweight crisis. If we were all Michael Phelps, we could get away with it, but our work and social lives are so sedentary that it’s too easy to get fat fast. Eating healthily and staying fit takes enormous willpower. I have the time and energy to exercise much more now that I’m unemployed, but I’m still susceptible to all the junk food I mentioned in the post. I’m even looking forward to breakfast at McDonald’s, getting a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, an egg mcmuffin, and an order of hotcakes. How messed up is this? I haven’t had any McDonald’s meals since very early June (though I have eaten some soft serve ice creams occasionally) and I am now craving it more and more with my impending return to the US.
Tigger, definitely read Fast Food Nation!
SHAC, I looked up the movies I’ve seen, which include the Supersize Me documentary and the Fast Food Nation movie. Reviews of the FFN movie say that though it is pretty good, it simply doesn’t do the book justice. I’ll give it a read when I get home, and probably while I’m eating a Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza (my favorite). So, I guess this article rules out any chance I had at getting a fast food company to sponsor my travels?
So I guess you aren’t going to Africa.