I'm delirious with homesickness and can't find it in me to delete that line. Sigh.
To distract myself, I'm going to write about fitness and health in Korea, as well as throw out my own personal goals for the next 4 months in an attempt to establish any kind of accountability for my actions.
First off, let me say that body image in Korea will not be discussed at length here. That's a whole other subject, and one that has been beaten to death on a billion other blogs. The only thing I'll say is that it really sucks being a 'fat' foreigner (I put fat in quotes because many of my skinny foreigner friends are considered fat here. I must be a ham planet. But I digress).
Eating healthy might seem like an easy thing to do. Bread is minimal, portions are much smaller than in the United States, and the national dish of pickled cabbage is served with every meal. However, meat plays a huge part of the diets here, particularly fatty pieces of pork (삼겹살), marinated pork/beef (갈비) and the ever-popular chicken and beer combo (치맥). Not to mention the influx of all things Western. There's a McDonalds, Burger King, or Dunkin Donuts on every corner, and Italian and pizza restaurants popping up left and right.
"But Kate, just don't go out! Cook more, eat in!" Well, imaginary reader, it's often cheaper to eat out than to stay in and cook. Vegetables here are more expensive (the ones that aren't sweet potatoes or cabbage significantly so), and many aren't available at all. You can usually only buy in bulk, so risk half of your items going bad before being able to get to it. Protip: split with friends! Fruits are also difficult to find, especially familiar ones. Korean grapes are a mess to eat, and I personally hate them (thick skins and seeds, yuck). The only oranges are the tiny tangerines, watermelon and apples only come during their respective seasons, and I don't think I've seen a raspberry in 2 years. In short, everything that I'd count on to diet is either too expensive or inaccessible.
In addition, many of the methods I'd use to cook are taken from me. There are no ovens here, which was always my go-to for cooking meals that would last me a week. Buying one is an investment where you need to compare cost against the length of your stay and how likely you're able to resell it. Same goes for any cookware beyond the standard frying pan and small pot that you start with. Familiar ingredients will be hard to find and expensive even if you can find them (looking at you breadcrumbs). Perhaps if I knew that I'd be staying in Korea for an extended period of time, I could see myself adapting more to the style of cooking beyond that of what I'd done before at home. But as it is, it's something I struggle with.
Which brings us to exercise. It is astonishing how physically fit Koreans are. Hiking is definitely the 'in' sport around Korea, and it's normal to see a large percentage of people walking around in top-of-the-line, brand name hiking gear. Whether that's because they're going to use it that day or they just want to show it off remains a mystery. There are small exercise parks everywhere, long walking paths being paved (especially in my area, away from the city), and bike lanes designated on the sidewalks. Free exercise is not hard to find, but if you're looking for something indoors, get out your wallet. Gym membership prices here are through the roof compared to those at home. The cheapest I've ever found is 80,000won per month (about $80), and I've seen them go up to 120,000won. I've done trial days at several different gyms, at all price increments, and found that they're very similar: a lot of treadmills, 1 or 2 elliptical machines, some space for weightlifting, and any number of other weight machines (heck if I'm gonna list them all here) scattered around. Higher price means more treadmills and more machines, neither of which I prefer, so I went for the cheaper option. There is an option for a personal trainer, but that's lost on me. The woman I speak to at my gym spends most of her time telling me I am 'too much' and 'diet' (yeah, I got that, thanks) rather than being helpful by teaching me exercises. If your Korean is better than mine, maybe you'll have more success!
---if you just wanted information about Korea, you should probably leave now---
Now comes the part that makes me nervous. But I want this blog to be equal parts informative and personal, so I'm sticking with it. Unless I delete this part tomorrow. We'll see.
I'm leaving Korea in February, which is 128 days away from the time of posting. My goal is to lose 15kg before then, which is about 1kg/week, well within a healthy range. I've been working on establishing a weigh-lifting and cardio circuit that suits me, and am watching my calories more closely (easily the more difficult of the two given the problems listed above). I'm also skating regularly on the weekends, which is my stress relief as much as exercise.
I should say that all this was brought on by my friend (whose blog you can read here), who has gone through the most amazing and inspiring progress while I've been away. I'm so proud of her and so impressed that I felt increasingly terrible about my own inability to lose any of the weight I've been packing on all my life. Instead of rubbing it in my face of how awesome she is, she took the time to help me figure out which exercises I felt comfortable with, how to find a steady progression without straining or injuring myself, and introduced me to a bunch of articles, videos, and online communities that can help me maintain focus.
So far it's working! I've made some weight loss progress, but the biggest change is how I feel. I sleep better at night, have significantly cut down on snacking, and have more energy in my classes. Hopefully this is a system I can keep up with and maintain even after I reach my goal once I get home.
On that note, what kind of exercise do you prefer? Any motivational tips to share?
안녕!
