the thai's have it

Eat Thai Style

Simply put, I lost about ten pounds in Thailand. I was thoroughly disheartened upon returning home and my family failed to exclaim over my newfound slimness.

Thailand is a great place to lose weight because most do without even noticing it or exerting or depriving oneself at all. I found myself wondering about why that was so, and how I could take full advantage of it.

First, I started putting toned muscle on again while doing ballet, but secondly I started to look at my diet during Thailand to see exactly how not trying in New York made me gain roughly five, and Thailand helped me lose twice as much (although with concerted effort).

Rudimentarily, putting muscle on always works because it's not just the work out that helps, but the continual higher burning of calories that muscles burn all the time. This starts to tip the scales (literally) in your favor.

The secret to eating Thai style:

1. Small portions, but often. I learned in Japan the same lesson too. Most of the time, you could probably eat a lot less.
2. Very little meat. The meat given in Thailand would make most Americans cry out in protest. Any given fried rice dish maybe contained four or five small shrimp, or slivers of meat.
3. Interesting taste, the fact that Thai food combines so much flavor and stimulation makes you not need to eat as much.
4. Sauces that are spice/broth based instead of cream based

In the month I lived there my dinners were always just a bit of meat, about equal portion of rice, and then I would eat vegetables and fruit until I was pretty much stuffed. I think I'm going to keep this ratio in mind for the rest of my life, but already it's proving quite difficult, seeing as the burrito I got from around the block at Alerto's was pretty much all meat, a wondrous chewy tortilla filled with guacamole, carnitas (roast pork), and cheese, with a zesty salsa ($4!). I've learned what pretty much all diets say, you can eat pretty much anything you want, but just a bit.