Been hearing a lot of folks saying 'need to lose some weight', 'burn some calories', and 'be in shape' every now and then. It's been quite a trend lately going to the gym to lift weights, do yoga for flexible and toned body, do cardio exercises to reduce body fat, and everything you can think of that relates to keeping a nice beach body.
Yes, a number do all those I've mentioned just for the sake of looking good in a bikini or any swimwear though I'm not saying that's true to everyone. Pray tell I'm a hundred percent wrong because I'm definitely not.
I had this very close friend of mine who weighed a few kilos over 70 (we don't normally use 'pounds' for weights). Given that she's not gifted with height she did look very plump and very curvy. She happened to try almost all the things above mentioned just to lose weight but to no avail. The worst one she tried was drinking this slimming coffee that lessened her appetite and made her thirsty most of the time. It did help her lose a few kilos after taking it for a couple of months but the downside of it was it affected her bowel movement and she couldn't properly poo. So my friend stopped using the slimming coffee and her body gained back the weight lost.
Then Vietnam happened.
Said friend and I went to Vietnam a couple years back to work as teachers in Ho Chi Minh City. The weather there isn't very far from our country which didn't need getting used too, the food however was a different story. See, I am not a veggie person, I love my meat and sea foods but my friend was totally ecstatic when she saw the many different and fresh, not to mention very cheap vegetables Vietnam outdoor markets and supermarkets offer.
My friend prior to Vietnam.
Her losing weight program started.
Never have I imagined in my life eating a lot of vegetables everyday but that was what my friend and I ate mostly in our whole duration in Vietnam. It actually helped us save a lot more since buying vegetables over meat is a lot cheaper. We worked for almost 12 hours a day with a very short break for lunch and dinner so getting a proper meal wasn't an option.
For our entire Vietnam stay, below were what we had for meals five days a week:
Breakfast - We always prepared fresh lettuce, fruits like bananas, grapes, avocados and apples and three boiled eggs each. But for my friend, she had additional slices of cucumber which made me always tell her not to eat near me for I don't really like its smell, and no avocado for her since according to her 'no fats' for me.
Lunch - Have I mentioned I'm a rice eater? No? Definitely I am. Good thing was that the small food shops in Vietnam have these set meal servings with rice - unlimited of it, soup and any dish of your choice for a very affordable price. And only during lunch could I eat a big serving of rice with my precious meat. This time was heaven for a big eater like me. As for my friend, she only ate a spoon or two of rice, more vegetables and her slices of cucumber again brought from home.
Dinner - Since we were still at work at this meal time we only ate cold cooked sweet potatoes paired with slices of cucumber again for my friend. Just imagine how my stomach complained from this.
And that was our diet for the entire weekdays. For the weekends, I was a little happier for I could make my preferred meals the way I wanted. Back to my friend, well she stuck to her veggies, very less to no rice and slices of cucumber diet. This was our meal plan, if you could call it like that, all the way to our last day in Vietnam with a few exemptions when there were special occasions.
Us after a couple of weeks with our meal above.
With the meal plan coupled with the daily cardio exercises on my friend's part, she definitely lost almost half of her previous weight. I even lost a couple kilos even with my sneaking to eat something at night and realized how much different your body becomes if your intake of carbs is less. And by the way, we only stayed there for 10 months, couldn't take any more long hours of working. Probably this you have to inject in your losing weight program too :D But the best thing I got from that eating experience is that less carbs and more green surely make a difference.
And my friend when we finished our Vietnam days.
If you really want to lose weight fast, you try Vietnam for a couple of months and you surely will get that body you wanted in no time, just take my friend as an example. No pain, no gain...right?
Thanks for taking time reading this.