A Mother's Advice...

Before I left for the U.S., my dad’s jokey advice was “Get an Asian girlfriend”, while my Mom’s was “Don’t eat too much in America”. I obviously did not care about my Dad’s advice. As for my Mom’s, after staying here for a while, and unsurprisingly gaining a few pounds, I now realize I should have taken it more seriously.

The story of me gaining weight is not just about “eating too much”, even though I credited it mostly to my excessive intake of unhealthy foods. Statistics show that U.S.A. is the number one consumer of sugar in the world – no joke. I do not enjoy glazed donuts, deep fried chicken, or soda every day. But the presence of these foods created undeniable temptation to me, regularly. Hot day? An ice cold sugary drink. Lazy afternoon? How about a large latte with extra cream on top, and some caramel drizzle? I am not saying consumers are not to blame as well, but compared to the rest of the world, U.S. is definitely a place where the general environment created by the food industry is not beneficial to maintaining my waistline.

So, how about burning those extra calories in the gym? Like the wealthy gap in the U.S., there is almost as big a fitness gap between the people you see on Instagram posting from gyms all the time, and people who just… well, like me. There seems to be two extreme opinions on fitness and body image, one is yelling “Fit or die”, and the other is chanting “Every body is a beach body”. I do not agree that a lot of people are using the latter as a shield for letting themselves go and not moving at all. But the very high bar set by the fitness gods on the Internet, and the extreme routines they created to achieve those goals intimidate me, so much so that I am afraid to take the first steps. Again, I cannot excuse myself for not being a more motivated person. But the atmosphere does not make it easy for me to find a middle ground.

Every time I FaceTime with my mom, I can feel that she is measuring my weight with her eyes. Mom was right, and it has been a slippery slope for the size of my pants ever since I arrived in the U.S. There are solutions, of course, which involve constant reminders for myself to control my appetite, avoiding eye contacts with donut shops and steakhouses, and spending my hard-earned money on person trainers to whip me through the hard days on the gym floor. Maybe it is the American way, or maybe, it is just the unavoidable fight with my slowed metabolism, and adult life.

#advice #food #diet #calories #gym