The "myth" that Asian girls are naturally slim
Females in Asia are consistently pressured via media, parents, men, etc to stay skinny. Celebrities usually weigh less than 100 lbs and a size L in Korea is the same as a women's size 7/8 in the USA. Diet products and plastic surgery abound. The social stigmatization of girls who are "fat" is brutal; therefore Asian women starve and purge their way to thinness.
If you want further proof, look at Korean adoptees in the USA. It's all about WHERE you are, not ethnicity.
yogagirl, be proud of yourself for not being a statistic and don't worry about what someone else might think! Keep up the great work! If American society really does perpetuate a more unhealthy eating style in various ways than most other countries as I often hear they do, then for someone to maintain a healthy lifestyle as an American is kind of more impressive really if you know what I mean.
Hey, I hate this myth too! Not all Asian girls are 'naturally' slim like what people always assume...
I'm Asian-Singaporean and have lived in Singapore all my life. From my own observation, there is an increasing % of the overweight population here, due to the expansion of fast food restaurants. Now, we have 24-hr Macs and Starbucks (We all know how those frappes add up!). We use a lot of escalators, lifts/elevators and moving belts... you get the idea. Yeah, there are a lot of skinny girls here too, but you'd realise that they're skinny-fat. It's quite socially acceptable here to be on a crash diet since the media really glorifies the skinnies and they don't find muscles attractive. If you see the idols/stars the Asians try to copy, you'd realise that they're very skinny with very little muscle definition. Believe me, almost every girl on the street is on a diet somewhat. They indulge in fattening treats, but they also eat very little overall - just to stay skinny.
I've never been in line with the 'beauty' ideal of this country. As a teenager, I always feel like an outsider. Why, the 'perfect' asian girl has always been around 5'3", 90 pounds, little muscle tone, thin thighs with no cellulite, fair skin, A-B cup breasts. But I am 5'7", 128 lbs (now), athletic and 34E. Now that's not really what the ideal "asian" body is here. :( I have to resort to wearing either ugly "maternity-ish" bras or splurge upwards $70 on Marks & Spencer's/Triumph per pair.. while the smaller-chested ladies get cute and beautiful lingeries at fraction of the cost!
To my Caucasian friends (men/female), I am considered to be in 'great shape', but to my Asian friends, I am considered 'big-boned', 'heavy' and they always make fun of my chest size. I have sort of accepted the way I am built, but I do wanna get down to 120 lbs (or less) just to fit into better clothes.
... some of the shops here like Ted Baker, Miss Selfridge and G-Star Raw does not carry sizes any bigger than UK 8. I was at my skinniest few months ago (Around 118 lbs) and I still couldn't find a pair of jeans my size. How demoralising. :/
*
Thanks for reading! Talked a bit too much, but just to give you an insight of what it's like to be an Asian living in Singapore since most of the members here are from North America and Europe. IT'S NOT EASY to exercise and lose weight healthily here when a lot of girls around you rely too much on dieting/starving to stay skinny cuz they dread exercising... oi, it takes a lot to exercise under the 32 degree Celsius sun!!
I know you haven't touched this forum since 2007, but whatever.
This is not 100% true. I'm Asian myself — although born and raised in Los Angeles, California, United States and have never lived elsewhere — and I've found that although some Asian girls will gain a load of weight after moving or whatever, I do know some people who have had kids and eat more than pigs and they're still way too tall and skinny. Fast metabolism runs in some families.
Besides that, in the less fortunate parts of Asia, they would still walk two hours to school every morning or plant crops. That's some pretty harsh exercise right there.
Japanese and Vietnamese have very subtle and healthy diets, mainly consisting of rice, soy, and thinly sliced meat, sometimes with soup. They tend to be really small naturally somehow, even more so than Chinese and Korean.
Though I do find it plausible that women in Asia would watch their weight so much — when I was a freshman in high school, a girl who had moved from China at the age of fifteen told me that most females in Asia are forced to "keep it small" and "This is a woman's secret!"
its definitely because we've got all sorts of slimming technology. check out this facial slimming serum, gives you a v-shaped chin.
this one was on every ad slot of every train in the subway. stupidest thing i've ever heard of
Original Post by sleepybum:
its definitely because we've got all sorts of slimming technology. check out this facial slimming serum, gives you a v-shaped chin.
this one was on every ad slot of every train in the subway. stupidest thing i've ever heard of
That is so dumb!! But I'm sure a lot of ladies will fall into this trap. It's not really a lie to say that Asian women are much more vain compared to their Western counterparts - we just care too much about our physical look.
I know those exist, but they're not practical for minors or the broke. :)
Also, surgery has a lot of side effects, so watch out.
We are what we eat. Most Asians are slim because of their diet & portion size. I came from a country where the portion size is 1/6 of a Canadian portion & 1/8 of an American portion. However, I used to eat at least every 4 hours. ie. Two breakfasts (like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings), lunch, afternoon snack/tea time, dinner & supper. There is always snack if one is hungry in-between the above. Lot's of grain & vege in meals with meat more as 'garnishment' vs. the main lot. Lot's of vege protein & copius amount of tea, fresh fruits! Not a lot of dairy product, but lot's of eggs & soya milk. When rich food is serves, one is expected to sample & taste, not to be eaten! The whole culture is very much into well being. It's hard to get fat eating healthy! If people seem obsessed with weight it's because Asians are prone to diabetes & they understand the danger of it. Age & weight is not a taboo there like it is over here (especially to North American women). It is very bad form if one isn't able to control one's vices. eg. tendency to over indulge. I think to them it is a sign of character weakness.
Whenever I visit my parents, I take the opportunity to load up on all my favourite food, yet I always seem to lose weight. That is even eating all the above meals/snacks PLUS more. Basically, I eat whenever my stomach has room for it..... There was no fat kids when I was growing up, the few that were over weight were expats or have health conditions. However, I have noticed more fat children around Asian countries. I think it's due to all the western snacks that they get these days. All the potato chips. KFC & sodas are treats when I was growing up. Not because we couldn't afford it, but because of their lack of nutritional value. Now, kids are chowing down McDonald's Big Mac in shopping malls like it is a bowl of tropical fruit salad!!!
I am sure anyone who eats well & healthy with resonable portion (like Asian countries) will lose weight. Adding exercise into the equation, we will all be slim like those stereotype Asian we see. I am dead serious!
do.not.return.to.your.eating.disorder.
life is meant to be lived. not suffered through. Life is worthing enjoying because one day you will be dead and in death 90lbs is bull**it.
I recommend therapy. And some helpful books?
I was 5 foot 3, 140 pounds when i wnet to Hong Kong last summer. I was like a whale compared to all teh girls there. Any girl over teh weight of 105 was considered unhealthy. Cousins and friends were aksing me do I wnat to go to a diet program. My cousins girlfriend asked if i get made fun of in teh states. Size medium would no go over my shoulder. i hugn out with my cousins gf for one day and she eats at most 1000 calories. its their lifestyle that makes them so skinny. portions are really small. i never felt so fat in my life but at least i had bigger boobs a and they are a b cup.
my aunt asked my mom how did you get me so big
i feel like asian girls are always pressured in being thin and the ones that are not super thin , sometimes woudl prefer dating men of another race because teh pressure is lower. almost all teh asian guys i kno like skinny girls. ITS the WHOLE SKINNY CULTURE
I agree, asian girls are pressured to be thin. At my normal school, almost everyone is a normal weight, with a few over or under. At my chinese school, there are barely any overweight people, and many many underweight ones.
I'd say that it's a myth though, I'm asian, 5'3 and currently just over 128lbs, not exactly thin, and before I started dieting I was about 133lbs. My thin asian friends often struggle to not overeat, so it's obvious that they aren't 'naturally thin'. Very few of my asian friends who eat normally are thinner than the average non-asian.
Also, this year when I went to China, a few of my friends and relatives said that they thought I was a bit chubby, but they said it in a nice way, except for one of my dad's friends who was a bit rude about it. Whereas here, I've never been been called overweight in my life.
"i'm asian and damn proud of it!"
That's the ticket! XD I like that attitude!
With Groups - you're not alone.Get the experience and support
of others who succeeded.
