Feeling Fat in Asia
This is sort of a touchy subject for me, but it’s one I feel like I need to put out there. Many people in Southeast Asia are predominantly slim by nature, and much of it is due to their naturally slender genetics, but a lot of it is also attributed to their diet. Asian cuisine consists of fruit, veggies, meat, rice, and noodles. Personally, I love the food in Asia, especially the exotic fruits, such as dragon fruit, mangoes, and papayas. Jeff and I always enjoy a healthy breakfast which consists of fruit, oatmeal, and a hard-boiled egg. Eating well the majority of the time has never been my problem, but here is what does bother me.
First of all, let me give you the skinny on me (no pun intended). I’m 5’1, and I’m 61 years old. I have a short muscular type of build, thanks to inherited troll genes. 😏 I have thick stocky thighs, which I’m always working on slimming down. I’m not lazy, and I’m an exercise fanatic. I once entered a fitness competition when I was 36-years old. After I went through menopause, I began gaining weight, particularly around the middle. When others see me, they often comment on how fit I look, while others snicker at me behind my back, even when they assume I’m unaware of it. This has happened mainly in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It’s often times other older women who are scrawny or even some who are quite robust themselves with no room to talk. There’s also the “skinny minnie’s”, who enjoy putting a great deal of emphasis on their thinness at my expense. Jeff and I know a lady in Cambodia who has done that. She lives in the province of Kampong Chhnang. She is all about how many kilos she weighs—especially how little she weighs. She is young, so clearly, she won’t be going through the change anytime soon. She seldom exercises yet remains thin. Don’t get me wrong though—I have no desire to be skinny as she is. I prefer to have a shapely body; I just want my shapely body to be slimmer. During my fitness competition days, I was a lean, mean, powerhouse. I’d give anything to get that back, but at my age, it’s not likely to happen.
When some locals see me, what they see is a short American woman who is a human garbage disposal, but they don’t see me exercising, except for when they see me out walking. They have no idea how much I struggle with weight gain and how hard I work out, even at my age. I realize that many locals simply don’t have a filter while others are uneducated and don’t know any better, but yet it still bothers me, and some days, I have reached the end of my rope with the comments. The funny part is that only the women make fun of me, but the men never do. There’s one time a man did call me a little fat, and that was years ago in Malaysia. Jeff saw me clenching my fist, and knew I came damn close to clocking him good. In the US, it’s considered inappropriate behavior to mock someone for gaining weight. It’s very impolite, not to mention tacky. Back home, people will tell me I look great, but in Asia, I’m fat. Even last year in the Philippines, I got a foot massage, and the girl told me my legs were heavy, and how I needed to start walking or running. I thought to myself, “is she kidding me?” I told her my legs are naturally built like that, and the reason they’re so muscular is because I do kickboxing. That’s when she shut up. All I can say is she’s damn lucky I don’t get PMS anymore, though messing with a pissed off post-menopausal woman can be equally dangerous. On average, I walk 6 miles a day minimum. I not only do the Walk-at-Home program in our room, but I combine it with outdoor walking, and with that combination, I log in sometimes 10 miles a day. Needless to say, that girl not only didn’t get a tip, but I never went back to that establishment again.
Regardless of the culture, people should really know better than to say hurtful things. Even though it still bothers me, as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to ignore it more than I used to. What many Asian and European countries don’t understand is that not every American gorges on super-sized meals all the time. It’s a label they hang on us. Each and every body type is different, and some people like me naturally put on weight more easily than others. Some of these countries also consider lifting weights to be only for egotistical bodybuilders, which is another myth. Strength training is crucial for building lean muscle. It makes the bones much stronger, which in turn prevents injury as much as defies age. This is why I bring resistance bands with me when we travel. I always pack my portable gym-in-a-bag. Regardless of having that extra kangaroo pouch I could do without, I am physically fit, and I plan to exercise for the rest of my life. No matter how many stares and snickers I might get, I refuse to allow the naysayers take away my self-worth.
