This is my first post. I'm a fat Asian. And being Asian I was taught to eat every single grain of rice... every tiny little thing on my plate. Plus in Filipino culture, there are a lot of fatty dishes, pork, and fat textures that are prized in our cooking.
I also found solace in food due to some dramatic abuses by a male friend of the family when I was only 4 until I was 8 years old. After the abuse, I was always given food by my abuser. I didn’t make the connection to this until I was an adult. But I realized I was thin until I was 8. Knowing this is half the battle because I have the knowledge, motivation, and strength to accommodate changes now.
When I was older, I also realized that I used food as a comfy blankie. I still have so many foods that I crave when I’m stressed. And it’s my emotional bond. Bonds like these are the hardest to overcome.
Being Asian also has its challenges when you’re trying to lose weight. Filipino food tends to be some of the heavier of the Asian cuisines. So I’ve started cooking a lot of Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Vietnamese cuisine. Though Korean and Japanese food is especially tasty to me.
Although I was raised in the United States, and my dad is white, I was brought up on my mom’s cooking. So I don’t tend to find it simple just to start cooking typical American healthy recipes. I can only eat so much kale and Buddha bowls before I start missing authentic Asian food. I find most healthy American recipes okay but really boring and totally lacking in flavor compared to the Asian dishes I’m used to.
What I usually do is start off on your typical American healthy recipes. Like this morning I had fage yogurt with granola, blueberries, and chia and flax seeds. It was okay but I’ll never rave over it. I would have rather had rice with crispy fried eggs, or rice with lau lau, or garlic rice, spam and crispy egg. I love savory foods. And I have no problem eating foods that most Americans think of as lunch or dinner foods for breakfast. Asian breakfasts are often leftovers anyways.
So this is my journey. I just started and I’ve lost 4 lbs. it’s about 1 pound a week. I haven’t started regular exercise yet. Though I know what to do. I was 145 in high school. When I had my first son, I was 175. Right now, I’m 205.
I used to be a powerlifter. Then I got frozen shoulder and my time in the gym dwindled because I lost my ROM and pair that with a divorce… well, I gained the weight all back. I was down to 185.
This is my start back on this long road. I’m ready mentally.
