Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Reverse Culture Shock #7

I'm 201 lbs. Yup, it's true. I've officially cracked the 200 lb* threshold. I'm pretty sure that I've gained about five or six pounds since I've come home. I attribute this to a few things:

1. I'm not working out. To join a gym in the USA you need to pay a membership fee and then monthly fees on top of it. Since I'm home for just three months it isn't worth it. I've tried running by I've got chronically bad knees.

2. Food portions in America are bigger than in Vietnam. As you can imagine, the average American is a tad bigger than the average Vietnamese person and thus the portions are a tad bigger too. I use the word "tad" very loosely here.

3. I'm eating less fruits and vegetables. Sure there is no shortage of fruits and veggies here but in Vietnam they just seemed more attractive. There's something more enticing about seeing a woman selling pineapples just plucked from the ground than a bowl of peaches sitting on my kitchen counter top for a few days.

The weight gain is probably not going to stop anytime soon. Today I'm flying to LA where I will gorge myself on my favorite eats that I haven't enjoyed in a year and a half. That said, I'm also packing my speedo to start swimming again or else I'm going to finally look like the adult version of what I looked like when I was a baby:

(PICTURE: I'm the one with the double chin.)











*I once was 205 lbs a few years ago so total panic has not set in.