On my mind: Weight

Ever since I came back from Korea this past winter, I've been way more conscious of my weight than ever before. Although I knew (for a couple of years now) that I had put on some extra weight after moving up to San Francisco, it never really bothered me that much... That is, until I went back to Korea. While in Korea, I was shocked & triggered by the general population of Korean women, who are (coming from an American point of view) extremely skinny. And I mean skinny, to the point where some of their legs were about the size of my arms! So during my one-month stay in the motherland, I ended up losing 10lbs. And the best part of this is that I didn't even have to try! :) Because Korea has smaller food portions & excellent public transportation system, it became only natural for me to eat less & walk around more. After I got back to U.S. - it felt surreal to find that all of my pants were now very loose on me. WHOA. I felt like one of those weight loss infomercial people, who hold up their huge pair of jeans in their before/after pictures... Pure awesomeness.

So where exactly do I fit within the Korean standards?
Here's the actual average weight/height of Korean women in their 20's: 114lbs/5'3''.
So for my height (5'6''), I assume the average weight would be somewhere between 116-119lbs. Looks like I'm in pretty good shape for now (whew), but a part of me wants to weigh a little bit less than average. I may sound greedy, but hey - it's a girl thing! :P

Now, there's huge misconception in Korea - especially among men - that if a woman weighs more than 50kg (about 110lbs), she is considered "fat." This is probably the result of false reports in Korean celebrity profiles, where almost all female stars weigh exactly 45kg, which is about 99lbs!

Ridiculous, right? Notice that these women all weigh the same, despite having different heights (some of which are recorded untruthfully as well). Obviously, 45kg being the "ideal" weight for women in Korea is not true. I'm so not down with being anorexic. At this point, I just want to continue on with my new, healthier lifestyle by monitoring my food portions & exercising more often. And if I eventually end up losing more weight? Great! If not, I would be content to maintain the figure/weight that I have now.

Wish me luck! :)

♥_dwon