Hi all,

I am going overseas on holidays to phuket thailand, and you know their dishes pretty much all have sugar in them...... so any tips please or suggestions for menus?? I don't want to go off plan as i am wanting this to be a way of life for me but am human and don't want to lose my determination.

Any ideas and previous experience tips would be great! thanks in advance.

My suggestion would be to limit your CMs to protein and don't forget to include veggies. The right combination of foods will help to keep you satisfied.

It has been a long time since I had Thai food but I remember eating steamed fish once and it didn't have sugar.

Good luck to you in making choices that will keep your program strong!

Whatever you do, try to enjoy your holiday and have a wonderful time!

hi-
have a great time and just do the best you can. Eat lots of protein and veggies and have your carbs as best you can at night.

I have been on lots of vacations and when I do this I am fine. I would not try to lose but to maintain.

Have a GREAT time.

If you want to go over to the Yahoo Groups CAFriends group the moderator, Barb, has been all over the world while on CAD and I know has been to Thailand and Vietnam and such.

E

It's called My CA friends, and is located over here:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mycafriends/

You have to register, even to just read the postings.

That absolutely makes sense - try to maintain rather than focus on loosing.. I'll definately read up on Barb's post! As for the steamed fish - I make that at home too and it's soooo yummy...

Thanks for the good wishes, I absolutely plan on having fun! (not leaving for another 10 days yet so you'll all still see me on here)

I was in Thailand this past year. The food is WAY different than Thai food in the US. No peanuts, a lot of flavor in general, and spiiiiiicy if you want it. I was in Northern Thailand/Bangkok. I learned to ride elephants (the workout on your inner thighs is INTENSE) for a few days, probably lost some weight (no scale), then went to Bangkok and pigged out. I returned the same weight.

I wasn't low-carbing when I went, but I remember stuff on the menu that would work. The main problem is the curries are SO AMAZING that you just gotta have rice to mop it up. Have you been to Thailand before? If so, then you can probably pick and choose which treats to have for RM. When I got to Italy the second time around, I was a LOT more restrained than the first time.

Know this doesn't help you at all but: mango sticky rice = YUM!

mango sticky rice = YUM![/QUOTE] - I KNOW !! YUM INDEED !! I was there last year but didn't know about CALP then nor was I on a diet. I was there for a week and didn't put on the weight but that was because of upset stomach nothing to do with food selections. Now i am much more aware of sugars and the different types of veges and sauces that have them - I thought thai food was healthy back then .... much wiser now.

But i guess if i try and have my carbs at nite then i shouldn't do too much damage.. i do love their satay sticks tho which i can have during the day as they are protein (tell me i'm right !! their peanut sauce doesn't have sugar does it? ) and their prawns and beef and chicken salads, and their vege stirfrys ..... someone stop me !! I've been trying to work out my dishes before with all that i have learnt now (trying to be prepared so I don't give in at the last minute ) but as Enomarb stated once in another post "i just do it" - that is the attitude that i am trying to have.

You know I hadn't thought about elephant riding... thanks for that, I'll try and book that..the resort we stayed in last year had baby elephants coming up for the children to feed but not for riding.

I was still pescetarian when I was in Thailand, so I don't know how sweet the peanut sauce is, since I didn't try the satay. The ones I've experienced in the US are REALLY sweet though. Maybe you could dip in a chili sauce instead? You should watch out for fish sauce too.

And YES--you have to do elephant riding. It's definitely a best-lifetime-experience thing.

Thai people are so healthy in general and most Thai people in the city don't even cook, they eat out, so I don't think Thai restaurant food can be that bad. Not like you're going to Pastrytown--I mean, Paris--anyway.

Hi Samina,

Nice to meet you

Thank you!

can anyone explain why Asians are so slim despite eating rice several times throughout the day? is it because of hot temps there or their activity levels ? or their portion sizes ?? or just genetics ?

from my reading of GCBC by Taubes, I think it is a combination of all of the above and the rest of their diet. When asians eat the standard american diet (SAD) they also get fat. It seems to be genetics and diet and time- it takes years to get to the point where your body is insulin resistant.
You might enjoy reading the book.
E

thank you, i'll read it on my flight to phuket.

I had thai for lunch today at work (hubbies b'day) and I am up 1 kg. All i literally ate was : 2 fish cakes, 2 satay sticks, 3 tablespoons of rice with a fish basil chilie stir fry !! boy do i hope i came back as an asian in my next life! actually I don't think chinese, japanese and thai etc etc eat the meals that we do in restaurants when they cook at home, just like indians and pakistani's don't really eat butter chicken and beef vindaloo... these kinds of meals have been developed more for the western culture and market....oh well, just had to get that off my chest.

Reading GCBC is a very good idea. Having known a lot of Chinese, I can add some (totally observation-based) theories.

Their food is monotonous: This isn't a bad thing at all. The food's still good, but you know what it's going to taste like. When I'm in China I don't feel any craving (except Starbucks). I'm hungry by mealtime and not hungry between.

Sheer calorie restriction: I counted up the calories a 6'+ male friend ate on an average day out of curiousity, and it came up to ~1600. This is about (less than?) the amount Keys used for his starvation study.

Activity levels: You walk everywhere.

I've noticed also how carb-phobic some are without realizing it. A very close friend (who's managed to stay slim even after 20 years living in the US) has eating habits that would make you think she was LCing, even though she has no idea what that is. She claims to love noodle-soup, but always leaves half the noodles (and drinks TONS of soup). She likes baked brie in pastry, but always leaves most of the pastry. Doesn't touch the starch sides that come with her meat in the restaurant. Even her favorite donut (French Cruller) is the lowest carb possible donut!

It's like there's an inner carb monitor or something!