Eat to live, not live to eat

Recently, my weight rose to nearly 113 kilograms. That’s just too much. I started feeling like my midsection resembled a basketball or Thanksgiving turkey, and my wife was teaching me how to say “big stomach” in Chinese. I found myself struggling to keep pace with her on our 30-minute walks. Just embarrassing.

Some friends had shared with us the practice of intermittent fasting. They advocated eating only from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., including one meal and a nutritious smoothie with broccoli sprouts, which may help fight cancer. These friends look pretty fit and stay active, so my wife and I resolved to try a version of this diet.

We are practicing intermittent fasting and have also modified our diet to include more plant-based and lean protein sources. By drinking more water and walking 30 to 60 minutes a day, as well as five times up and down our stairs at home, we’re losing weight. I’m not sure if this plan will help me reach my ideal weight, which at 6 feet, 1.5 inches, is 144 to 188 pounds. I weighed 190 pounds, or 86 kilograms, in my 20s. To me, 144 pounds seems gaunt. We shall see, but I know that my efforts will lead to improved health.

I think that in the United States, and perhaps also in Korea, there is a reversal of good diet habits. Instead of eating to live, many people live to eat. Media and roadside billboards bombard us with food advertisements. So many television shows exist to promote cooking and eating. Fast food restaurants and stands offer delicious foods, typically with large and extra-large portions available. Americans love fried foods, meat, buffets, large and super-sized pops, and on and on.

It’s no wonder that 40 percent or more of all Americans are obese, and nearly 1 in 3 is overweight. Consider that. Countless illnesses are more likely in overweight people, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. According to the Obesity Medicine Association, a person whose BMI is between 40 and 59 may lose between six and 14 years of normal life expectancy. My current BMI is 29.7, so I have left the “obese” range and am now in the “overweight” range. I’m moving in the right direction.

I remember my Korean friend visiting Chicago and telling me how he had noticed the prevalence of obesity among Americans. “Someone sitting on a bench with a Coke in one hand and a hamburger in the other," he observed. But Koreans also have to face the growing incidence of overweight and obese people.

A 2023 NextShark report by Michelle De Pacina reported that 32.5 percent of Koreans were obese, more men than women, and the rate of overweight Koreans is nearly 40 percent. The Korea Times has reported that obesity among the young has reached 16 percent.

Korea is a country with healthy food traditions but also the potential for “living to eat.” The prevalence of mukbang content, the abundance of fast food and the growing imitation of Western eating styles don’t help matters.

People in both countries need to understand that “eating to live” is a straightforward concept. We need to disengage from the many messages, social pressures and addictions to food and beverages that cause us to veer into unhealthy diets. Have you ever watched the sad stories of “My 600-lb Life”? Those people aren’t unlike us, except by degree. When I started my current diet, I had headaches and what I’d call a kind of mild withdrawal from my former eating habits. Can we imagine the pain and withdrawal that people who are chronically or morbidly obese must go through?

Eating to live requires determination and a will to change. I recall one instance on the show where a patient expressed concern that he didn’t want to become malnourished from eating less often. Younan Nowzaradan, the surgeon tasked with helping those individuals, said he’d already eaten enough food for the next four years and didn’t need to worry about malnourishment. Sometimes those words ring in my ears.

My temptations include a variety of good foods. I enjoy cakes, bread, red meat, beer, wine and more. These days, when I go to the store, I often tell myself how delicious those foods are and then try to say, “But no, not for me!” in a humorous way. That helps to some extent.

I hope I can make it to my ideal weight, or close enough to it to stop being overweight. That is my goal. I hope I can keep that weight off. At 60, there’s no returning to my teenaged metabolism days, so it requires consistent effort. Good luck to everyone managing extra weight. Don’t live to eat. Eat to live.

Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is an associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and a former visiting professor at Hanyang University.