Saturday in Seomyeon

This weekend was gray and rainy.  I had planned on heading to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday, but the weather and my persistent cough didn't really make me want to do anything.  I managed to get a sweet pair of prescription glasses (frames, check up, and lenses for KRW 10,000 at Davich!) on Friday night, and Saturday we planned to do some shopping.  Checking out my closet I've noticed that I brought a lot of pairs of pants but have been rotating a few shirts.  I had planned on wearing tee-shirts or tank tops with cardigans or jackets over top, but with the weight-loss I've seen (a few pounds here and there but I think I've gained some muscle) they fall far too low to wear to school.  Being from Toronto, I wear a LOT of black which isn't exactly exciting for my students.  My goal, by heading to Seomyeon (the most crowded area in Busan, having a floating population of 165,300 a day), was to shop with B at H&M and to not buy anything black.

Having read some blogs of women I thought were slimmer than I, I assumed that H&M (and sometimes Zara) would be the only places I would be able to shop.  This was not the case at all.  I've managed to purchase a sweater from a local market (it cost KRW 10,000 and was one of those "one size fits all" which usually never ends up fitting anyone right), and this shopping trip was also very successful.  We stepped into the first cute store we saw upon emerging from the subway, which was called MIXXO.  Even in Canada I sometimes wonder if the cute new styles will fit me properly.  I don't have much going on upstairs (other than a big rib cage), and I have hips and a booty that don't quit so even buying clothes at home can be a bit of a struggle.  MIXXO describes its fit as: 

"

The perfect fusion of Golobal fashion trendy design and tailor method that fit the Asia women’s figure ,
will let you find your just right patten ."

...that's right.  "The Asia women's figure".  Not the North American tall-girl figure that wears a 10-12 (I've got some size 6-8 in my closet here in Korea - let's hope I can fit back into the 6 by summer, shall we?).  I was nervous, but I picked up a few different styles (that were all between KRW 9,600 - 12,900, I might add), and headed to the fitting room.  Surprisingly they all fit quite nicely, and being that my rule was not to buy anything black I had avoided bringing dark colours into the fitting room.  

I purchased 3 tops that will be good for layering (sometimes it's freezing out and sometimes I'm a sweaty mess throughout the course of the same day), and that will brighten up my closet and outfits.  The yellow shirt (pictured above) was one that I liked but apparently looked weird from the back so I made sure to limit myself to 3.    The white one does, indeed, have palm trees and parrots as the pattern.  It makes me giggle.  A couple of the blouses are quite loose, but being that I do have a North American rib cage and let's face it - there's some "support" in all my bras, the medium would have just been too tight across the bust.  Oversize shirts are really popular in Korea.  Nothing is tight or low cut on top, but it is true that you'll see Korean ladies wear very, very short shorts and skirts.

I noticed that my favourite J-brand black jeans were fraying a little on the right leg, so I did ultimately end up breaking my rule by purchasing a new pair of black high-waisted pants.  They're incredibly comfortable and were described by my friends (K joined us at H&M) as "second skin".  They're a little tight at the waist, but let's face it - there was a Subway Subs in Seomyeon and I was definitely a little bloated after my first real bread experience since departing for Korea.  I also managed to pick up shoes in Korea!  Yup - my size 9.5B feet are happy go lucky in my cute black peep-toe flats that will be great in the summer with the colourful skirts I brought along.

So there you have it - if you're 5'8" and not a stick figure there is hope for you in South Korea!  Go forth and fash-ion!

Working it Out Abroad

Britney said it best: "You want a hot body?...You better work, b*tch".  I had gained about 30 stubborn pounds in Toronto over the course of my 3 years since leaving Vancouver.  I had a trainer, I would diet, but nothing seemed to work.  I've kind of come to the conclusion that I'm getting into those twilight years of my twenties where rather than losing weight I'm just working out to avoid the inevitable gain my body so desperately wants to waddle into.

Enter Eco-Gym (formerly Bill's?).  This small gym in Hwamyeong-dong, Busan has just what I need to keep my cardio and weight-lifting up, and not much more.  There are several treadmills, a handful of stationary bikes, a lat-pulldown, a leg press, some other weight machines I don't tend to use, a couple of squat racks (that the locals use for deadlifts, curls, and un-weighted squats, which makes me want to scream).  There's a plethora of free weights which I love, as Mark Sparks (my conditioning specialist at Cardio-Go in Toronto) ensured that my last few sessions focused on workouts I could do with limited equipment.  My only complaint (well, more confusion) is that most of the weights are in kilograms rather than pounds.  I'm pretty good at converting the weight in my head, but they still feel way heavier than back at home.

The gym itself was really cost effective: 100,000 KRW for 3 months of use.  This also includes use of their workout clothes, however I have yet to take advantage of that offer.  Most of my workouts usually involve a walking on the treadmill as a warm up for a couple of minutes then HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  I follow that up with abs and weights for the next 30-40 minutes focusing on different combinations (depending on the day, of course) of arms, shoulders, chest, abs, legs, and of course - the booty.  So far I've made it to the gym 4-5 times a week since joining 3 weeks ago and am feeling pretty good about it!  I've also stopped eating rice throughout the week, which should definitely help.  

If you're in the Yangsan - Deokcheon area this is a great deal.  Some of my Korean friends/ colleagues are even considering joining so that we can all go together, which is pretty sweet!  They offer Personal Training as well (I found that out the hard way when one of the "English-speaking" Members - ie. someone who knows how to say Hello and talk about the weather a bit) told me I could use that area no problem and then I found out that I had been interrupting a personal training session - whoops.

On my walk home I pass this magnificent organic grocery store and bakery.  I don't dare step in - the bagel and cream cheese just looks far too good, as well as a Love Motel with a slogan telling me to live out my dreams. 

Update: I've switched gyms and have actually dropped a big pile of weight!  My diet has changed massively as well.  For breakfast, I mix Cellucor protein powder (120 calories and 25g of protein!) with water in a shaker bottle (all available at iHerb - click here for 10% off your first order!).  I have a 99 calorie granola bar as a snack, go through 3 - 4 L of water every day, have a turkey sub for lunch loaded with veggies and only the tiniest bit of mayo or mustard, and for dinner I usually make some combination of a protein (one of chicken, ground beef, eggs, bacon, or cheese), squash, peppers, and salad.  On the weekends I allow myself to go out with friends and enjoy a nice meal.  Once you shift your perspective from short term restriction to a long-term habit of fueling your body, making healthy choices is a lot easier!