Vietnam. The Fat creep

"You live in Vietnam, how can you possibly get fat?" my friend asked me when I complained to him about gaining weight. Trust me, you can! It's called "The Fat Creep"

Have you ever heard of scope creep? Scope creep occurs when you take on a project with "yay-big" requirements and along the way the client requests to add a little more things to do. And you say ok, I'll do it for you, and next week they'll ask for little more, and you say ok I'll do it for you...and it goes on and on. Until before you know it, you'll wake up and you've got yourself a project bigger than Ben Hur, and not making any more mula on top of that. That's scope creep in a nutshell. 

This is my before shot. Wasn't I Gorgeous?

The Fat Creep

My theory is the same concept applies for The Fat Creep! My housemate, let's call him "Marcos De Rossi, " (I always use exotic alias names, don't I?) warned me about this when I first arrived to Vietnam. He told me that if don't get in some exercise, that I'll start to put on weight. 

Puh-lease, I thought to myself. How can I possibly get fat with all the healthy Vietnamese cuisine that's available here. Pho  - That's not fattening. Goi Cuon (Rice paper rolls) - couldn't possibly be fattening, Bun (Vermicelli dishses) - Now how can rice noodles and vegetables be fattening. And with that mindset and a year later, and now my jeans are as tight as pressed-on leather vinyls. 

Just this morning, I needed some help zipping up my dress. Marcos told me it's a sign to start hitting the gym, and he's right! It's THE FAT CREEP, I'm telling ya. Look left, look right, and boom... your're FAT. 

The truth is when I first arrived, for about the first 6 months I lost a lot of weight and so with that safety net, I thought what why not snack on chips and burgers and all that. After all, I do work hard and the gym takes out so much of my time.  Yes - all the cheesy and fatty western meals like pizza and pasta are readily available in Vietnam.

This is my after shot. The Fat Creep Victim:

So the moral of the story is... you can get fat in this country.

Don't let the skinny Vietnamese people and the healthy foods that surrounds you fool you. The Fat Creep is just what it is.... It's creepy! 

Eat well and exercise well - In any country. I'm hitting the gym now (or maybe not).