Why Are Asians So Slim? (5 Tips for Weight Loss) 

A common observation that a lot of people make is that Asians often have a very slim physique.

If you travel to an Asian country, be it Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, or Indonesia, you will see that most people are very slim.

So how come Asian people are so slim?

The main reason why Asians are so slim is because their lifestyle consists of smaller sized meals, lower-calorie foods, and frequent activity due to walking as their main form of transportation.

The good news is that you can easily be skinny like Asian people too!

By following these healthy slimming habits, this will make weight loss an easy-going and straightforward process. 

In this article, we will be discussing some tips that will help you reach your physique goals.

The leading five habits that contributes to staying slim are: 

1. Asians Consume Quality Foods in Smaller Portions to Stay Slim 

2. To Stay Skinny, Asians Keep Their Body Moving Throughout the Day. 

3. Asians are Skinny because they do not Overindulge on Carbohydrates and Simple Sugars. 

4. Asians Make Overall Health and Wellness a Priority to Stay Slim 

5. Asians Make sure to Stay Hydrated. 

How Do You Lose Weight in General? 

Losing weight isn’t just about changing your diet to only eating healthy foods.

While that is an excellent thing to do for your health, losing weight, or more importantly, fat loss, all comes down to being in a caloric deficit. 

Being in a caloric deficit means that you consume fewer calories than you need to maintain your current body weight.

When your body does not receive enough energy from the amount of food you consume, it will burn your body fat for energy instead.  

To determine how many calories you need to eat in a day to be in a deficit, you need to figure out your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

TDEE refers to the amount of calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. 

Everyone’s TDEE is unique because it is determined by several factors such as your gender, age, weight, height, muscle mass, and daily activity level. 

How a TDEE is typically calculated is by taking your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate and then multiplying it by your activity measurement.

BMR refers to the amount of calories your body needs to keep its core functions functioning. This is the amount of calories your body will burn if you remain at rest for the entire day. 

This might sound very complicated, but thankfully, there are a ton of online calculators at your disposal.

All you need to do is plug in some information such as your gender, age, weight, and height, and it will help calculate your TDEE. 

While this is only an estimate, it is a great start for figuring out how many calories you should be eating to be in a deficit.

To be in a deficit, all you need to do is to eat less than your TDEE. 

Stay consistent with being in a caloric deficit for at least two weeks. If you drop 2-3 pounds, then continue eating at that amount.

But if you find yourself maintaining, or eventually plateauing, slightly drop your calories to continue your weight loss. 

Now that we have the basics of losing weight down let's look at how incorporating these lifestyle habits will help you consistently stay in a caloric deficit. 

Tip 1: Consume Quality Foods in Smaller Portions  

American and Asian countries differ so much in terms of average weight because of food portions and quality.

This makes a dramatic difference where here in America, the food portions commonly served in restaurants are huge compared to serving sizes served in other countries.

This has contributed to a culture of making large quantities of food the average food consumption for Americans. 

This is not the same when it comes to Asian countries. Asian countries on average, serve smaller portions when compared to what is served here.

Therefore, Asians will consume fewer calories as opposed to Americans. So the fewer calories you consume, the smaller and lighter you tend to be.

They are consuming smaller portions, but smaller portions are the norm in Asia, so it makes it harder for them to over eat because they do not need to eat more than they need to to to feel satisfied.

Of course, there are still overweight people in Asia, but there is definitely a lot less than the obesity rate here in America. 

Asians eat smaller portions, but the quality of foods they are consuming is a lot higher than the typical American diet.

The average American diet is heavy on sugary carbohydrates. For example, the American breakfast often consists of highly processed sugars and carbohydrates such as cereals, pancakes and syrup, pop tarts, etc.

Fast food is a prominent part of American culture, and the meals are often high in fats, carbohydrates, and low in protein.

This is a combo set to make people feel less satisfied while increasing their desire to eat even more food. 

In comparison, although Asian foods are not always healthy or void of junk food, the typical Asian diet consists of a lot more natural, whole foods that are a lot more balanced when it comes to protein, fat, and carbs.

For example, A Taiwanese breakfast would usually consist of porridge with a fried egg and vegetables.

A Japanese breakfast would consist of rice, miso soup, and a serving of grilled salmon. These meals consist of a moderate balance of protein, carbs, and fats that helps people feel more satiated. 

Popular Asian dishes are typically less processed than American fast foods.

Sushi, Korean BBQ, Pho, Peking Duck and Rice, etc., generally are made up of whole foods and are cooked so that doesn’t increase the fat content such as deep frying or cooking with butter. 

So bringing it all together, Asians eat whole and higher nutritional foods compared to the typical American diet.

These two combined together is a successful formula for weight loss and maintaining it. 

Tip 2: Keep Your Body Moving Throughout the Day 

One of the biggest things I have noticed when going from America to Asia is how much more walking and less driving people do in Asia.

Here in America, everything is spread out since the country is so large, so it is customary to drive a car when you need to go anywhere.

But in Asia, since the countries are smaller, everything is more compact, and it doesn’t take much distance for people to go from one place to another.

So in Asia, it is a lot more cost-efficient and convenient if they just walked or used public transportation to get to where they need to go. 

This is an important tip to keep in mind when it comes to losing weight and maintaining it because the more you move throughout the day, the more calories you burn, which leads to weight loss and low weight maintenance. 

The most important tip to take from this is to try to move your body as much as possible throughout your day.

Try to take some time to go out for a walk, a quick 5-10 minute HITT workout, doing push-ups and planks while you watch TV, etc.

Whatever it is, just do your best to get your body moving. Weight loss and being slim does not mean that you have to get a workout in at a gym.

As long as you are burning more calories than you are consuming, you will lose weight and be slim. 

Tip 3: Not Overindulging on Carbohydrates and Simple Sugars

The third tip that Asians tend to do is not overindulging on carbohydrates and simple sugars.

One of the most significant contributors to weight gain is high fructose corn syrup which is a commonly used ingredient here in America.

Fructose is incredibly high in calories, and consuming corn syrup can spike your blood sugar levels, leading you to consume more than you need because you feel less satiated. 

In Asia, since most meals are made out of whole foods, there is less processed sugar, which leads to a smaller consumption of calories overall.

Even the snacks that are made in Asia are much less caloric than the snacks produced here in America.

For example, two oreos alone are already 160 calories with 7 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbohydrates, and 14 grams of sugar. While four Bin-Bin Snow Rice Crackers are only 150 calories!

Tip 4: Make Health and Wellness a Priority 

The fourth tip that helps keep Asians slim and in shape is their collective consciousness about the importance of being healthy.

It’s common knowledge that the ideal standard for Asian beauty is thinness.

Therefore a majority of Asian cultures place an emphasis on being slim and staying slim in order to be considered healthy and beautiful. 

A good example of this is Japan’s “Metabo Law.” This law requires adult males and females to have their waist circumference measured annually.

If their waistline circumference is wider than the limit of 33.5 inches for males and 35.4 inches for females, they are required to attend weight loss classes provided by their company’s insurance.

The purpose for this is to combat obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes that is prominent in overweight people. 

Understanding the detriments of being overweight is the first step to achieving a healthy lifestyle.

By focusing on health and making it a priority in your life, you will naturally gravitate towards eating in moderate portions, avoid eating out too much, and getting some sort of consistent exercise. 

Tip 5: Stay Hydrated 

We will frequently mistake dehydration for hunger signals and overeat, which is why staying hydrated is essential.

From my own experiences of being part of Asian culture, we emphasize consistent water intake since it helps flush “toxins” out.

Growing up, whatever I had going on whether it was a cold, stomach ache, the go-to cure was always water. Not only that, my entire family always made a point to drink more water because of the belief that it flushes “poisons” out of your body.

Asians also usually do not like to order sugary drinks when they have meals.

The two most frequent beverages with meals are water and tea. This also helps in weight loss and staying slim because by opting out of sugary drinks such as soda and juice, you don’t have to worry about consuming liquid calories.

By drinking water or unsweetened tea instead, you can save anywhere from 100 to 300 calories! 

Not only is staying hydrated good for your body but it is an essential part of losing weight and keeping it off too!

Drinking water and staying hydrated can help regulate your appetite, boost your metabolism, help you feel less fatigue, and maintain an active lifestyle. 

There it is! 

Here you are, five tips that you can take away that explains why Asians are so slim. The overall takeaway is to move more and to eat moderate portions of nutrient-dense foods.

While this is the best tip for weight loss and staying slim in general, if you want to maximize your body composition potential and lose more fat while building muscle then you need to start weight training or resistance training!

Building muscle will help you burn more calories at rest as opposed to just losing weight overall.

This will help you stay slim easier while eating more calories because muscles burn more calories than body fat. 

Resistance training might sound intimidating at first, but it is pretty straightforward! You don’t need a gym and a ton of equipment to get started, you can start accumulating the benefits of resistance training right at your own home with only a few pieces of key equipment.

Here is a link for all the equipment that you need to get started. 

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