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Hi, everyone and welcome back to Happy Hour. 欢迎回来酒馆. Hi, 安澜.

Hi, Lulu, hi, everyone.

Have you noticed all of these new fads, like proteinmaxxing and fibermaxxing is the next one?

Yeah, I've heard that. The idea that's kind of everyone is drinking pre-biotic drinks, eating whole grains, et cetera.

So, I think the whole diet industry has been shifting from cutting things out to adding things in, from restriction to nourishment.

Yeah, exactly. But of course, you have the 4th trend...

And then, the pen.

The pen.

Yeah.

So drugs like a Ozempic have brought weight loss back into the spotlight, and for better or for worse, these drugs are refraining obesity as a medical condition, not as a moral failing.

Yeah, but I have to say that here's the caution, right? There are also people who are very, very concerned or they are at least a bit skeptical or a little bit cautious about GLP-1 trend, all of these weight loss drugs, the pen, because it might amplify diet centric thinking and the whole-body image pressure. And also, the medication alone, they're not fat burning drugs. They don't really build strength or healthy long-term habits. They just create a window so that you can build it. So ultimately, it's still lifestyle changes.

Well, yeah. That was the whole thing about these weight loss drugs, the idea that a lot of people take them, but then they put the weight on very quickly after they come off the pen.

Okay. And I tell you what, let's now move on to, more of a cross-cultural thing.

Okay.

I mean, I know you haven't been back in the UK for a while, but do you notice any difference? I mean, just personally we don't need the scientific facts or the data. Do you notice any difference between Chinese attitudes towards like weight loss, towards wellness and the general British attitude?

I would say wellness and weight loss and healthy eating is very much class based. So…

Oh, interesting.

Because obviously you have a cost-of-living crisis and processed food, fatty food is obviously cheaper and much easier to cook with; or you make something with chips is very, very easy. And it's also very, very cheap.

Yeah.

So generally, it's people who are earning less money, they are actually larger than people who are earning more money, the people that can afford better-quality food or can afford to go to the gym.

Yeah.

So, there is an attitude in the UK that if you are bigger, you are kind of, sort of socially at a lower level.

You're trying to phrase it in a non offensive way, right?

It's very, very difficult.

Yeah.

But that's sort of perception now, like for example, when you think about people who are unemployed, or whatever you think about someone who is kind of fat sitting on a sofa, so there's a lot of moral judgment.

Yeah, exactly. But then that is what we were talking about before, right? If you see obesity, as just a personal failing. Yeah, okay, you gain weight, you're fat because you're lazy. But that's just simply not the case like you mentioned the class distinction, people with more financial resources, they just have like a better, probably a more balanced lifestyle. And they just have more access to good quality and perhaps a lot more expensive food sources.

Yeah.

I think in China, we didn't used to have that class distinction, now we start to get it.

Yeah.

But still people are fighting back against this whole trying to shame people, not just based on their body image, but also based on their financial resources.

Well, to be honest, I’ve lived in China for many, many years now and I’ve even seen the shift in how people look at weight.

Right?

So, I would say when I first came to China, there was much more of an emphasis on “you eat well, you kind of eat your fill. It's fine if you're a little bit pudgy, it's fine if you put a little bit weight, there's not a big deal”.

Yeah.

Particularly for a man, it’s not a very big deal.

Yeah. And sometimes it was a sign of wealth even.

Exactly. And there was this whole idea that if you eat nothing but Chinese food, then of course, you're gonna be healthy but not factoring in there's also a lot of Chinese food that is also quite fatty, quite high in calories.

Yeah, quite greasy as well.

Yeah. So that's the thing that I always notice, particularly at the beginning, I had lots, lots of friends that would say to me our Chinese food is very, very healthy. But then lots of people would eat like a Jianbing(煎饼) for breakfast.

Yeah.

Which... or dumplings.

It’s got so many calories.

Exactly. Because it was China... I would say it’s going through that shift. So, people were eating food that were designed for manual workers, people working in fields.

Exactly.

People working in factories, people always on their feet who needed a lot of calories, but the food hasn't changed, but people's jobs, people's lives have changed.

Have changed.

So, you eat a Jianbing, and then you go and sit in an office all day.

Yeah. And then you get a gut.

And it's also the whole attitudes towards dieting, towards like body image, has changed in China. It's interesting you mentioned the gender distinction, men and women, because in the past it used to just be girls who are focusing on losing weight, staying slim.

Yeah.

Guys didn't really care that much, but recent years, I've noticed that Chinese guys are a lot more focused on how they look compared to before.

Yeah. I remember when I first came to China, I would go into a gym and it would be mostly women. Now I go into a gym. And it's pretty much half and half. And in some cases, it's mostly men.

Exactly. And It's also shifting from just losing weight to, like you said earlier, strength training, building muscles.

Yeah.

For both men and women.

Yeah. So I have to admit that something I’ve noticed more. Because like for example, in the gym, usually have men doing strength training, men using weights, women on exercise bikes or on treadmills.

Yeah.

But now…

Exactly.

You get so many women who are doing weight training as well.

Yeah, exactly. And let's track this topic back a little bit and let's focus on the reality check. I know that we're focusing on sustainability, the scientific weight loss, but the pursuit of weight loss can still go too far.

It can. And that's the whole problem. When we think about clean eating, wellness, those are good words. They are helpful, but the issue is that lots of dieters regain it, again, very quickly. Restrictive diets don't work long time. Your body adapts, the more you restrict, the slower your metabolism gets.

Exactly. So, the science is really clear. Crash diets don't work and they can be really harmful as in they deprive you of nutrients. And then I used to be a yoyo dieter.

Yeah. I don't snack and I have a friend of mine who is very, very slender. And she was asking me, you know, why don't you snack? I said, well, I try to keep healthy and she said, well, actually, if you don't snack at all, your metabolism slows down.

Oh, really?

Yeah. So, she's somebody that would snack a lot but is still, very kind of athletic, very thin. But I guess it's all about balance, isn't it, really?

Yeah, exactly. I think because recently...and a lot of our followers know, I lost a lot of weight and I think this time I'm finally able to reach that goal is because I've been more mentally relaxed about it.

Yeah.

I'm not trying to fight against my body anymore because before I was just trying to torture myself. And I believe that willpower was everything, but it's much of our ability to manage weight, really comes down to understanding biology and genetics.

Well, yeah. kind of eating a balanced diet, moving your body regularly as well. You know, these very small habits all build up and they're much more sustainable.

So, the key words, slow, steady, sustainable.

Yeah.

Now, as we're wrapping up this episode, I'm sure you have a lot to say on weight loss and staying healthy. I know a lot of our followers are, have like the greatest physique, a lot of them are gym junkies. Do you know that?

Yes, I do, I do. Like when I'm on live streaming and I kind of also a bit bad like saying I’ve lost a bit of weight and I'm talking to loads and loads of people who had probably a much, much fitter body than me.

Yeah, but I mean, you deserve to feel proud about your achievements.

Well, I don't know. I did have a Jianbing for breakfast this morning.

One Jianbing wouldn't hurt, so we would love to hear from you guys, what your thoughts on this topic. Leave us a comment in the comment section and also let us know what you want us to talk about in future episodes.

So until next time.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

Bye.

排版长图：Jer.ry

文稿校对：梅薇薇 & Jenny

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