Absolutely Fobulous

Okay, so I’m not going to lie, I definitely put on some holiday pounds this past month but I could never imagine resorting to eating roundworm eggs to lose the flab.  Once digested, the eggs hatch in a person’s stomach.  Apparently this is the new weight-loss scheme for female students in China who have felt a need to look thinner in order effectively compete in the grim job market.

Other strategies to get skinny Chinese girls have tried include staring at photos of themselves for hours, as a way to suppress their appetite.  Another way is showering up to 10 times a day with a “special” soap that supposedly helps you lose weight.  Desperate times surely do call for desperate measures.

Link

(Thanks, Jesse!)

Even the most petite Asian girls are critical of their body image. Are you wondering if you’re skinny enough for Asia?

Despite all the attention that svelte celebs like Jennifer Lopez get, having junk in your trunk isn’t exactly looked highly upon in Asia. The “magic number” a woman is expected to weigh is 100 lbs, according to Hong Kong-based psychologist Philippa Yu.

I’ve always felt that the pressure to be thin is much worse in Asia than in the US, likely because of the different cultural standards of beauty. Asian women are expected to be thinner and prefer non-muscular bodies–worlds apart from American women, who work out to achieve that toned and sculpted body. In fact, the pressure to be thin is so strong that it can lead to unhealthy dieting fads. For example, in Hong Kong the latest diet craze involved ingesting parasites. The Hong Kong Health Department even released a public announcement last month, warning people about the dangers of swallowing the parasites.

And here I am writing this while recovering from food coma brought on by an intense hotpot session!

Read more, here!

(Thanks, Susie!)