I got a shock today. I have been in Korea for almost 10 years and I thought that since I have been eating, "healthy Korean food" for most of that time, that I would be healthy, thin, and strong. It was shocking to me when I got on the scale at my gym to find out that I had gained 15 kilograms.

I guess I have to blame my lifestyle. I mean that I work at a cooking school and I run food tours. I also write restaurant reviews and own a restaurant. I decided right there that I needed to change my lifestyle and I decided to change my eating habits as well.

So, listeners, I am going to tell you how you can find ways to satisfy your hunger and your health in this episode.

First of all, soju and beer and all the company outings are not good for the waistline. Just one shot of Soju has 64 calories and 1 bottle has 540 calories. If you have to drink on an outing, cheat and pour water into your soju glass or drink makgeolli. Makgeolli, or rice beer, has 69 calories in 150 grams. Plus it is more filling and it is said that the fermentation is good for your health.

Another thing you might be indulging in that is just full of empty calories is milk coffee. This instant coffee is full of sugar and fat and a serving has 69 calories per cup. It would be better to do black coffee without the sugar which has a whopping 2 calories.

Another food that you might assume to be healthy but really isn't is kimbap. While this is still healthier for you than a cheeseburger, it is full of carbs and fat and 1 roll is the equivalent of 484 calories. Now if you have this with an order of tteokbokki which has 300 calories (which I think is an excellent combination), you will have half your daily intake of food. I think other hardworking Koreans can eat this and not gain any weight, but I cannot. I would suggest instead these different food options: Bibimbap without the rice which has only 340 calories. It is really good if you add cho-gochujang as the sauce or, if you really need rice, you can add brown rice which has half the calories at 150 calories and has more fiber. You can also do bibimnaengmyeon which is a filling and refreshing dish that has about 300 calories per serving. Be sure not to drink the beef soup because there is a lot of salt and calories in that. Other healthy options are the soups and stews.

Doengjang chiggae has about 200 calories and if you have this without the rice, it is a great dish. Again, if you must have rice, cook up brown rice and take it with you to the restaurant. You can even ask the restaurants to heat up the rice in the microwave, or in Korean, the Junja rangee. Kimchi chiggae only has 186 calories for two cups.

Of course, the healthiest food you can eat in Korea is Kimchi.

For banchan servings of kimchi which is 50 grams, there are only 10 calories in kimchi. To give you some perspective, a bag of potato chips which is only 28.5 grams will have a whopping 160 calories with 10 grams of fat. There is no fat in kimchi, just vitamins and healthy probiotics. So my advice listeners, is to eat lots of kimchi. I going to give it a try this week and I'll let you know if my new healthy way of eating will help me shed some of this weight.