When I get off the excellent MTR in the morning on my way to work, I take one short escalator up, then walk along a corridor for approximately 90 seconds before another couple of escalator rides to the surface.
It is during that 90-second stroll that I frequently get infuriated at the state of the city. The MTR is obviously a great place to advertise products, shops and shows - I often find out about concerts and performances there - but unfortunately much of the advertising space goes to slimming products. During my minute-and-a-half morning walk between levels, I currently pass no fewer than a dozen posters - yes, 12 - advertising slimming treatments. They are primarily for two companies: one which is the "official slimming centre" for the Miss Hong Kong pageant, and the other which features a model-slash-actress-slash-singer who put on LOTS of weight for a role and then lost it all again.
But 12 in the space of maybe 200 metres?
Hong Kong is a city obsessed with appearance, it's true. If you're not in the right label/bar/car, you're not really worth anyone's time. OK, I'm projecting my bitterness (following my rejection from M1NT on Saturday for wearing Havaianas, and not Prada pumps), but Hong Kong women do have a very unhealthy attitude towards body image. They are, for the most part, of small build. But so many of them think they're "fat" and want to lose yet more weight. And yes, when you're not carrying excess poundage, you do feel good about yourself, and you don't mind those bikini shots being posted on Flickr or Facebook - I admit that I wish I had a little less podge so the odds of being offered a seat on the train were reduced.
But if you feel you could drop a couple of pounds, the answer is not to sign up for a service that promises miracles by massaging your belly and attaching electrodes to the flab. The way forward is to slightly reduce the amount you eat and slightly increase the amount you move. Bear in mind that I am the greatest opponent of sport. I hate it. But I do know that, if I want abs of steel, there is no magic formula. Bummer, maybe, but let's be realistic.
What bugs me most, though, is that stick-thin is the order of the day. Anyone with a millimetre of flesh on them is seen as unattractive by so many women - they just want to be skin and bones. But that's a) unhealthy and b) really quite disgusting to see!
It makes me wonder how these women give birth, honestly.
In other news, two days after Alicia, I went to see Travis, same venue, but standing tickets. How very different a concert this was. Everyone in the audience was up for a good time, singing and dancing along, cheering at the top of their voices - some had even brought umbrellas for the inevitable encore choice of Why Does It Always Rain On Me? So much more enjoyable an overall experience, even if I knew only five songs of the 90 minute set as opposed to all-bar-one of Ms Keys'.
The quarter-pint of beer I gulped from my friend's cup may have helped matters, I suppose.
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1 comment:
....or speaking from personal experience, there's always food poisoning! Just kidding... I've only ever tried to properly diet once and what worked then was an hour on the rowing machine every other day for a month. I quickly lost the 5-7 pounds I wanted to and thank god, it was hideous!
What frightens me is when people focus on weight loss and lose sight of what's healthy!
J
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