Doing summer work abroad, struggling but succeeding

Nananiemand

Hi all, first time posting. I was scrolling through and couldn't find anyone posting about situations when you're away from home for very long stretches of time, say a month or three, and how difficult it can be to adjust a weight management (or loss!) regime when you don't have the comforts and controlls of being home. So, I wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else has similar struggles.

I'm a researcher and I work abroad for three months every summer, generally staying in small rural communities. I do a mix of jobs, collecting specimens, which means I'm either outdoors hiking (great days for exercise!) or indoors doing analysis (sedentary, sometimes less than 1k steps in a day). Also, because of where I am, I can't go for morning jogs or visit a gym on these sedentary days. Usually I end up gaining weight and coming home feeling horrible. This summer, however, I took control: I bought a yoga mat, a set of resistance bands, and a jump rope. It has made so much difference! I still feel embarrassed jumping rope, and I sometimes just run in place and feel like a nerd, but it's helping a lot.

My other issue has generally been that, where I'm staying people tend to serve huge plates of rice and fried potatoes. Normally because I don't want to appear ungrateful, I try to clean my plate. At home I normally stick to a strict 40% carb, 30/30% protein and fat, and which I do to regulate severe migraines and anxiety, but also to maintain my weight. I had to learn that I can ask for plates without rice, and that I can always give someone else my potatoes. Also, I have finally realized that I can almost always find fresh fruit at the small local tiendas, and when I go to market days I buy bags and bags of nuts. I also made myself commit to keeping my MFP log, though I almost never hit my macros.

Even if I come home having lost some progress (this spring I committed to a running program and lost 20 lbs.) I will at least be on track to keep with daily exercise and daily food tracking. Just because I'm not perfect every day doesn't mean I should stop being responsible for my actions (and inactions).

Love to hear other people's experiences working through being away from home.

jemhh

Good work!

I've never been away for that long of a time period. Usually I'm in a situation where I'm moving more than I do at home (office job) or can use a hotel gym. However, the food issue you wrote about is one I've dealt with and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that you can ask for food without rice or give somebody else your potatoes. I've eaten stuff in the past that I didn't want in order not to be rude too and realizing that I didn't have to do that and still wouldn't appear rude was a bit of a revelation. It really is okay

Nananiemand

Thank you!

Yes, it's really hard to learn that it's okay to refuse food and to ask for changes to your plate. I've especially struggled simply because the area I work in is rather poor and we have a small language barrier -- though it gets better every year! I've also had to remind myself that I can't mindlessly grab bags of chips and cheap sweets, even if they're very inexpensive here. It's been hard but I am learning.

M0n1KCR

I've spent a month abroad on a teacher-training program. It was paid for by the school district where I work and the scholarship included meals - and the way the found to pay for meals was to give us restaurant vouchers (which was really nice, and allowed me to taste lots of yummy foods!). But, on the down side, it's made logging far more difficult. I've spent a month eating every meal at restaurants, in a foreign country with lots of different foods that looked delicious and I wanted to taste. In some places I could find nutritional info online, but not in most of them, so I had to eyeball most meals. My solution was to walk a lot after the lessons and to be careful not to underestimate the calories in my food; if in doubt, I've tried to overestimate them, just in case. To my surprise, I've kept losing at nearly the same rate as at home. So, with a little care (and a lot of walking), it can be done!