Getting healthy in weird places

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BFrancis85
BFrancis85 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi,


I have been overweight and out of shape for a very long time and about a month ago decided to make some changes, get healthier and see if I might be able to succeed at changing myself physically. I've always been somewhat active I just live off junk food and snacks which has led to my long term out-of-shapeness.

Here's the twist, though; I live and work 10 months of the year in the Occupied West Bank as a director of an NGO that helps kids from villages and refugee camps here get access to an education. As such I give up a lot of the things I'm used to back in the UK (TV, nice restaurants, friends and family etc.) and work long hours, often 12-18 hours a day. None of this I mind very much as helping these kids is an amazing reward in itself, but it's not particularly conducive to a healthy lifestyle. Exercise opportunities are rare and the cuisine here consists of lots of fried and processed foods (which would explain why Palestinians rate in the top ten lists worldwide for obesity percentages).

Anyway, my first month has gone well. A newfound exploration of cooking (I've never really cooked regularly before) and regular exercise has seen me drop ten pounds in a month and I want to carry on and see how much further I can take it. I've also given up smoking at the same time which has not been fun but I figured if I was getting healthy I couldn't justifiably keep the cancer sticks going.

Anyway, I'm new to MFP, just thought I'd say hi!

Replies

  • jtslim42
    jtslim42 Posts: 240
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    WELCOME!:drinker:
  • BFrancis85
    BFrancis85 Posts: 3 Member
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    I just wanted to give this a bump to see if I can find any other MFP friends. A lot of the people I found when I posted this have since fallen off the radar and it find it much easier when there are a group of people on my homepage who all support each other.

    As a quick update I've somehow managed to keep this up and have lost a total of 38lbs now since I started. MFP really does help so if anyone wants to add me please feel free.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Well done on your weight loss, and your job sounds very interesting. I'm a secondary school French teacher so anything to do with education interests me!

    Feel free to add me.
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    Hi there! I am currently trying to get healthy in Japan! Now, you might thing this is easy since the Japanese are all so thin, but here's the kicker...I'm allergic to any and all seafood! That means I'm stuck with the carb load! Not to mention the fact that I want to try all the foods I can...I'm already addicted to Japanese curry and a lot of their sweets, but I try to limit myself to special occasions. At least I have an easier time with exercising.
  • Honey_bearz
    Honey_bearz Posts: 15
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    Germany, does that count as weird?

    I'm definitely a little out of my comfort zone as an Englishman, but that's definitely a good thing. The foods that I miss are all unhealthy so not having access is definitely helping..

    Incidentally, what you're doing sounds amazing. I'd love to learn more.
  • sweetdianachka
    sweetdianachka Posts: 318 Member
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    I've been living in Korea the past two years, and I've had success with weight loss and put it back on within a few months, I think the hardest thing is simply not knowing what you're eating sometimes and trying to guess.
  • sweetdianachka
    sweetdianachka Posts: 318 Member
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    Germany, does that count as weird?

    I'm definitely a little out of my comfort zone as an Englishman, but that's definitely a good thing. The foods that I miss are all unhealthy so not having access is definitely helping..

    Incidentally, what you're doing sounds amazing. I'd love to learn more.

    I hear you! Germany is waaay hard to loose weight in. all those breztal sandwiches on EVERY CORNER yuuuuummm I lived there for almost a year and probably gained 5 lbs overall
  • Honey_bearz
    Honey_bearz Posts: 15
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    Germany, does that count as weird?

    I'm definitely a little out of my comfort zone as an Englishman, but that's definitely a good thing. The foods that I miss are all unhealthy so not having access is definitely helping..

    Incidentally, what you're doing sounds amazing. I'd love to learn more.

    I hear you! Germany is waaay hard to loose weight in. all those breztal sandwiches on EVERY CORNER yuuuuummm I lived there for almost a year and probably gained 5 lbs overall

    I only started losing weight in Germany because my office is right next to a gym!

    Germany have some amazing food, but so much meat and bread. Too much temptation. I have difficulty finding places where I can choke down a salad.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I've been to Germany a few times and remember not finding anything I particularly liked to eat. On one trip (just to an xmas market) I had to go to Subway to get a salad!

    I lived in France for a year (in Avignon) and lost loads of weight that year. The alcohol student diet seemed to work pretty well when I was 21 :laugh:
  • sweetdianachka
    sweetdianachka Posts: 318 Member
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    The one thing I did like about Germany is all the walking I did. I lived on the outskirts of Stuttgart and there were beautiful forest paths and parks everywhere. Plus any time we went into the city we would walk around, but then usually sit and drink beer!

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