The fact that the work you're doing will be intensive, exhausting and stressful is exactly what makes your coworkers think that they are entitled to blow off steam by drinking hard & eating whatever they want in enormous quantities. They're of the mindset that this is what they deserve. (Paticularly if you're on an expense account of some sort -- in my experience, this is how people **stick it to** the companies they work with when those companies demand efforts deemed punishing & beyond the ordinary.)
Rest assured that you are making the wiser choice by trying to deal with your stress in a healthy way & not using food & drink as an escape valve or a way of settling accounts with your employer. You're doing things that will nourish your health & well-being far beyond your tenure in Belfast.
How are you at withstanding peer pressure & staying true to yourself? That's going to be the most important thing here. Think of us here in the forum as your true peers & not the people you work with.
Your colleagues may surprise you. Not everyone may be totally with the peer-pressure-enforced program of binge drinking & pigging out for that entire period. Some may be braver if you speak up & act differently. They may join you, eventually, or for part of the time. Partying after work all the time can get old.
If I were you, I would explore the neighborhood physically, to look for potential walking/running routes. See what the TV programs offer, or if you can bring your own DVDs & set a space aside for exercising. Look for like-minded people -- online at first, before you go there. There have to be people in Belfast who are interested in health & exercise. Find that community & where it shops & where it goes.
And don't forget about us. A lot of members here are surrounded by unsupportive communities or family & take refuge here.
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