fiddler that recipe looks awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try it next week. What do you substitute for kaffir lime leaves? I used to have dried ones (that I bought in the BKK airport lol) but I ran out a while ago and I haven't been able to find them here.
You can omit them if you can't get fresh ones. Or maybe try a different kind of citrus leaf. They actually add more fragrance than taste to the finished dish. Kind of a citrus blossom scent. But I have made it without them before and it's not a huge difference.
takingcontrol I just realized you are probably looking for lunch ideas for when you get back home from Thailand... so hopefully you'll be able to make all of those!
fiddler good to know. I love tom yum but have avoided it because it's usually thick with oil- your recipe doesn't have any oil which is promising. I just got shrimp (albeit, frozen) and can't wait to experiment with tom yum goong.
Another quick, easy Asian recipe I usually do (takingcontrol this is a go-to for me for lunch too):
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Julienne carrots, cabbage, and cucumber. Place fresh spring roll rice wrapper in hot water for about 10 seconds until soft, remove. Place vegetables, mint, coriander(er, cilantro! been in Asia too long ), and small shrimp/chicken/pork (option, cook as you like) length-ways and roll spring roll. Dip in peanut sauce (peanut butter, water, soy sauce, rice vinegar (optional), heated to melt and mix) or Thai chili sauce. They should look like this. Nom nom nom.
Bad: I found out that my salary is being cut by 20% (actually already has been cut since they didn't have the decency to tell me until after they had already made it effective), plus another one of my employees is quitting because of not being paid enough (they didn't cut his salary; just never paid him what he was worth to begin with).
Good: I have been working out pretty hard for 4 weeks now. I don't weigh myself, but I have the lady at the gym take my measurements periodically. The last time I had been measured was three weeks ago. She took my measurements yesterday, and I had lost at least .5 inch on each measurement, and 2.5!!! inches on my abdomen. Not bad for 3 weeks
fiddler I'm so sorry to hear about your salary. I had a similar experience- was supposed to start a new job on Monday and was told last week they wouldn't pay me an American salary. I declined the job. I know how stressful/panicky it can be when the rug is pulled out from under you so I definitely am sorry this has happened. On the upside, WAY TO GO on the measurement loss!!
The spring rolls are SO EASY and really forgiving too- feel free to experiment with different veggies and proteins. As long as the mint and coriander are there it's fine. You are familiar with Asian flavors so feel free to play around with the sauce too. Some people put sriracha, hoison, lime, ginger, etc. I keep it simple but there are tons of directions you can take it in. Spring roll wrappers (make sure you get those, not wonton wrappers as I once got lol... they should be super thin and made of rice paper) are pretty easy to find. I use this brand.
Wow, this thread is great, so many people with different stories and insights on eating/living/dieting in different corners of the world. I love it! Even when I'm back in the UK, I'll still be hanging around, the recipes and ideas are fab!
indiblue I didn't make myself very clear on the lunch thing! I actually meant what I could order from the local little shack/restaurant I eat in on workday lunchtimes. I'd love to avoid it, but I can't come home for lunch, and with no fridge/heating facilities at work, it's eat out or be very limited!
However, thanks so much for that list, some delicious ideas on there I'll defo be trying out once back in the UK!
On the subject of lime leaves, if anyone wants them sending before I leave, I'm happy to oblige, send me an inbox message. I'll def be stocking up before I go home!
Oh and I love Vietnamese spring rolls, the Thai version is also lush. Will I be able to buy the rice papers easily in the UK, or should I stick some in my suitcase? I never saw them there when I was home before, but then, I never looked!
Fiddler sorry to hear about your salary cut, how on earth do they get away with that? But go you on the measurements, that's great! I've upped the owrking out this week after a couple of lazy weeks, permanently achy but loving it!
takingcontrol haha sorry about the misunderstanding. A little Thai shack sounds amazing to me right now. It's so hard to get good Thai food where I am. When do you go back to the UK? I don't know about rice paper wrappers- in the US they are prevalent in cosmopolitan areas (esp at Asian grocery stores or regular grocery stores in areas with high Asian populations). You can also order them on Amazon. Still, wouldn't hurt to pick up some while you're in Thailand of course. I grabbed a bunch of spices at the BKK airport last time I flew through. KING POWER! hahaha.
How's everyone's week been? Any good weekend plans?
Hi everyone! I'm new to 3fc and a kind moderator pointed me to this thread earlier today. I'm really glad to find this thread and see that other people are facing some similar challenges and issues! I live in a rural area (Sub-Saharan Africa) and let me tell you, there is no such thing as a calorie count on anything! Food is cooked with a lot of oil, the most unhealthy kinds like palm and coconut, and there is very little variety. Fresh vegetables and fruits are limited to what's in season and the selection is sparse - I can usually find tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, and sometimes garlic, as well as oranges, mangos, and occasionally apples. That really is about it. Oh, and sugar is HUGE here. People put it in everything, even the pasta! Tea is the favored drink and the saying in the region is that people here like a little tea with their sugar! I don't eat meat so that also limits my diet. Lentils are usually available which is nice, but the local way of cooking them involves a ton of oil!
I have lost some weight, maybe around 10 lbs?, because I was just so tired of eating the same thing all the time. I'm not sure of exactly how much as I wasn't able to weigh myself but some clothes that I had with me that barely fit are on the lose side now. An expat recently moved and left me her scale so I finally know my real weight!
I was really jealous to hear about the gyms and exercise equipment that people have access to - I actually like going to the gym but there are no gyms here. People do get a lot of exercise because there aren't many modern conveniences. Strangely though Live Strong does not tell me how many calories are burned riding a donkey through the desert! I'm sticking to some resistance bands I brought with me as well as exercise DVDs. I really enjoyed the commentary here about what is culturally acceptable vis a vis exercise. I live in a Muslim country and the dress is very conservative - it would not be at all acceptable for me to go jogging or expose that much skin. Considering that it is regularly 110+ F out, I'm not sure I even could without passing out!
Whew, this is a long post! Sorry, I guess I had a lot to say about trying to lose weight while living in Africa!! So, my goals are to continue to lose weight, try to eat as cleanly as possible, and get myself set for the challenge of moving back to the US in a few months. I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you on this thread and wish everyone luck with their weight loss goals!
Rana - We tried out Carrefour this weekend and loved it! Thanks so much for the suggestion. We also found out that they have discounted fruit/veggies on Sundays and Thurs. so we're going to start working our shopping schedule around that. We got some great deals and spent over R$60 less than the previous week!
Oh, and DH FINALLY let me buy a pressure cooker so now we've been enjoying our black beans, which helps us to save a lot of $$.
Pochomamma WELCOME!! It sounds like several of us face a lot of similar challenges, but you have it much more to an extreme! I know very little about sub-saharan African food. My only knowledge of African food is Ethiopian and Ghanaian cassava . What are the staples there?
For food, are there a few packaged foods you can either have shipped to you or buy in a major city's export food whenever you go? Perhaps Nature Valley bars, fruit leather, Slim Fast, Luna bars? Those could be a good meal replacement from time to time if you need to cut down on the oil-soaked meal options. Is there a commissary or something available to diplomats/military/NGO people that you can jump in on to get a few things to keep around your place?
Also, do you have a place to cook and equipment? You could make your own lentils, especially if you have tomato and onion and garlic to spice it up. I don't know if you are in an area where housekeepers are the norm, but if you can splurge to hire one and make sure she prepares the lentils or other foods with a lot less oil (just watch her the first time she makes things and give her directions) it could be worth it.
Re. exercise, it sounds like you have found a good way to get in some movement indoors. Dumb bells are difficult to transport, but water jugs perhaps if you want to include strength training? Yoga, pilates DVDs? Just some thoughts, though the exercise DVDs and resistance bands sound great!
Anyway I'm sure you've thought of all of these suggestions! How long have you been in Africa and how much longer do you expect to be there?
ranna and running pressure cookers are AMAZING. I don't know why they haven't taken off in the US like they have in other countries (or at least where I grew up they weren't very popular). I love throwing a bay leaf in there too, good idea ranna.
running Do you like Indian food? I could post a few recipes for daal and chole (channa masala) that are low fat/high protein if you are able to access chick peas and lentils. So easy to do with a pressure cooker How do you typically use your black beans?
Thanks for the responses!
indiblue: I was a hasher back in the states! I looked into doing it in Israel, but they hash on days I am scheduled to work, so unless I switched my schedule, doing that won't be a common occurrence.
takingcontrol: I brought a few workout DVDs and have some yoga books, so I will likely be doing that to supplement any gym I go to. On the days I work, I pretty much don't have time to do anything else but go to work and work out, so I am trying to get into a groove and do that. I brought Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown (or something like that) DVD, so I might just stick to doing that twice a day until I find a gym.
runningfromfat: I am in one of the larger cities in the country, but it is in the desert, so I am quite shocked at how available and cheap fresh produce is. I have coworkers who get food from back in the states shipped to them, but I promised myself that where food was concerned, I would eat off the local market. The women here eat all the same food and remain very slim, but there is also a pretty healthy range of options, especially when it comes to salad. I am just learning to tweak my palette (read:kill my sugar tooth) for success.
I did some grocery shopping yesterday for what I hope will be food for the week. It was very expensive to purchase things, so I am actually going to try and stick to a budget for food weekly and see how that affects my decision making at the grocery store. I have noticed that the processed foods tend to cost more than the fresh ones (yes!), which helps. I just don't want to be spending upwards of $100/wk on groceries and still having to purchase 3-5 meals at night (at roughly $25-70/meal) because I ran out of food. I guess portion control will have to play a major part in that deal.
I've only just joined and discovered this thread, but I'm so happy to see it here. I've lived in Taiwan for several years, and face a lot of the same issues many of you have brought up. I don't think I can respond individually to each thing I noticed as I was reading through, but here are a few of my reactions (sorry for not attaching names to each!):
Dragonfruit: love it! Luckily, it's very cheap here. And I'm waiting for lychees to come back in season - my favorite!
Being called fat: though it's true, I really am fat, I cannot help feeling just awful every time someone says it to me without any trace of understanding that they are hurting my feelings. It's totally cultural, and Americans are admittedly a little too permissive about obesity, but it still hurts. It feels like my weight is the measure by which anyone judges me here. Every time someone comments on my weight here, I just want to shout: "Yeah, but have you heard me sing? Check out the screenplay I've just finished. Oh, and let's see you beat my LSAT score!"
Pressure cookers: I recently invested in an electronic one, and it's amazing. I make soup every week, plus applesauce and lots of other things that are full of nutrition. I like that I can make big batches of things and eat them for a few days.
Local food: I sort of hate rice and noodles, and really like meat, which is unfortunate since the food here is about 75% carbs/25% protein when I'd prefer it the other way around. I also hate the way vegetables are prepared - usually cooked in oil! And forget about fresh raw vegetables - the best you can get is a terrible salad from 7-11 with a few shreds of carrots and a couple of raisins. It drives me nuts when local friends or strangers try to argue with me that Taiwanese food is so much healthier than American food, which is only true when you compare it to American deep-fried foods (which I happen to hate). I've tried for over 5 years to love local food, and there are a few things I do love, but the vast majority of the foods just keep me fat and/or bored. I've now mostly come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to adapt well to local food and have started to cook almost all of my own meals (made easier by the large kitchen in my new apartment). Breakfast is easy - I make a trip to Costco once every couple of month for cereals and oatmeal, which I eat every day. The other meals mostly consist of meats and veggies, occasionally with some pasta or rice. I'm learning to be a better cook, and adapting my meals to what kinds of veggies are available at the traditional market nearby.
For me, one of my biggest challenges here has been exercise. In the US, if I went to the gym, I wasn't the only overweight person sweating away on the treadmill, and I certainly wasn't the only white person in the room. Here, people stare at me even when I walk on the street, so a trip to the gym is simply mortifying. Thus, I finally made the plunge this year and bought my own treadmill (it cost me about $850 USD), so I can exercise without embarrassment. Plus, I have to see it every day (guilt!) and I want to get my money's worth (guilt!), so I'm more likely to actually exercise each day. I don't have any current plans to leave the country, but should I ever leave, I could easily sell the machine online. I wish I had taken this step sooner, but now that I've got it, I'm putting it to use!
I love dragonfruit too, yum. So jealous you have that and lychees! Though I can't complain too much... mango season here is a few weeks away so that will keep me happy for a while
We have the same problems with veggies here. Salads are simply not available in restaurants. Do you end up buying fresh veggies and eating them at home, sans oil/sauce saturation? I do that almost every day, otherwise I'd have oil-infused limp vegetables for every meal due to the culture around me.
I hear you on the local meals thing. For me, I LOVE Indian food and could eat it almost every meal, but at that rate I'd be morbidly obese in a few weeks because it's so darn fattening. (More fattening than its equivalent in the US, they use SO MUCH OIL here on everything.) So for that reason I can only have a few small servings of local cuisine per week. Definitely requires cooking one's own meals, since fresh, low calorie, low fat food is just not widely available in restaurants or the grocery store.
I love your reaction to the "you are fat" statements. I read someone else, maybe on this thread I can't remember, would give back a sarcastic "Wait, really? I hadn't noticed! That's so interesting, thanks for telling me!" which I also love, but from my experiences in South and Southeast Asia sarcasm is not really a feature of comedy here so the joke may be lost
I can understand how going to the gym would be a strange experience. When I lived in Cambodia I was the only white person and only female the gym and I definitely got stares. Please, please tell me that the gyms there have the fat jiggle machine where you stand on it and put a belt around your waste that "jiggles" the fat away. I have been to around 12 countries in Asia and have yet to see a gym without that machine and it still cracks me up every time!
), and small shrimp/chicken/pork (option, cook as you like) length-ways and roll spring roll. Dip in peanut sauce (peanut butter, water, soy sauce, rice vinegar (optional), heated to melt and mix) or Thai chili sauce. They should look like 
I'm sticking to some resistance bands I brought with me as well as exercise DVDs. I really enjoyed the commentary here about what is culturally acceptable vis a vis exercise. I live in a Muslim country and the dress is very conservative - it would not be at all acceptable for me to go jogging or expose that much skin. Considering that it is regularly 110+ F out, I'm not sure I even could without passing out! 
