Good for you to have found squash, Moe! It's hard to exercise in Kuwait, especially this time of year. Especially during Ramadan! I used to swim in a chilled pool, but only early in the morning and later in the evenings. I walked a treadmill inside a fitness room where I lived and watched TV. Too yucky to do anything outside. I don't know how my friends played tennis outside.
Finding activities that suit you is good. I've had a difficult time with that, but finally found that I love Pilates. I go to a class for that and have developed good comraderie with my classmates, so I have the social support for that too. The weather in California is much better for taking walks outside in town and in the countryside than it was when I lived in Kuwait. When I lived there, I walked the Al Kout and Sharq malls as much as I could. I now have a rowing machine that I parked in my backyard and I use that every morning and I walk to shopping and appointments as much as possible. (I live in a small town now.)
Being Kuwaiti is all about family, which is a two-edged sword when it comes to trying to lose weight! I know, because my family is Greek, and life is all about the food and the celebrations. If I'm not eating, my mother and aunties are offended. If I indulge in the food, my cousins are gossiping about what I ate, how much I ate, how I look and what I'm wearing. I can't win!!!!
I've found that intermittent fasting has helped me. It means spending much of the day not eating (instead of eating at every meal) and concentrating all my eating into a portion of the day, within (for me) an 8-hour window. I found that I don't really like eating breakfast, but I am very hungry in the late afternoon and evening, so that's when I eat. I can then control how much I eat, what I'm eating, and still eat with family/friends when it counts. I have been able to cut calories that way and have lost more weight.
I have health issues that forced me to eliminate certain foods. That has actually helped me a lot. So now I eat fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meats, eggs and healthy fats. No more restaurants or fast food. (Oh how I miss the Hardee's near the spring camps and the Gulf Royal in Fahaheel!) No prepackaged or processed food. No bread or sugar. Basically for me, shawarma = good, kofta = good, fattoush = good, moutabel = good...pita = not good, falafel = not good, biriyani = not good, basbousa = not good, tabbouleh = not good. Hummus and foul = okay once a month. Baklava = once a year! Um Ali = can't even have it on the same continent with me!
Making changes takes time. Sometimes the changes we make just get us to maintaining our weight. That's a victory. It means we're on the right track. I'm older than you (50) and I no longer have the pleasure of going on a diet and losing 5 kilo the first week. It's a very slow process for me now. But making changes to how I live every day that support the health I want was important. And then the family celebrations can be managed events and not the end of everything I've been working for.
The right support is very important. I had to surround myself with people who were there to help me, who also lived a healthy lifestyle. It meant not being around some of my old friends any more, the ones who were all about making poor choices and having someone support those poor choices too. In the end, it's my body and my life. I can't live for anyone else but me!
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