I have finally discovered the secret to losing weight: join the Peace Corps.
Since I’ve lived here in Pohnpei, I’ve accidentally lost almost 30 pounds. I say accidentally because I had absolutely no intention of doing so, and I was completely unaware that it was happening. You see, the skirts the women wear here have simple elastic waistbands, making it impossible to detect weight loss (or gain for that matter). It didn’t even occur to me that I might be shrinking until I went into town a few months ago and one of my doctors said, “Wow! You look good.” She made me get on the scale, and we both gawked at the numbers. The weight literally fell off.
I know what you’re thinking, and my mom already asked me. Don’t worry; I am 100% completely healthy. In fact, that’s precisely why I’ve lost the weight. You’d be surprised what eliminating processed foods from your diet can do. Sure, I eat the occasional packaged food item from a care package (with an embarrassing amount of excitment), but my daily food intake consists of fresh fish, fresh fruit or vegetables, and rice. I drink tons of water (because it’s about 1 million degrees outside), and I am constantly sweating like a crazy person (did I mention it’s roughly 1 million degrees outside?). Let alone the fact that I walk to and from school twice every day (I go home for lunch), which amounts to about an hour walk in total. All of these factors evidently lead to abundant weight loss.
And it’s still coming off. Each time I go into town (about once or twice a month) I’ve lost even more weight. My doctors and I are monitoring my BMI to ensure that I stay in a healthy range, but due to my short stature, believe it or not I’m actually still considered overweight. Go figure.
I had to have my mom send me new, smaller shirts a few months ago, and all is well now. The only time I have an issue is when I try to wear pants. This is rare though, because in my village women only wear skirts. I don’t even have any pants here at my house; I left them all in my locker in town. But occasionally when I’m in town, I want to feel like an American. I try to slip on my jeans (I know that sounds insane in this climate, but remarkably I’ve gotten used to it) and run my errands, but that’s just not possible. They will not stay up no matter what I do. In a different context, I would be very excited about this, and would happily run out and buy a new pair of smaller jeans. But here, in my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer, it’s just annoying. Half of the clothing I brought with me is now completely useless.
My family isn’t quite sure how to deal with my weight loss either. In this culture, most women are large, and fatness is considered both healthy and an indicator of being financially stable. Also in this culture, it is completely appropriate to comment on someone’s weight. My family is constantly reminding me that I was fat when I got here, but now I’m skinnier. And each day I face the same discussion at mealtime: I tell them I’m full and they require me to eat a little more, because I’m losing weight and need to get fat again. It’s just part of my daily routine. But it is to no avail, it seems, because I am continuing to shed pounds.
If only this had happened when I was in college…
So if diet and exercise is getting you down, or you’re worried about your “holiday weight”, just go live in a developing nation for two years—that’ll take care of it.
Stay well
--Christy
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