Weight Loss At The Basics - My Basic Tips

by Jeremy
(UAE)

I am an American that moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last October for a 3 1/2 year contract with my employer.

When I first arrived, I weighed around 205 lbs with a 34 inch waist. I was not in the best shape of my life, but I was also not overweight. Being in the Middle East is nothing new to me.

I spent time in Kuwait and Iraq prior to here, but this place is a LOT different than those GCC nations.

The UAE is prodominately Ex-Pats (approx 88.5% of the population) and there is a heavy British influence here. One thing that the Brits and Emiratis like to do on a Friday morning here is have a "Friday Brunch", which usually starts around noon and last until 4 or 5 pm. And the foods are an international mix of whatever.

Fried, boiled, bbq-ed, baked, filleted, you name it, it is probably here. Well, this is where I went wrong. I lived in a hotel for 2 months prior to moving into my current apartment. During that time, I survived on these Friday Brunches, along with whatever room service could bring up. I did not have much motivation for the gym and did not get out to often because my work kept me at the computer a good deal.

So, I got fat. Around a 20% body fat, 237 lbs (after 3 months) and went to a size 38 waist. Not pretty in the least of ways. When I moved into my apartment complex, I received info about the gym that the residents could use once it opened.

And after a good hard look in the mirror after a shower one day, I decided that something had to change. So about 5 weeks ago, the gym finally opened (about 4 months late) and my wife an I have changed our lifestyle completely.

We run, do cardio, lift weights (mostly me), swim on occassion, and we recently purchased raquet ball equipment that will soon be put to use. In the past 5 weeks, I have been able to loose 20 lbs, go from 38 to 35 inch waist and my body fat is 15.6%. I am able to run 3 miles a day plus do weight training afterwards and my energy levels have sky rocketed!!

My wife has been able to loose around 18 lbs and we make it to the gym together everyday and rest on Saturdays. My goal is to loose a total of 35 lbs by the end of the year and try to fit back into my size 34 waist jeans!