Diet/food advice for a unique location;)

unimoose · 09-25-2007, 12:05 AM

Hi all. I've never really been one to watch what I eat. Whatever looked good ended up on my plate. When I was younger I, like most of us, could get away with that. Now that I'm 40 and have high cholesterol I certainly can't. To add to this issue I'm working in Afghanistan and the food I have available to me is pretty limited. My goals are to lose fat and gain muscle as well as improve cardio. Currently I do 20 - 30 minutes of cardio a day as well as work out 6 days a week. Here's the dilemma:

We have chicken and white rice available almost every time we have lunch or dinner. I skip eating the chicken skin and stick only with the meat itself. It's a good source of protein but not great for my cholesterol. For breakfast I have oatmeal instead of powdered eggs and pork products. A lot of the time we have "steak" (1/4" thick looks like leather and needs A1 to taste like anything) If chicken isn't available I'll have tuna with my rice instead. The only other choices are veggies which are usually saut?ed in butter or oil and on a rare occasion pork.

My question is am I going to get anywhere eating what they have here or should I take a visit to an online grocery store? I do have whey protein so no matter what my protein needs will be more then met I'm more concerned about losing body fat and keeping my cholesterol reasonable. Thanks for your advice.

MuscleHead36 · 09-25-2007, 01:05 AM

From what I read you don't have that much to choose from. I would try the online store thing you mentioned. The white rice is good but the brow rice is alot better from you. Glad to hear that you do have a protein powder to take. Good luck to ya!

Keltron · 10-06-2008, 09:50 AM

Stay away from that Afghan food. Afghans have a tendency to look at cooking oil as a staple. Due to their lifestyle, their bodies can handle it but you should only have it during cheat meals once a week. But I guarantee it will be a rewarding cheat meal.

Anyway, what you have available to you is fine. What matters more is the AMOUNT of food you eat. If you want to lose fat, you've got to consume less calories than you burn.

Based on your height, weight and age, your daily caloric expenditure would be about 2400 calories if you were to just lay in a bed all day. So if you use this number as your caloric INTAKE, the only way you won't lose fat is if you in fact, lay in bed all day.

However, 2400 calories may actually be too low for you based on your activity level. Start w/that but if you feel famished all day then keep increasing it by increments of 200 until it feels right.

Are you eating prepackaged meals w/the nutritional info written on them? Describe the food available to you w/a bit more detail and I can tell you how to count your calories.

m1k3g0rd · 10-06-2008, 10:53 AM

Check the cholesterol level on your protein powder also. Some of them have really high amounts. My wife bought me a 10lb bag of EAS protein because the price was good, but there's 40mg of cholesterol per scoop! Back to ON for me.

Fifty+ · 10-06-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unimoose

Hi all. I've never really been one to watch what I eat. Whatever looked good ended up on my plate. When I was younger I, like most of us, could get away with that. Now that I'm 40 and have high cholesterol I certainly can't. To add to this issue I'm working in Afghanistan and the food I have available to me is pretty limited. My goals are to lose fat and gain muscle as well as improve cardio. Currently I do 20 - 30 minutes of cardio a day as well as work out 6 days a week. Here's the dilemma:

We have chicken and white rice available almost every time we have lunch or dinner. I skip eating the chicken skin and stick only with the meat itself. It's a good source of protein but not great for my cholesterol. For breakfast I have oatmeal instead of powdered eggs and pork products. A lot of the time we have "steak" (1/4" thick looks like leather and needs A1 to taste like anything) If chicken isn't available I'll have tuna with my rice instead. The only other choices are veggies which are usually saut?ed in butter or oil and on a rare occasion pork.

My question is am I going to get anywhere eating what they have here or should I take a visit to an online grocery store? I do have whey protein so no matter what my protein needs will be more then met I'm more concerned about losing body fat and keeping my cholesterol reasonable. Thanks for your advice.

Maybe not the most ideal situation for building muscle and dropping excess fat, but life could always be worse. I can't imagine there are a lot of obese Afghanies walking the streets and I would think it's because of total calories, not the nutrients in their food. White rice, chicken, tuna, oatmeal, powdered eggs and a little pork should go a long way. If you can purchase the vegetables raw and steam or boil them yourself, add them to the list. If you can send away for dried beans they will be another source of protein and fiber. Do you have access to milk? Great source of protein and nutrients. Meal replacements like Met-rx would also be a good small meal. Logging all the food you eat will help in the long run with your progress. As I mentioned above, total calories (excessive calories) is as important as usless "foods" when it comes to dieting down. At the same time, you can't add muscle mass on a calorie deficient diet. If you only have a dozen foods to choose from you do the best you can with what you have. Monitor your log and your body and make changes as you see fit. Good luck and be safe.
oldfart

ironwill2008 · 10-06-2008, 02:00 PM

Here's my 2c, Joe. As far as bodybuilding/strength training goes, as long as you're getting in your macros, and they're healthy choices, it really just comes down to whether or not you can stand to eat the same few foods, day-in and day-out. Bodybuilders have lived on chicken breasts, rice, and Broccoli for years, but taste-wise, that gets real old, real fast! Your body will still grow. As always, it's really just your choice. I know you're watching your total cals/day like a hawk, so we don't need to go there.

eomrat · 10-06-2008, 02:22 PM

Hey Brother, Thanks for your service.

Are you on a FOB? Or do you have ready access to any KBR facilities. There are ways around your problem if you are.
If you don't have one already, you should be able to pick up a small refridgerator on most larger FOBS ( I know they used to sell them in Bagram)
You will also need to determine the availability of propane to run a small propane stove. If its not readily available you may want to consider looking on-line for one that will burn JP-8. You may well become the worlds greatest one-burner propane chef.
You probably also may need to find one or two of those 48 qt medical shipping containers ( for freshness and keeping out the mice) to store chow in.
If you have those three things you are all set. You just need to employ your best Inter-personal skill with the KBR DFAC guys to get your veggies, good rice, etc... and / or hit up the on-line grocery store.

As I suspect you already know, the guys with long hair are your very best source for getting things that are difficult to come by. Or are you pretending you don't know anyone like that?