The Peace Corps Diet*

People join Peace Corps for a lot of reasons--most commonly a desire to help and a sense of adventure.   One reason people don't join Peace Corps (that I know of ) is to diet.   However, based on my personal experience The Peace Corps Diet is a rock solid approach not only to weight loss but also to a new perception of food.

In writing about readjusting to life in the United States I would be not telling the whole story if I didn't mention how food and eating has been one of the largest adjustments so far.

In both Niger and Madagascar, I was very rarely satisfied by the food I ate on a 'that was delicious' level.   I was, however, getting all of the nutrients I needed.  Because food didn't delight me in the way that I was used to, I did not eat as much.   My bodies reaction to not eating as much (and not eating American foods) was to lose 30 pounds.   No diet, no therapist, no reiki, no hypnosis, no surgery, no positive thinking--just a physical reaction to eating healthy foods in appropriate proportions.   This is not uncommon in Peace Corps for people who have some weight to lose.  

So now I am in the United States.  My new eating patterns happened out of force and I didn't really think about it much (except to fantasize about foods I missed).   Many volunteers plan out their first few meals in the US but I was afraid of American food.  I was afraid I would love it and that I would simply revert back to a lifestyle where I ate too much and where I ate foods that are not healthy.

To my delight the opposite has been true.  

I mean nothing rude in this, as I understand it completely, but I can assure you that Americans eat too much in general.   Eating at a regular restaurant is too much.   It is too much food.   Everywhere I turn people are offering me food.  Everywhere I go you can buy food.  Every meal I am served is 2-3 times larger than I need.  Food, Food, Food. 

The challenge I suppose is to continue to refuse the gigantic portions in an effort to preserve my health.

My perception of food is different.  I see food as nutrition instead of as recreation.  The amount of food I eat depends is based on when I feel satisfied and full--not on how delicious the food is.  I allow myself to become hungry--and actually have a stomach growling--regularly instead of preemptive feeding as though the experience of hunger is unacceptable.  I remember feeling hunger regularly in Madagascar and Niger and it is a normal feeling (I think) when you are not eating too much at every meal.   I can also recall large spans in my life in the US where I never experienced the sensation of hunger at all....because I was so consistently well fed.  

I think I always enjoyed being a little bit 'bigger' in the US as a way to show solidarity with women--to distinguish myself from not being the type of woman who is weight obsessed and constantly dieting.  This is another change of perception--which is that my health is not a political message.  It is my health.   Size may have implications in our society, that is sure, but I cannot jeopardize my own health and call it feminism.

These changes are not necessarily indicative of Malagasy peoples perception of food--rather it is the my US/American reaction to the new diet.   This doesn't top the charts in terms of great things about Peace Corps--but in these first few weeks (especially as it has been the holidays) it has stood out constantly as I tried to eat normally (what had become normal to me) and found that my new eating patterns were totally at odds with the culture.   We always hear that Americans are bigger and eat too much and its true.  Our whole culture is tapped into eating unhealthy foods in large portions.   I knew that before but now I know it--and I can 100% see myself as a participant.   I have eaten unhealthy foods in large portions my entire life....wow.   Unlikely lessons from Peace Corps....

*Some volunteers gain weight, it must be said.   Although in my group most volunteers either stayed the same (because they were already fit) or lost weight (if they had some weight to lose).