Life in Bangladesh has been a significant adjustment, a shock if you will to my diet system. Things like Bangla Cha (tea with sweetened condensed milk), biscuits (cookies), rice, nan (flat bread), potatoes, pumpkin, and other snack foods made with flour and potatoes have become common place and a way of life. As I have previously mentioned, it is important in this culture to thankfully eat what the host has served (within reason) and with discretion. I have tried to do that. Finding a new normal for myself has proven to be difficult, but certainly not impossible.
There are a few things I have learned about myself and they are as follows:
1. Rice and chicken curry has become my favorite meal. Even if I were in Wakarusa, Indiana today and I had my choice of all the places I could eat within 1/2 hour, I would still choose curry!
2. I love curry, but buyer beware! I greatly enjoy the taste of chicken (Morgir Mangsho, in Bangla) curry with rice (bhat), vegetables (shobji) and potatoes (alu) but along with that comes a price in calories. I cannot get enough of this great food and that has always been a costly problem for me.
3. Fruit has come alive! After a year with very little fruit, I have found myself to be a fruit lover. In Bangladesh, we have bananas (cola), apples (appel), oranges (comala), watermelon, pomegranate and apples readily available. We will also have fresh mangos, lichees and pineapples coming into season. Fruit is one of the major food groups and when I got here I went crazy on that group. Fruit is good for you, but one banana is 5 times the carbs that I used to take in for an entire day.
With this new knowledge I have of myself, I have done the following:
1. Eat the foods that I love (and even some that I don't) but eat them in moderation. I have gone to taking a very small serving of rice if eating at home. If that does not quench my appetite, I will have a very very small second serving.
2. When I am in a Bengali person's home I ask them for a reduced portion. I eat what they give me (which is far more than I eat at home), but when I am finished, I refuse seconds. On the days that this happens, I am also very careful about what I eat for other meals.
3. I have integrated regular exeercise in my daily routine for the first time in my life. Three weeks ago, I downloaded the Get Running (Couch to 5k) application. I have never been drawn to running, but I have to say that it is not as bad as I have always made it in my mind.
4. Pray harder than ever! This one is by far the most important of any of the activities. I have found myself praying now more than ever that God would continue to change my heart and draw me nearer to him, in this category of my life especially. I confess to Him when I take more cookies or rice than I should. I ask Him to let me burn more calories than I consume on a daily basis. I ask Him to reveal more to me about my gluttony so I can better fight against it. I ask him to help me battle against temptations and not succumb to them. More than once, I have found myself praying Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Some days, when I weigh myself, I get frustrated that I am not losing weight as quickly as I would like to. I must keep in mind though, that I am still losing weight after a dramatic life change. On those days, it is important to choose joy and press on!
