The Majuro Diet

The Majuro Diet

When I came home last summer, one of the first comments I got from friends and family was, "wow, you lost a lot of weight!" I lost almost 20 pounds in about 5 months here in the Marshall Islands. I call it the Majuro Diet, and my brother said I should write a book about it. I'm sure it'd sell a million copies but it's pretty specific to here. In fact, you'd probably have to move out here to follow it so you'd really restrict the number of followers. Let me tell you how it goes.

1.    No fast food. There is no such thing as fast food here. First step is to remove yourself completely from McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, White Castle, Dairy Queen, Starbucks etc. Preferably over 1,000 miles away so as to completely remove temptation. Mmmmm Taco Bell.

2.    Drink water. I'd say I drink water here 99% of the time. When I'm not drinking water, I have iced tea, coconut water, and occasionally a beer ($3.50/ea at the grocery store) or diet coke ($1/ea at the grocery store) thrown in there when I'm feeling rich. I get no extra calories from imbibing on this island. In Majuro it's hard to get any fancy (and calorie crazy) cocktails or those 500 calorie lattes. The locals drink a lot of sugar laden soda but I've been opting out.

3.    Live in unbearable heat. You know on a really hot summer day when it's like 2pm and you think "boy I haven't eaten lunch yet!" because your appetite is so shrunk from the heat? Well here, that's everyday. Also, any exercise I do here is "hot." There's hot yoga, hot running, hot weight lifting, hot pushups, hot walking to the grocery store, hot typing, etc.

4.    Eat local (eat fish). The local food here is really healthy when prepared right. Coconut meat is high in fiber as is breadfruit and taro. Pandanus are like a really grainy and stringy squash but sadly aren't my favorite. Ney and I eat bananas like they are going out of style. I don't cook much but I'm trying to really hone my smoothie skills. I just made an orange/pear/banana one and up next is coconut/strawberry/banana. Fish are everywhere. You can even buy fish at the gas station. Our neighbors are always catching them and sharing it with us. I try to order it when we go to a restaurant - especially sashimi. Fresh caught tuna is unreal good! And of course fish is extremely healthy with a side of brown rice. In addition to being healthy, local food is also way cheaper than anything imported.

5.    Don't overeat. Don't get me wrong, food here can be really good, but the restaurants are seriously lacking. When food is a lot of times just OK, you don't end up stuffing your face like I do when I'm in the States (sidenote: I gained 7 pounds in 2 months while back in the States this summer! I have no self control!). Have you ever tried to stuff your face with sushi or sashimi? It just doesn't work the same as it does with a burger and fries. Mmmmm burger and fries.

That's the funny part about here. I'm not trying to lose weight. It's just the lifestyle. So if you're ready for some isolation and island weather, you too can follow the Majuro diet.