The Peace Corps Weight Loss Program

I had my physical with one of the PCMOs (Peace Corps Medical Officers) today and according to him I'm in good health. After that I swung by a lab here in Yaoundé for blood work and to drop off some "specimens" (if you get my drift) so they can see if I've picked up any parasites.

When the doc weighed me we found that I've lost ten pounds since coming here. This surprised me actually - I didn't feel any thinner and my pants still fit. Nothing compared to many other volunteers though. Between a new diet, all sorts of yummy gastro-intestinal disorders, and stress related changes in appetite, weight fluctuations are almost universal for Peace Corps volunteers. I know plenty of folks who have lost twenty or thirty pounds since arriving. One guy (who was pretty big when he arrived) has lost almost sixty pounds. People in the north of the country (where it is generally about as hot as the inside of a pizza oven) usually lose more because they are constantly sweating it off.

I have been mercifully free of any major stomach illnesses like amoebic dysentery, so I attribute the weight loss mainly to the change in diet. Although the palm oil they cook with is loaded with fat and cholesterol, meat is leaner, they eat lots of fish, and the other foods you find here have less fat than the processed foods we tend to eat in the US. Almost nothing besides candy has sugar in it either, so my sugar consumption is virtually nil unless I feel like treating myself to the occasional packet of cookies or a candy bar.

Forget Jenny Craig. If you want to drop twenty pounds join the Peace Corps and come to Africa. Maybe you'll even be able to do it without explosive diarrhea.