Opinions | City Talk
UAE lifestyle makes it hard to diet, say residents
More and more people are becoming aware of their weight and their body. It's no secret, people are more image consumed today than they were a decade ago.
- By Fuad Ali, Marten Youssef and Sayed Bilal Shafi, Staff Reporters
- Published: 23:47 August 23, 2008
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
- The problem is that life here revolves around food, says Colleen Dougherty, adding that 'Going out for dinner is the social thing to do.'
Dubai/ Abu Dhabi/ Fujairah: More and more people are becoming aware of their weight and their body. It's no secret, people are more image consumed today than they were a decade ago.
When people across the UAE weighed in on the issue, it became clear that an overwhelming majority of Gulf News readers who took an online poll, said they had gained weight while living in the UAE.
Nearly 82 per cent of the 3,135 voters said they have gained weight since being in the UAE, while 18 per cent said they had either lost or did not gain weight. Gulf News took to the streets to ask residents whether they had gained weight after coming to the UAE.
Colleen Dougherty, 29, came from Canada and she was determined to exercise. She participated in the annual Terry Fox Run, joined a gym and was committed to staying fit. But as time went by, she realised how easy it was to give up that routine.
"The problem is that life here revolves around food. Going out for dinner is the social thing to do. That's what people do when they want to socialise. If you want to get together with friends you go out for dinner. You don't go to the opera or to some arts function. I find that I have been up and down with my weight here. Except, we don't call it the Dubai Kilo. We call it the Abu Dhabi Stone. It comes down to how committed you are to staying fit."
For Nora Galfalvy, 24, a flight attendant from Hungary now living in Abu Dhabi, weight is a relevant factor in her job.
"It's very easy to gain weight here because at home everyone has the usual daily routine that includes exercise. When we come here there is very little to do. Work, home, shopping and eating. Fatty foods are much cheaper. Healthy foods are much more expensive. I still try to exercise and I am still trying to keep my normal weight. At least twice a week I go to the gym and I try to walk instead of taking a taxi," Galfalvy said.
Mohammad Nadeem, 31, a Pakistani sales representative living in the UAE blames his weight gain on his job.
"I gained 13kg when I moved here six years ago. This was because my first job was a desk job and so there wasn't much movement. But my current job requires standing and interacting with clients. Therefore I feel I don't need to take out extra time to keep fit. But I do think that many people here are overweight. Expatriates live a very mechanical life. Most of them are here to earn and so they are spending their time doing just that," Nadeem said.
Usman Zahid Khan, a 22-year-old Pakistani student studying in the UAE, disagrees. "I only gained 1kg when I came here three years ago. All my family members have lost weight as well. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, I try to exercise half an hour per day and eat more baked foods and vegetables compared to fried items. Furthermore, I have also reduced eating out in fast food restaurants."
Quressha Motiwala, 50, an Indian housewife who realised how easy it was to gain weight here, made an extra effort not to fall into that trap.
"I had gained 12kg when I came to the country two and a half years ago. This was due to the sedentary lifestyle I experienced and because I had stopped working because I had a pain in my foot, in addition to eating foods such as chapati (Indian flatbread) which were high in carbohydrates. But soon I began walking and exercising and over the months I lost 13kg. I try to maintain my diet by eating salads, vegetables and foods rich in protein," she said.
"I did put on some weight after arriving in the UAE but, thankfully, I managed to shed it by watching what I eat and by exercising," said Egyptian Jamal Mohammad Hussain, 28, a shop manager.
"At times it's hard to manage your weight as a bachelor because you have so little time to prepare your own food and mostly end up eating unhealthy takeaways. Even the time you need to exercise could be limited or you may not have your friends around you for encouragement because everyone is on a different timetable," Hussain said.
Ahmad Abdul Qadir, 27, an IT technician from Sudan is a newcomer who foresees the weight issue being a problem.
"I have just recently arrived so I think I'm pretty much the same weight but I can see that I will need to watch what I eat more over here because I have noticed that I don't do as much walking as before," Qadir said.
Ebrahim Kuwayes, 28, a car rental agent from Egypt said his weight fluctuated.
"Overall I don't think I weigh much more than when I first arrived here three years ago but it goes up and down with time. For example, before I recently went on leave I was under some work pressure and everyone said I had lost weight but a couple of months of home cooking and stress-free time and I'm back to my normal weight again," Kuwayes said.
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