You love your job as a humanitarian: you mix with interesting people who share your mission, you get to travel, you feel like you’re making a difference.
But being in the field can be exhausting, and can soon take a toll on your health. Staying fit can often feel impossible. You can’t get outside to exercise because it’s either too hot, too smoggy, or too dangerous going for a run in a conflict zone. Besides, with your workload there’s not much time for sport.
I get you. I’ve been there. The longest walk I had during two years as an aid worker in Kabul was the 60 yards between my bedroom and office. And I used to look forward to it.
But during my second year there, I took up triathlon. This was despite being neither allowed to swim in open water, ride a bicycle on a road, nor run outside. I managed to complete three events that year. On top of that I was keeping a strict vegetarian diet.
Here’s a few tips for managing a healthy diet and keeping fit under somewhat less than desirable circumstances.
1. Situation-proof your exercise regime
We often find ourselves in environments where it’s hard to get outside, or where we find our movements suddenly restricted – with the all too familiar lockdown. So the first job is making sure you can work out at home.
When you are packing to head out into the field, pack a skipping rope and yoga mat in your bag alongside your gym kit, and find a few fun circuit routines online. If you don’t want to actually pack weights, get inventive with two tins of baked beans, or a couple of heavy, locally sourced yams.
2. Guard exercise time in the face of work and social demands
When you’re away from home, work can take over, and when you’re not working, you just want to relax. But your body needs to move. Exercise helps to remove toxins from our bodies and keep us limber. It also relieves stress, whereas working all day long compounds it. And we all know how common stress is among aid workers.
Exercise first thing in the morning, before the to do list has had a chance to multiply. If you’re not a morning person, the moment you wake up decide which hour you want to spend exercising and add it to your agenda as a meeting item.
3. Be creative with sourcing food
You’re probably eating out more than you would at home, or maybe you’re being catered for. You can’t control the ingredients that are being used, so you’ve no idea how much oil, butter, salt, or sugar has gone into your meals. If you’re cooking for yourself, then you might find that fresh produce options are limited (we had a text message cascade system in Kabul when the supermarket had avocados in stock). And supply chains for tinned and packaged ingredients are often dubious, reducing the nutritional content of what’s inside.
Cook in your accommodation wherever possible, and explore the options for local fresh produce. Just because you don’t know what it is exactly, doesn’t mean it’s not a delicious and nutritious foodstuff. Import key ingredients if you must, and then share among your friends. One friend would bring in delicious cheeses from her trips to France; I’d return the favour by bringing back something special from my breaks, too.
4. Limit alcohol intake (despite the temptation)
Young professionals everywhere are exposed to the temptations of alcohol, but the high-stress working environments in international development take this to another level. It was certainly easier to source a bottle of Shiraz or Scotch than sesame oil in Kabul. Thursday night was party night, and there were always a few options for securing Friday’s hangover.
The only honest way to tackle this one is to dig deep and say no. You might think that a drink will relax you at the end of a long day, but it certainly doesn’t help you tackle the workload that’s waiting the following morning. Alternatively, it might help to limit drinking to certain days of the week, or up to a certain time of the night.
It’s also a good idea to have a non-alcoholic option that you can use as a replacement – sparkling water, ginger beer, or something equally dull. Women, watch out for the pregnancy “jokes”.
5. Pair up with a colleague
Self-motivation is hard, and you’re already motivating yourself at work all day long. A friend can help to spur you on and act as a healthy lifestyle counterweight: when you don’t feel motivated, they will. And vice versa.
Invite someone round for a healthy home-cooked meal. Sign up to an event together for a shared goal to work towards. And always – always – share the French cheese.
If you want to read more about how Laura swam, biked, and ran her way around triathlon courses whilst on break from Kabul, check out her profile at: http://www.healthystartholidays.com/about-us/meet-the-team/
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