For those who have MENA spouses already in the USA.

[Jenn! 918]

Yes, he's gained a significant amount of weight since he's been here. His family teased him when he went home to visit. He blames it on me...riiiight, like I didn't cook for him before we moved the the U.S.

[MrsAmera 41]

Mine is the same as Jenn's - probably has gained 25 lbs since he came 3.5 yrs ago.

[sara535 15]

yes, mine too, up about 20 or 25 pounds. He was complaining the other day that he is getting a belly but he was SO thin when he first got here, I think he looks great now.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Not even a pound. He is still lean as ever.

[Laveau 67]

He has gained too much weight (and so have I).

[CnT4ever 1]

H gained about 5 lbs. while I was in Egypt, and never lost it after I left... He gained about 15 lbs. after getting here because of the inactivity of winter and joblessness, and the boredom and stress of sitting in the house watching tv and eating 24/7... He was eating nuts like a squirrel! He quit smoking just before he came so I'm sure he was eating more related to that too...

He then got DISGUSTED that his jeans from Egypt didn't fit any more so he quit eating nuts, and starting eating an entire Romaine "heart" (lettuce) every night in front of the TV... We got a 6 pack of them from Costco every week and he'd eat one per nigh t CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH!!! He lost all of the weight he had gained, and is back to his "6 pack Abs.."... tehehehehehe

Just amazing to me how quickly he lost it... He went from a 38 waist to a 32 waist in about a month... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr not fair!

So true! Mine gained like 3 pounds his first month here and within a weekend lost it (doing yardwork in the heat).

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Yazied gained 18 lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and he is probably still gaining. I said that I would fatten him up, and i have

Once he starts work, he'll probably lose half of it pretty quickly

Edited June 25, 2009 by Y's_habibitk

[Aymsgirl 0]

Yazied gained 18 lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and he is probably still gaining. I said that I would fatten him up, and i have

Once he starts work, he'll probably lose half of it pretty quickly

Wow Lisa! What's your secret, please tell!

[Sandrila 1]

Hubby wasn't a stick to begin with nor was he severely overweight.

Back in Morocco, he could have been in better shape and lost about 10 pounds.

Since comin here and enjoying all our country has to offer he has gained about 20 pounds, I'd say, in 7 months

I have told him all this time he could get out and walk around town for at least 30 mins to an hour just to keep active but he insisted on starting to lose when he got a gym membership.

Thank god we got one a week and a 1/2 ago and he has been gung ho! He goes everyday and it has improved his mood as well as helping him to cut back on smoking.

Being a personal trainer and having gained alot of weight myself over the last year, I know what we have to do and how to do it, the trouble is I don't want to keep at him. Everyone will at their own time get to their point when they finally either change their diet or get up and get moving.

The one good thing about working out is we have something we can together.

I know his friends and family teased him about "not getting fat" while here.

I guess the whole world knows what a problem we have with eating in excess and being overweight here.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Sandrila

[Sandrila 1]

H gained about 5 lbs. while I was in Egypt, and never lost it after I left... He gained about 15 lbs. after getting here because of the inactivity of winter and joblessness, and the boredom and stress of sitting in the house watching tv and eating 24/7... He was eating nuts like a squirrel! He quit smoking just before he came so I'm sure he was eating more related to that too...

He then got DISGUSTED that his jeans from Egypt didn't fit any more so he quit eating nuts, and starting eating an entire Romaine "heart" (lettuce) every night in front of the TV... We got a 6 pack of them from Costco every week and he'd eat one per nigh t CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH!!! He lost all of the weight he had gained, and is back to his "6 pack Abs.."... tehehehehehe

Just amazing to me how quickly he lost it... He went from a 38 waist to a 32 waist in about a month... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr not fair!

men always lose faster than we do, without much effort.

lettuce hearts..plain?????????

I only fed my husband as much as he wanted

I guess when you go from having one meal a day without any choice of what you want or like then you come over here with your eyes and mouth wide open it is hard to control yourself.

My husband also is short and that doesn't leave alot of room for the weight to spread around.

I look forward to seeing his transformation.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Sandrila

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Yazied gained 18 lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and he is probably still gaining. I said that I would fatten him up, and i have

Once he starts work, he'll probably lose half of it pretty quickly

Wow Lisa! What's your secret, please tell!

It might be all the cakes I bake lol

I also tend to cook alot of carb rich foods and starches too.

I think he is relaxed now also. He was losing weight over there like crazy because of always being stressed/depressed about the seperation or worried about me living alone.

[morocco4ever 63]

Yes he has, and so have I. I think that it is less walking because there is nowhere to go here by foot.

[Aymsgirl 0]

Yazied gained 18 lbs in the first 3-4 weeks and he is probably still gaining. I said that I would fatten him up, and i have

Once he starts work, he'll probably lose half of it pretty quickly

Wow Lisa! What's your secret, please tell!

It might be all the cakes I bake lol

I also tend to cook alot of carb rich foods and starches too.

I think he is relaxed now also. He was losing weight over there like crazy because of always being stressed/depressed about the seperation or worried about me living alone.

I am going to try and bake more cakes Now if i could stay out of them so I'm not the one gaining all of the weight this could be good!

[Tunisia216 2]

Jihed goes up and down so easy and I haven't been able to make any sense of it. He's 6'3- 6'4 and when I first met him he was 230 lbs solid muscle (spent 4 -6 hours a day in the gym on the weights)

When we got married and started immigration he got stressed (was taking final exams at Uni too) so he stopped working out and lost about 25lbs and to me looked too thin.

Since he's been in the US, the first 6 months when he couldn't find work, he probably went back up to 225 but it was getting flabby and he didn't like that so he started running every day. Now that he's working and spend all of his days on his feet he's around 195 - 205 but without the belly he was developing before. I complain all the time that I miss his muscles, especially his huge arms and he tells me he needs weights to get that back and gym memberships are just too expensive here! It was free at home because he worked out at his University.

[ridasgirl 1]

Rida is not here yet, but we have talked about weight a lot. He has asked me to bring protein powder when I come so he can gain weight (for his gym workouts.) I told him it will be much easier to gain weight once he gets here because they feed our food hormones, which is why even our skulls are bigger. He asked me if he could get some of those "formones" So he is HOPING to gain weight.