8 Months at Kandahar - Diet Ideas

[Just A Hack]

Looking for people that have been there, what did you eat and develop into a diet plan?

 

[ZiR RED]

I've never been there, but I'd assume it would be similar to other afghan cities WRT food selection. If you are cooking for yourself, you should have access to a decent amount of fresh vegetables and fruits in markets, as well as rice and bulgar wheat for grains. Lamb/sheep, camel, chicken, and certain fish are the prevalent proteins in the arab diet, so I would assume you should be able to find those at a butcher as well.

I'm sure someone who has been there can provide some better info on where to go vs. not go - where is safe vs. unsafe.

On a positive note, cheating is going to be more difficult since fast food chains have been banned from Kandahar.

Br

 

[CopyCat]

I'm going to assume that you are probably military and will have access to the chow hall. It usually allows for some pretty clean eating as long as you choose to.

 

[Dyou]

Funny, I am currently at KAF and I was logging in for some nutritional tips myself.

I assume you will be on base and have access to the DFAC's. Just like CopyCat stated you can eat clean if you choose to. There are fast food chains at the Boardwalk like KFC and even Cold Mountain Ice Cream. They are hard to resist because honestly, KAF has the worst food in country. I have been to 17 different FOB's and every single one had better food, including Lindsay which is a half a mile drive from the gate. If you get to leave KAF your in good shape because DynCorp runs most DFAC's in the region and they are allways good.

 

[Just A Hack]

Ya the DFAC food is very bad.. and the choice of food in the DFACs suck. They have orange drink, no orange juice, some kind of powdered milk, I've seen bananas once. Not much for healthy meats and when they do have chicken it looks like road kill.
But that’s DFAC5. Its funny even the bottled water out of that place tastes like crap.

I’ve been eating cereal in the mornings and hash, some type of fruit if they have any non canned.
Lunch has been pasta, topped with beans and tuna, a vegetable and fruit if they have it.
Dinner, normally more the same as lunch. Chicken or fish if they have it and it doesn’t look and or smell like road kill.

 

[Dyou]

The newest DFAC on the west side of KAF is the best right now. Too bad they did away with Harvest Falcon...

 

[Killerkanadia]

I was on kandahar for 12 months (just a couple months ago) and it was next to impossible for me to gain weight with the food they had there. I always had mid night chow at harvest falcon which was total ****, because i worked night shift the whole time.

Anyways like they say, you can eat pretty clean if you try. They usually are good in that aspect and the fresh fruits and veggies never seemed to be too bad for being in afghanistan. (as long as the paki boarder wasn't shut down)

Moral of my story is i had to buy a lot of almonds and protein and such from the PX, and my personal favorite, post workout Fruit Smoothie with 2 scoops of protein from green beans.

To be honest, i miss the american gym in kandahar.

 

[Killerkanadia]

I
On a positive note, cheating is going to be more difficult since fast food chains have been banned from Kandahar.

Because Kandahar is a NATO base, there are plenty of other restraunts and food places to eat there thanks to other countries.

 

[Just A Hack]

Yes, the board-walk has a ton of junk food to pick from, but I stay clear of that place. Mostly for me, it's finding foods that I want to eat, it's just that most of the meats in the DFAC looks and taste like crap. I've been eatting a lot of beans and taking protein sups, but its going to be really hard to keep weight on.

Simple chicken breasts, tuna, or turkey would be outstanding. Hell I could even live off beans an rice. =(