3 Things I Learned While Traveling In The Middle East
Exponential Generosity, Binging And Losing Weight — The “Arabic Diet”, & Gratefulness
To put things into perspective, my family has overcome life and health difficulties to the extent which most people cannot relate. Without any desire to take a side or convey a perspective that is disagreeable, allow me to explain. My father, Dr. Farouq Samhouri, Vascular Surgeon, was kicked out of his house at age 3 by gunpoint as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. At this time, he and his eight brothers and sisters were forced to walk to Jordan, 80 miles away. They barely survived in a multi-decade long struggle, and depended on education as their savior. Years later, I learned of their story, and forever feel indebted to their level of responsibility and love that has led to where we are today.
My aunts and uncles — senior to my father — saw potential in my father at age three when he spontaneously learned how to read and do math. They either dropped out of school or never went in an effort to work and make sure he had the opportunity to become educated. Over the years, he proved himself capable, graduating first in Jordan from high school and college, and tied first in the Middle East from medical school. This led to a combined family savings of $2,000 when he came to the United States for his residency.
With just $2,000, he started his life in New York, accomplished his residency, and built his own private practice. Eventually, he became one of the top five vascular surgeons around the world, sending money back to his family throughout the years and providing an opportunity for my cousins to become educated.
I never knew this trouble or hardship, but some of it still survives today. That said, my family is significantly better off than before- with many of my cousins who are now doctors, pharmacists, attorneys, and engineers. Education remains the belief system for a better life, and the new generation has a better life, thanks to the combined work ethic and love of my aunts, uncles, father, and late grandfather.
On the plane ride home, I’m reflecting on their accomplishments, dedication to family, and what Jordan looks like today — it’s a different world, and it’s clear to me that generosity exponentially perpetuates over time:
It seems nearly impossible to imagine how scarce food was, or how happy my family is to force-feed me today. Regardless of income or capability to do so, my family wants me to eat… and when I say eat, I’m talking about 4,000 – 5,000 calorie meals. In fact, if I eat a 2,000 calorie meal, they feel I’m either being rude, starving myself, or don’t like their food. This is all out of love, and it’s a small indication of the ‘shirt-off-my-back’ policy that has always wowed me in the Middle East.
I should mention the food is astoundingly delicious, so it’s pretty tough to resist. Each day when we visit, there is a huge lunch in honor of our visit, and a get-together with family in the evening until after midnight where we play cards, chat, and hang out.
Here’s what I did to manage my weight while in Jordan, and actually lose weight while building muscle:
5-Minute Morning Exercise Routine:
Push-Ups to fatigue — alternating by the day, including:
- Push-Up Superset (narrow grip, shoulder-width elbows in, wide grip elbows out)
- Diagonal Push-Ups (one hand in front, one by my side, then switch)
- Jumping Push-Ups (soft landing)
- Push-Ups on Knees (endurance-based set as fast as I could go)
Squats — alternating by the day, including:
- Rocker Squats (heel to toe on the way down/up, respectively)
- Jump Squats (soft landing)
- Sumo Squats (wide stance)
- Side-Step-Squat (lifting right or left leg at bottom of squat and standing onto one leg)
- Rotational Squats (180 degrees of rotation, front-leg/hip rotators doing work to bring me back to the standing position)
Muscle Balancing For Upper Body — included all of the following, each day:
- Middle Trap
- Lower Trap
- Modified Rows — Posterior Deltoids/Rhomboids
- Pec Minor Mobility Exercise
- Pec Major Mobility Exercise
I followed this morning routine with a 2-3 mile walk each morning, having great conversation with my father, and stopping for a coffee along the way.
*NOTE: I also drank 1 liter of water every morning when I woke up to speed up cellular metabolism and ease digestion.
Then, I biased my exercise routine based upon the type (and quantity) of food I’d be eating that day. I only allowed one full Cheat Day per week, in terms of sugar intake, but I pretty much binged at every lunch and ate less in the evening. If I knew I’d be eating tons of bread and/or rice (popular in the Middle East,) then I chose to do 20 jump squats or jumping push ups before a meal and after. The idea was biasing the use of these carbohydrate-based calories for deposit as muscle glycogen to increase muscle mass.
The goal was simple: Build muscle without the fat every time I was going to overeat.
The end result: My waist shrunk- to the extent that my belt now fits 2 notches smaller than it did when I arrived. Of course, I wasn’t able to keep up with my Olympic training workouts the way I wanted, but I actually built muscle mass, lost fat, and got significantly leaner. I’m feeling healthier than ever, and I was able to focus on other ‘finer’ details of health while traveling.
Finer health details while missing out on workouts: I always brush my teeth, but I did an extra good job- as I knew I was eating more sugar than usual. I also made sure to floss at least twice per day, which admittedly, I rarely do even once. I balanced muscles and joints with imbalances, worked on pain alleviation for my neck after flying for so many hours, and committed to feeling grateful each morning to put myself into a positive state each day.
Recently, I became friends with the leader of an organization that has forever changed my perspective on war. His name is Sean Carasso, and the work he does absolutely blows my mind. He runs an organization called Falling Whistles. Essentially, their organization has the worthy goal of ending war in Congo, where over 7 million people — mostly women and children — have been murdered by warlords.
If you’ve ever seen movies with the guys in Congo who carry bullets around their chests, have children fire machine guns at one another and brainwash them to do so… you know what I’m talking about.
As part of my friend’s responsibility and job description to end the war, he regularly has meetings with political officials around the world. He’s met some extremely interesting people, including the Dali Lama, princes and princesses, prime ministers, etc. One piece of wisdom he shared with me was this:
“Every morning, when you wake up, spend 15 minutes feeling grateful.
It doesn’t matter if you fall back asleep — make time for it. A much smarter man that I know once taught me this and it completely changed my life.”
I listened, and continue to do so. While on this trip to Jordan, having an opportunity of a lifetime to hang with my father and extended family, I couldn’t have felt more grateful. Each morning, I woke up and spent at least double this amount of time, then smiled for 60 seconds as big as I could, and started my day.
I cannot begin to tell you what a difference this made. I only forgot to wake up this way twice in 24 days, and both of those days were radically different than the others.
Amidst shocking generosity, a family that couldn’t possibly love me more than they do, and a vacation of a lifetime, I still had worries on both of these two days that out-weighed my happiness (although I tried to keep it to myself.) It’s amazing how much the human mind can self-complicate.
Thank you, my friend, for helping me understand such an important life lesson, and helping me realize the importance of appreciation.
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And, to my family — thank you for your unending hospitality, love, and support. I learn from you with every interaction and become a better human being.
22 Comments
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Thank-you for sharing this inspiring article! I have always been in awe of Arabic hospitality and culture. I loved seeing these insights. I will try the gratitude ritual. I make a list every morning of things I’m grateful for, but normally only spend about 5 minutes on it. I’ll go for 15! Thanks again for sharing, glad to hear you had a wonderful experience!
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You’re welcome, Elizabeth!
And thanks so much for commenting. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.
🙂
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Thank-you! I’m looking forward to it as well 🙂 By the way, I just got one of your programs and just started. Excited to follow it through to the end 🙂 Thanks for your great and thorough work and for sharing your knowledge!
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Rock on, Elizabeth! Thank you for your trust.
You know where to find me if you have questions.
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I enjoyed your article very much, I believe Arabic culture and hospitality is very much under-appreciated by us westerners yet we can learn so much from them about generosity to others that could make this a better world.
I’ve not had the good fortune to travel to these places but here in my own country have had unbelievable hospitality extended to me by people from Arabic countries. They brought their generosity of spirit here to my country and I am grateful to know them and learn from them. Your article is a lovely reminder to open my heart and home selflessly to others. -
Thank you for such an inspiring article! I am determined to put that into practice. What an amazing story!
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You’re welcome, Lorinda 🙂
I’m really glad you enjoyed. This one is close to my heart.
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Thanks for sharing, its good to know where we all come from. it helps us to understand each others tolerances and intolerances better. I couldn’t help but notice that, like some in my family, the use of tobacco in your family is still prevalent. How do we lovingly but forcefully deal with this issue when we know the harm its doing? I would like your input, because I’ve have found your other health related advise very helpful.
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hey Dr. Hoffman,
That’s a great point, and something I decided to originally leave out of the post, but I’m glad you brought it up. From my perspective, tobacco use is ‘engrained’ into the culture there. Having said this, I had a similar observation in Paris as a child, yet hardly any smokers are left there now. I remember going into a Pizza Hut in Paris (I know, terrible — but I was super tempted!) when I was about 12 years old, and the entire restaurant was filled with smoke. Nowadays, not a chance you’d see this.
As for Jordan and smoking, part of me hopes for the same… and part of me is realistic that there is an effect of removing alcohol and freedom to have sex (while single) from a society. I believe there is a direct correlation to tobacco use, as an outlet.
Another point is the ‘value’ placed on life and health. In a region of the world ridden by war, and widely affected by the belief in God, there is less of a fear surrounding death and becoming unhealthy. Instead, people are focused on enjoying every moment. In my family, I see this in 2 ways:
1) Eating — perhaps because they never had the same ability to feast before, and it’s a luxury they enjoy now.
2) Smoking — many of my cousins and uncles claim that there’s “nothing else to do,” which is where my thought process surrounding alcohol and tobacco came from.
In either circumstance, I agree it would be much better for their health if they didn’t smoke. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great solution for this right now, outside of modernization of the arabic world and education surrounding smoking.
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Okey I guess you really know how much we suffer ( with love to family) when visit. It’s good to build routine and just be strict to it, since convincing them to change some meals to healthy is big no good idea. 🙂
Glad you had fun, enjoy your family whenever you can wherever you are.Ghazali
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مرحباً يا كريم!
إنا إسمي راحيل. أنا يرودية وأنا ساكنة في القدس.In case you don’t read Arabic!
Shalom Kareem! My name is Rahel. I am Jewish, and I live in Jerusalem.
I was touched by your article. I smiled when I read that you recommend acknowledging GRATITUDE every day – that is what I teach my Reiki students.
I am a Reiki Master, and also direct the NPO “Reiki for Peace – רייקי לשלום – ريكي للسلام “. I work with Israelis, and with Palestinians in the West Bank. Perhaps you would ilke to take a look at our website: http://www.reikiforpeace.org – now mostly in English, but with plans for Arabic and Hebrew soon. I would be glad if you would get in touch with me about this. reikiforpeace@gmail.com -
مرحباً يا كريم!
إنا إسمي راحيل. أنا يرودية وأنا ساكنة في القدس.
In case you don’t read Arabic:
Shalom Kareem! My name is Rahel. I am Jewish, and I live in Jerusalem.
I was touched by your article.I smiled when I read that you recommend acknowledging GRATITUDE every day – that is what I teach my Reiki students. Last week, I started a new class, 2/3 Palestinians, 1/3 Israelis/ 1/3 Muslim, 1/3 Christian, 1/3 Jewish – in Beit Jaala (Occupied West Bank).
I am a Reiki Master, and also direct the NPO “Reiki for Peace – רייקי לשלום – ريكي للسلام “.
I work with Israelis, and with Palestinians in the West Bank. Perhaps you would like to take a look at our website – now mostly in English, but with plans for Arabic and Hebrew soon. I had included the website address, but removed it because I noticed your instructions, above.
I would be glad if you would get in touch with me about this. -
Dear DR. K, Am 62 year old student of PT. I live in London but travel many times a year to the middle east; Syria and Lebanon.Tried your DEFL program 2 years ago and I think it is one of the fastest way to trim inches off. Healthy eating and exercise became a way of life few years go, which kept me rejuvenating. I exercise every other day: interval training on an empty stomach while flushing my body with water, followed by resistance training. Every time I visit the middle east, my body needs a month of redressing, realigning and re-discipline. Its not only the quantity of food, it is the many variety in front of you. Thank you for the morning tip routine which will put to test on my next visit
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You’re welcome, Lina 🙂
And I’m so glad that you got great results with DEFL!
Oh, it’s so delicious. I agree. Please keep me posted on how your next visit goes and if you are able to change the outcome of your visit. One thing I neglected to mention is how much better my mood was if my first meal was a protein-dominant meal (like a shawarma with double meat and I avoided eating part of the bread.)
It’s amazing how important the first meal of the day can be for setting the tone for the rest of the day.
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اهلا بيك يادكتور كريم ارجو نشر رجيم لكبار السن ويكون فعال
Omaima nassar -
I knew from your name that you may have arabic roots 🙂
amazing story .. family is everything whereever you go or achieve in life ..
your father is inspiration may god keep you all together always.-
Thank you Sarah!
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I loved sharing this story! What a substantial and generous family you have. And I’m sure they are very proud of what you are contributing to the world.
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Thank you Rose!
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Wonderful and encouraging, Kareem! I’m inspired to apply what you’ve shared in this article for my physical fitness and life outlook. Thanks.
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you’re welcome, Erik 🙂
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This sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. Thank you for sharing. Love you emails. They are encouraging. 🙂
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