mamajoy:
where exactly have you moved to?
Several things occur to me.
1. 6 lbs really isn't much. Please try not to be hard on yourself for having a very normal reaction to a major change in your life! We all have times when the stress levels are through the roof and we self-medicate with wine, binge-watching TV, chocolate, and oreos This makes you pretty damn normal. We also all have times when our weight fluctuates: age, changes in body chemistry, stress, sickness, pregnancy, holidays, these can all lead to temporary weight loss or gain. It seems like a big deal right now simply because to you, it is another stress factor on top of all the recent life changes. Trick is to not let it become another stress factor: try to let it go. It is only a small, temporary gain while your mind and body adjust. Let them adjust.
2. what about this move is causing you stress? I have moved many times in my life, to foreign countries, across states, on my own and with husband and small children in tow, etc. I know it takes a little while to sort out living arrangements, working out transport, schools for kids, where the supermarkets are, how life is even lived in these other countries so unlike our own, and then, finally, trying to make a community for yourself. I know that this latter is the most difficult of all, even in a county like this one, as been my experience. It's not easy being the outsider. However, this experience, despite the stress it currently afford you, will also enable you to grow as an individual.
3. first I am going to suggest that your instinctive reaction to having lost some of the customary control over your life has been that you are trying to re-seize control again, only it is not happening and you feel lost. Is there any way in which you can, for a while, allow yourself to not be in total control? Trying to be in complete control, when it is not possible, only drives up the stress levels. It's like they say in AA meetings, but adapt the slogan for "stress" rather than drinking: learn to let go and not try to manage things in situations where control cannot be yours anyway, so stop beating your head against a brick wall. If you can adopt a degree of "acceptance" of the current status quo, you will feel more at ease both mentally and in your own skin. You will stop dive-bombing into the oreos! You can handle this. Also, you say you have moved with your family, so you don't need to absorb the stress of this change all on your own: lean into your partner to share the load.
4. For now, yes, please stop trying to keep up with your normal exercise routine as if nothing in your life had changed: it has changed and this change is enough stress for now, you don't need trying to shoe-horn the new experiences (in foreign country) into the format of an old life (in the USA) and the stress this will bring you. Let life settle down BEFORE trying to resume intense exercise. Now is not the time for RWH. And especially, you can't work out on a tile floor: you may end up with a stress-fracture or another injury. Please don't!
5. Food. Foreign countries. Exercise. OK, so, what we need here is really a mental adjustment rather than anything else, so you won't feel so over-whelmed. First of, there is food everywhere, the entire planet over, so try not to make this an issue. The availability of food cannot be the issue: the availability of US-type food probably is. Thing is, however, that there are few places on the planet where a steady diet of meal replacements, protein shakes, pizza and egg white omlettes constitutes normal eating, as it can here in the US. I'm not saying you practice (restricted) eating in this way, but if this type of eating is what you are used to, then it is time to go exploring in the cafes, restaurants, markets and supermarkets of this new country and find out how the locals eat and how they prepare it. There is healthy food al over the planet. Rather than seeing this as another stress source, look at this as part of the adventure you have actually been blessed to embark upon, for make no mistake, the opportunity to live abroad for a while and experience cultural difference (not as a tourist) is a rare and wonderful opportunity. Time to try new foods, new recipes, new experience and jazz up those taste buds!
As far as exercise is concerned, and the climate change, you have to adapt. You can't change the climate, you have to adapt to it. I have done the same many, many times. Back home in the UK I was a runner. When I moved to France and went out running, I was attacked in the street quite violently, so this taught me that I could not live my life abroad as I had lived it in the UK, and for my own safety, I found the local swimming pool and used the combination of the long walk to it and a mile swim while there as my daily exercise. I did the same when I lived in Spain. When I first moved to the US, to PA in August, it was 90 + and humid as hell, no way I could handle that and run the streets, so I had to change again and find a gym with air conditioning so I could at least be comfortable. Wherever you are, you have to adapt your exercise routine to the new circumstances. So, what is the climate like? Are there gyms? Is there a swimming pool? Are there woods nearby to walk safely in? What are the possibilities? At first, you need to go on a scouting mission: head out and walk around town/city and explore. First off, the walking IS exercise: it is my main form of exercise at the moment due to multiple injuries. I walk every day between 4-12 miles, no matter the weather unless it's a winter snow storm. So, use the fact of being somewhere new to get out, explore, walk. Leave intensity for now: just get out and about and walk. It is good for your stress levels, believe me. I suffer from depression and daily walking lifts my mood and sustains me.
Every country has its on culture of food, exercise, public spaces, ways of making community. Are there any ex-pats along with you? If so, drag them out with you as you go exploring. See what you can find that will satisfy what you need: it won't be the same as back home, but in its own, different way, it will help satisfy the needs you have. Promise.
Come back and tell me what you find and we can devise ways to help you adapt, and please tell us where you are in case somebody on the forums has experience of living there and can contribute local knowledge.
I wish you well Most of all I wish you the ability to embrace this experience and all the wisdom and opportunities it can afford you.
Clare
I talked with my husband last night about finding some foam mats to put on top of the tile so the impact is not so harsh on my feet, I know that will help a little.