I've been posting in the daily low carb forum and they've been very helpful. I thought I'd ask here if anyone has tried living in Asia?

My husband is taking an assignment in Singapore. I've been eating a low-carb diet for about 30 years. I don't eat any grains, sugars, potatoes, or dairy. So I guess I'm probably close to paleo.

I'm worried that I won't have enough to eat in Singapore. I'm a 58-yo woman, about 5'5" and 135 lbs. I generally am not able to survive on what I can eat in restaurant meals without supplementing - I usually eat something before I go out to dinner and after. Do other people have this problem? I eat a lot of nuts for example. I wouldn't mind losing 10 pounds but I don't want to be hungry which is why I haven't lost 10 lbs. here.

Singapore may not allow me to ship in food. They eat lots of noodles, rice and everything has a lot of sugar. Eating fish and vegetables in a restaurant for example will not give me the calories I need to not be hungry. Even a normal restaurant portion of meat isn't usually enough. Anyone else have this problem? It's not a problem here because I have a can of nuts and a bag of pork rinds in my car. But I may not be able to get those there.

Hi amazon,

I live in Hong Kong and I assu you that in large modern cities like Singapore and Hong Kong, there is no need to ship in food.

go look at someone websites for grocery stores like http://www.coldstorage.com.sg

or, try looking at www.fairprice.com.sg

There's plenty of nuts for sale.

Also, on the previous thread you mentioned bringing your own food processor. I think it would save you a lot of fuss to just buy one when you get there - no need to worry about voltage and no need to fill up your luggage with something so bulky and heavy.

I'm originally from the USA and have live in Hong Kong for the last 20 years. Things really have changed on th food front, especially of you're looking for western style stuff.

Good luck

Not enough to eat in Singapore? It's a freaking food explosion. I haven't read your other posts so maybe I'm confused but... are you compelled to eat every meal in a restaurant for some reason? Think hawker centres/food courts/markets, not restaurants.

You don't need to ship anything in, Singapore already ships everything in.

Lived in Singapore and Thailand several years (quite a while ago). Hope you love it. If you're eating pork rinds and canned nuts in Singapore you're doing it wrong.

I'm really strict about what I eat. No sugar. No grains and no dairy. I really feel lousy if I eat a little bit of those things. My husband is there already and he's not happy with the food and he's not on any special diet. He says he hasn't had a decent piece of meat since he's been there and his stomach is bothering him from all the rice. When I go to a Chinese restaurant there is one thing that I eat. Protein sauteed with mixed vegetables. I don't think hawkers are going to make something special for me without sugar or cornstarch. My pedometer says I burn over 1800 calories a day - not sure how I'm going to get that eating chicken and mixed vegetables.

I can't even eat anything at an American food court.

Olive - don't want to sound ungrateful. Thank you for trying to help. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think.

My husband is also not enjoying the climate at all! We are world travelers - it's just harder sometimes to actually try to live somewhere.

Good luck.

Hi! I was just a bit confused too...is your lifestyle such that you must eat in restaurants a lot? If it's not, and you can cook at home, I am sure you will be able to eat the foods that suit you best with some searching, as per earlier advice. If NOT though...stick to what you know works, i.e. chicken and vegetables, but don't hesitate to put in a double order. It doesn't matter what other people think about you...don't worry if the staff think you are being greedy! Just do what you know works for you. Continue to supplement the way you always have. I really wish you all the best! I envy your world travels. For sure though, some places suit us better than others!

I'm really worrying about this more and more. Olive, were you on a low carb diet when you were over there? I looked on the website of the supermarket near my husband's apartment and it looks like meat is over $20 a pound - over $40 singapore dollars per kilo. I don't know if they have any of the vegetables that I eat - celery, lettuce, tomatoes. I grill almost every day now, won't have a grill over there. Cooking at home won't be easy either.

http://bestorganicfood.sg/aboutus

This is a Singapore organic veggie website and they stock celery, tomato and lettuce. :0)

You can buy a grill in just about any country in the world - even in poor third-world countries, and I have never visited a country yet where people weren't familiar with tomatoes and lettuces.

Meat is quite expensive in some countries. I found this forum reference to meat outlets - it sounds as if you might be able to shop around for prices lower than supermarkets, or at least for better quality:

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/su...9a6b812d5d86912

If you buy cheaper cuts and cook them differently, for example stewing them, you might be able to save some cash.

I calculate this as $14US per pound. Still expensive, but a third less than you're thinking.

I think Kirsteen is right -- learn to cook the inexpensive cuts. Also, don't buy meat that's already been boned. It always costs ridiculously more than just buying whole meat and boning it yourself or cooking it on the bone.

Also, look into eggs, tempeh, and tofu. They're all very low carb.

Thanks guys. Yeah, I found lettuce, tomatoes and celery on the supermarket website. My husband lives near a cold storage. Buying whole cuts of meat with bones? I don't know. We're going to be in a small apartment. He's sleeping now but I'll have to ask him if we have a full size refrigerator. We lived in England in a big house and we had 3 little refrigerators that didn't add up to one American frig.

I eat a lot of eggs but don't eat tempeh or tofu. Doesn't tempeh have wheat? Maybe in an emergency I will try it and tofu. I think soy is kind of bad for you? Not sure.

Tempeh is soy too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh Soy isn't ideal, but some people live their whole lives eating it. This is what... a few months?

Meat is expensive, what about fish? I bet they eat a ton of fish there.

No, I ate a fair bit of rice, but most of that was meat/veggie concoctions on top on rice, you could easily just tell them no rice. There was grilled chicken/pork/fish/bugs all over the place... the island is full of little ethnic enclaves, you can find virtually any kind of food if you walk around.

I wanted to send you a PM but I don't have enough posts. You seem defeated and negative before even having seen the place, and I don't know what to say to help in that regard, but stressing over every little bit of this or that in a diet might be just as unhealthy as the little bit of this or that. No offense meant. And again I wish you the best of luck.