IRAQ: Mmmmmm, mmmmmm ... good?

The diet crept up on the bureau quietly. One day, a giant pot of a seaweedy-looking mixture appeared  on the kitchen counter. Then, the refrigerator filled with rabbity-looking food items.

Lest LA types think they are the only ones to turn to crash diets for quick weight-loss, think again. In Baghdad, we have been introduced recently to the cabbage diet, which one advocate claims can produce a loss of several pounds a week if followed zealously.

The diet is simple. Cabbage and fruit, cabbage and steak, cabbage and tomatoes, cabbage and cabbage. But no sugars, carbohydrates, or fats.

It's not easy staying fit when you live in a city where taking a stroll is a risky endeavor and jogging might get you mistaken for a fleeing insurgent.  And according to the dedicated dieter, a pharmacist by profession, Iraq has never been a nation fixated on svelte. In fact, a pudgy face is a sign of beauty for many Iraqis, who even seek steroid medications to give them a puffy look.

Fortunately for the dieter, it should not be a problem keeping up with his daily cabbage needs. A quick check in the fridge showed no fewer than  three cabbage-filled plates waiting to be devoured, and half the cabbage soup was still sitting on the counter.

— Tina Susman in Baghdad

Photos:  From top, cabbage soup; cabbage salads in the refrigerator. Credit: Tina Susman