I get a lot of messages from people saying that they're really worried about visiting Japan because of their weight. And I really want to address this because I have a lot of things to say about it. A. You should never deprive yourself an experience because of how you look. You don't know what the future holds. You might not ever get another chance. B. People are going to look at you anyway, because you're a foreigner. This will happen less in the bigger cities, but it's still going to happen no matter what. C. I can't say whether someone will say something mean to you, or laugh, but I can say that making fun of someone in Japan is such a bad thing that other Japanese people will go so far as to say that person is not acting Japanese. D. With a little bit of planning you can use Japan to fairly easily lose weight. Rachel, what on earth do you know about losing weight? Well, the first time I went to Japan I was there for 5 months. And despite already being at a low weight, I lost 20 pounds, or9 kilograms, when I was there. I wasn't even trying to lose weight. It just happened. And despite being skinny, I do have my own struggles with maintaining an active lifestyle and eating healthy But Japan can be a fantastic place for these things, and I will tell you why. 1. The number one reason losing weight is difficult is because it requires a some what permanent lifestyle change. And change is hard. Just getting started is hard enough,but even after you get started there is always that day where you come home from work, and you're really tired and you just want to relax so you just say, "I really just want to relax today. . . Just this one time I'm going to skip going on a run and I'll just throw something in the microwave. " And then it happens again. And again. And suddenly you can't remember the last time you went running and you find yourself eating 12 bags of flaming hot potato chips over Christmas break. But Japan is a completely different environment from America. The city structure is different,and the food is different. Moving to Japan is FORCING a lifestyle change on you. You don't HAVE to do anything! It's being changed for you. That is your biggest block to losing weight out of the way right from the beginning. If you keep that in mind when you move to Japan, you can set up your new lifestyle as a healthy one. 2. The 2nd biggest factor in losing weight is your diet. Regardless of what your hormone situation is, if you are taking in less energy than you put out, you will lose weight. Period. That is physics. And it's much easier to eat a healthy diet in Japan than it is in America. Japanese meals are heavy on vegetables, fish, rice, soy products, and noodles. And again,because you're already beginning a lifestyle change, you can start your new life in Japan by using those healthy ingredients. So, here are some quick tips:1. You should always use the "Bun me" system. ALWAYS. In fact, you should start using it right now and you should be using it for the rest of your life. The "Bun me" system is how full your stomach should feel when you're finished eating, on a scale of 1 to 10. Ina healthy lifestyle, you should aim for 7分目 or 8分目, which is 7 or 8/10ths of the way full.
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