Japanese Diet by Angie

I am after easy and enjoable diets as I believe in a few things that I follow.

1) Life is too short – enjoy it! Food is an essitial part of it;

2) I used to limit myself with food – felt horrible, got sick often. You need a proper nutrition in life;

3) Anti-social behaviour – when you are on diet, you are trying to avoid going out with friends as they all eat what you have restricted yourslef.

There are more reasons – just a few in the top of my mind.

Since I had started my Japanese trip yesterday (yes, I am here again!), I would like to share my Japanese Diet that I had already unintentionally followed already. When I weight myself after Japan trip(s) for around 10 days, I am normally 2-3 kgs lighter and this all without much effort.

I am here for 14 days tis time so the result should be even better.

Sashimi is your best friend with this diet

THREE MAIN INGREDIENTS TO INCLUDE:

Sushi (or preferably sashimi)

Green Tea (heaps – 2 litres a day is great)

Greens

FEW MINOR WARNINGS:

If you are a female, be careful eat TOO MUCH fish IF you are 1) pregnant or 2) about to get pregnant 0r 3) breastfeeding. Many sorts of fish contains mercury that can damage brain development of a baby. Not my words – check this dietitian out – Leslie Beck;
Avoid too much soy sauce. It goes together with sushi/sushimi – true story. But the less you can have it, the better for you. One of my next healthy article to be is about consumption salt over sugar (still in production). Long story short here, avoid sodium that is overpacked in soy sauce. From weight perspective, sodium will hold your body weight; from health prospective, it increases your blood pressure. If you have had some, follow up with green tea as it reduces sodium greatly;
Fish is great, but mix it up with other Japanese proteins – tofu is yummy, Japanese BBQ worth a million.

Raw fish gives you a lot of required nutrition for protein intake. Having rice in your diet, will give you enough carb energy boost without any saturated fats. Strive for brown rice though, it is healthier, more nutritious and clearly has a lower glycemic index. Finally, greens, go for special Japanese greens that has A LOT OF good items for your metabolic rate – seaweed salad, edamine beans. And sip green tea everywhere. That’s about it !

Of course, you need to try amazing dishes such as tempura, okonominoyaki, udon, ramen, etc. while you are in Japan. The dining here is outstanding and you definitely didn’t try this in any European restaurants that serves Japanese food. Moreover, they have much lesser preservatives that stops your metabolism. Treat yourself with it.

The whole idea of the diet is to eat clean, stay active (don’t be a boring tourist – get out of bus and explore on your feet) and consume solid amount of green tea that is everywhere in Japan (see my previous blog article about coffee and tea in Japan).

I will be back here for some overview of my first Japanese destination – Tokyo shortly xx