Eating Healthy

All jokes about weird food in Japan (see funny Japanese food post), eating in Japan has been good for me. Tokyo is quite an international city, and I can enjoy everything I eat in San Francisco (Indonesian, Indian, Italian, and other types of food that don't start with I), with the notable, and quite lamentable, exception of good Mexican food.

The food here is also quite a bit healthier, both in terms of the kind of food, and the portion sizes. In fact, some of you may not recognize me when I get back to the states, because I've lost about 20 pounds since I got here. In the states I always find myself finishing up the last bit of food that I don't really need, but it's definitely possible to get a reasonably sized meal here. The emphasis on fresh fish over red meat is also a nice change, concerns about mercury poisoning aside. I don't quite understand how I've lost so much weight, since I snack like crazy in Japan, and not on healthy food. I'm hungry a lot of the time here, maybe because I'm used to more protein (and chocolate milk).

The Japanese people also do eat a lot of fat, from fried foods to buckets of beer to meat with giant chunks of fat hanging off it, yet still they remain slim. How do they do it?

I've never been a large guy, but for the last 5 years or so I upgraded my status from skinny to unremarkable. I think I'm back to skinny again. At least it makes breakdancing easier.

It should be interesting to see what happens when I get back to America.