I continue to have lingering wonderful memories and “lessons” from Japan.
So, as we move into the holiday season I am reminding myself how easy it was to feel great while enjoying the Japanese food (although the food was sometimes a bit unusual). I didn’t feel uncomfortably full.
The secret seemed to be in the “small bites” and fresh quality of the food. My daughter and I were somewhat surprised, although I’m not sure why, how thin the Japanese were. Literally there were truly no overweight people in the hundreds and hundreds of Japanese that we saw in crowded subways and temples. Why?
This is what we noticed as we experimented and adventured with new food. If there were no pictures or plastic food outside the restaurant we were lost. However, once we chose what food adventure we were going to tantalize our taste buds with, we realized it always came in small bite size portions.
Of course, “little” is the typical representation of this small, narrow island country and of Japan as a whole. Even the napkins were tiny. (That was a bit tougher for me than the small meals.J) I thought only the state of Texas had everything super-sized. I was so wrong. Our whole American lifestyle of eating (and other things) is super-sized.
My daughter and I talked about how we were full after a meal but didn’t feel stuffed. We also noticed whether we ate in a nice restaurant or had a simple meal of just soup and a piece of whole grain bread, everything was very fresh. When we were on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto we saw many of the fields where food was grown. (Yes, even moving at the lightening speed of 365 miles an hour we could see the fields of crops.)
One morning I arrived in the Ginza shopping district, Japan’s version of New York’s Fifth Avenue. I didn’t know how long it would take me by subway and, of course, I had to factor in extra time in case I got lost. I wanted to make sure I didn’t loose a precious moment in this renowned shopping area. I did well and landed in the middle of glitz and glamour a half hour before the stores opened.
I had eaten a light breakfast earlier of sticky rice, and a few unidentified vegetables but I could eat a snack. As I walked down one of the streets I noticed some pictures (pictures were the only way we knew what to order most of the time) of breakfast. I laughed there were great looking waffles on the window of the restaurant (the first American food I had seen since we got to Japan) with a small salad. I walked downstairs into a cute, Zen-like restaurant and had the most delicious tiny waffle and tiny salad for my second breakfast. This is a typical combination of food for the Japanese but unusual for us here. Having a vegetable with the morning meal is actually healthy! My daughter and I noticed there always seemed to be a combination of food groups.
Some of the most exciting and interesting food experiences were the times my daughter and I would share desserts. On our way down the many steps of the side of the mountain where were lodging at a Japanese home in Kyoto, we decided to treat ourselves to an ice cream sundae. It was so good and so much fun we had to take a picture. Our sundae had a sprig of a green vegetable, green tea ice cream, vanilla ice cream and beans. Yes there were beans, lots of them, amongst the ice cream topped off with whip cream. It was delicious! This wasn’t the first time we noticed the “mix” of food groups. We took our time to eat to really enjoy the new textures, tastes and flavors.
After many meals (and treats), we both felt great, had energy and didn’t experience the sluggishness and sugar drop associated with an overfull tummy, too many carbs and sugar. This holiday season, and even after, try some of the easy tips below.
7 Tips for Healthier Eating (especially during the holidays)
- Eat small portions
- Slow down, chew your food, take your time–savor what you are eating
- Notice how you feel (are you satisfied and full) before you eat more
- Find delicious and eye-appealing healthy foods for parties
- Combine food groups-proteins are important-eat more veggies protein and whole grains
- Try some recipes from the Mediterranean eating style-the latest in healthy eating
- Last but not least, my husband’s newest favorite cookbook (I love it because of the pictures show how delicious really tastes. I got hooked on those pictures in Japan)
Gourmet Nutrition by Dr. John M. Berdi, Michael Williams & Kristina Andrew
Good work, keep us posting, you are good writer.