That Health Rules

My wife and I just had a 4 day cultural sight seeing visit to Kyoto, Nara then Osaka.  I consider this trip one of the best I had so far.  (I will soon post these sights in my travelogue blog so try checking it out what these historic sights of Japan can offer.) But one thing that really bothered me in this trip is that...There’s no DIET COKE in Japan!

If you try watching the Japanese in the streets, except for the Sumo wrestlers, they are all slim! I havent seen a single japanese whom I consider obese or overweight.  It must be their diet and their way of living and lifestyle.

This trip of ours was purely cultural.  We stayed in a Ryokan house where we slept in the floor.  Fortunately we had our own private bath but otherwise it would have been in a public bath where clothes are a NO NO!  We were then entertained by true Geishas in Gion district and had a chance to be served food by them. We ate traditional japanese food from breakfast till dinner.  And this is where you will realize that traditional japanese servings are really small!

Kaiseki- ryori which is Japan’s artistic and seasonal way of serving food that uses the freshest ingredients of the season…says it all. It was like an eleven course meal but every dish was artistically presented in small servings that by the time you reach the fifth serving you are already full. 

The concept of losing weight by eating little and slowly may have come from this tradition.  Since the foods are served in small quantities then you have the liberty to really taste each bite and enjoy the food!  We were not feeling deprived but in fact it was the opposite… we ate in small servings but boy… we were literally satisfied!

Even in their buffet … you are offered a small plate.  Not the usual plate we have in our own homes. And the chioces are filled with seaweeds, raw fish and other seafoods.  What’s interesting though is the small serving sizes they offer including the desert.  The fruits are offered to you only 1 slice of each including their yummy chocolate cake… a small really small slice that is only enough for one bite!

Now I know why when you order Diet Coke?…. you are faced with a blank stare! It’s an unknown entity in Kyoto! 

Let’s all learn from the Japanese way of eating…

• eat in small portions 
• use small serving plates and
• eat slow to allow some time to taste each dish before another one is served!

It’s the our discipline and lifestyle that matters!