by Jack Pescatello
This summer in America, I was amazed by the amber waves of low-carb grain. I have een away for a whie and did not know how profound this new fad is. At first I thought it was crazy; but then I got thinking.. Japan is definitely not on the low-carb bandwagon. But there are some things we can do to live a healthy lifestyle here.
Quick Foods
First off, all Western fast food places should not be a regular staple. Alex actually hasn't visited a McDonald's since coming. No word of a lie. Avoiding them altogether is the best way, but you don't really have to. At McDonald's the Chicken Tatsuta sandwich is probably the leanest thing on the menu.. It is steamed, and the bread size is small. An order of nuggets, not a sandwich, leaves out the bread. At McDonald's they serve a kind of blended tea called soukenbicha. It is a great alternative to cola because tea has no calories. Even though the fry portions are much smaller here, leaving them out halves the fat and carbs you would regularly eat in a full value menu.. You also save a few yen.
Japanese fast food places like Yoshinoya and Matsuya are not a leaner alternative. They use thinly sliced strips of fried beef or pork - gram for gram of fat, a McDonald's hamburger patty has less. Gyuudon also is served over rice, which is loaded with carbs. Ramen has a lot of carbs, but tends to be lower in fat, unless you order chashuu (pork strips).
Dominoes pizza is over-priced and under-sized. Don't bother. Subway still gets my vote for the healthiest fast food. They even have the low-carb menu there.
Convenience stores have a nice variety of snacks. Skip the chips. Japan's favorite quick snack is the onigiri. They are usually not high calorie. A ball of rice does have a good portion of carbohydrates. Another option is the sticks of fried chicken, called karaage. Usually you get three or four pieces per stick.
Try the different tea varieties at convenience stores. They are all 0 carb and 0 calorie. The small cans�@of coffee are nice but have a lot of sugar and cream to sweeten. Make use of the green tea at your school. It is a much healthier drink than coffee and needs no sweetening..
One place everyone will at one time or another go, is an izekaiya. There are many things on the menu, all delicious. Some lean things you could try are, 1. edamame, the green soybeans. They are served boiled and are very good for you. No carbs at all. 2. ika/tako-wasabi. This is a bowl of tiny cuts of raw squid/octopus served in a wasabi paste. It is very low in all bad things. eat it. Enjoy at your own pace. 3. Nankotsu. This is a dish of fried chicken cartilage. It is very crunchy. Cartilage is much leaner than meat so the calories are about half of a dish of fried chicken. All three of these choices are served as small bits, so you cannot eat them quickly.
Alcohol
Beer is another thing we often indulge in. Japan's standard alcohol is 5% or 5.5%. This makes Japanese ber higher in carbs and calories than standard American beer but on par with Canadian beer. But there is a healthy beer trend in Japan now, ushered by the lower cost happoshu brands. These are generally lower in calories and carbs. Asahi makes a few varieties, easily recognizable by their colors. Kirin makes a few of these also. After comparing nutrition stats and quality of the different beer varieties, easily recognizable by their colors. Kirin makes a few of these also. After comparing nutrition stats and quality of the different beer varieties, I find Asahi-Blue the best. You cannot get it in a bar or izekaiya, but al convenience stores and supermarkets have it.
Japanese sake is not all that strong, usually 16% alcohol. This is slghtly higher than regular wines, and the rice base makes it high in calories. The lightest cocktail you can order is a whiskey and soda. Vodka/Gin and tonic is also low-carb, but tonic water contains sugars where soda-water does not.
Cooking
Home cooking is the best way to watch wat you eat. Use the fish cooker. It cooks a breast of chicken really well. Try baked and broiled recipes. I like to marinate the chicken in Italian dressing, or Caesar, before baking. Stir-fried veggies make a great side dish. Try switching from olive oil to a much lighter mirin cooking sauce, or even cooking sake. You can skip the rice if you want.
For lunch, the bento sets at school are ice and convenient. But day after day they can be expensive and high on calories.. Try making simple sandwiches. All ingredients such as bread, lettuce, ham, cheese mustard or mayo, can be procured from any supermarket. I find making a simple ham/lettuce/cheese and mustard sandwich saves a ton on lunch expenses and is usually lower in calories. The bread you get in Japan is a lot larger than the standard size of American slices. One sandwich is a cheap, filling lunch.
Personally, I believe that a carb-free diet is nearly impossible in Japan. I also think the Atkins diet is foolish. The idea of lowering one's intake of carbs is good, and benefiicial, but completely cutting them out is not natural.
Exercise
Other than healthy eating habits I also recommend joining a gym. It's not like we don't have free time. Gyms are plentiful around Kanagawa. They are a good way to spend a few after-school hours, and burn a lot of calories.
Other exercise tips: Get a bicycle, go everywhere locally on it. Find a local park to take a run in. Take up a martial art; dojos are aplenty. Join the PE lessons at your schools, or even practice with a club after school. You CAN do that; just ask. The more active you are on a regular basis, the higher your average basic metabolic rate, thus burning those beer calories by just breathing. It's also a great introduction to local life in your area.
If you have specific questions, I will try to answer them as best as possible.
Email me at [email protected]