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yasemasuyo
Posts: 177 Member
On a night out with Japanese friends, we were comiserating about turning 40 and the effect that this will have on our metabolism. I mentioned that I have been following a diet of 1200 cals since last summer and they all told me that I was eating too much! According to the group, I shouldn't be eating more than 1000 cals a day... wow. I know they are wrong, but all of a sudden I was once again left feeling like the fat, greedy one (which, by the way, I no longer am). Honestly, Japan is a hard place to be when you aren't as skinny as a rake :-(
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All Japanese, I assume?
I read a Japanese diet magazine when I lost weight there. It seemed quite reasonable (not that I knew much back then) except that the adverts were all of women going from 55kg (my ideal weight!) to 49kg.
I wonder how much they think they should eat to maintain. Even 2000kcal is a diet for me. I wonder what they'd make of that :laugh:0 -
Yep, all Japanese. It is so shocking how they are brainwashed into thinking that superskinny is healthy. There are no end of shows introducing new diet products, and the 'fat' women trying them all out all have healthy BMIs to begin with, and end up celebrating an unhealthy, low BMI. Such shows wouldn't be permitted back home, they actively promote anorexia here :-(0
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It's true - the TV shows are terrible! Several times a week they have a show about fat people getting skinny. Invariable, the person had truly terrible habits to begin with and then loses the weight by eating next to nothing. Sometimes they exercise too, but that part is never really discussed properly. It reinforces the opinion that you can only get fat by eating extremely terribly (which is not always true) and that you need to starve to lose weight.
That being said, I find Japanese people are generally much more active than N. Americans and usually do eat healthier their whole lives too. My students eat more than 2000 calories a day and they all play sports after school. Their warm-ups are invariably 4km worth of jogging even before they start doing the actual training for their particular sport. I think it's rare that they need to worry about their weight until they are already adults.
Also, the BMI calculation doesn't work very well for those under 5 feet. Many Japanese women are quite short and have very light bone structures too. I'm 5''4' and a BMI of 49kg would be only slightly underweight (by half a pound only!) I could see how someone who is quite short could get away with eating only 1000 calories a day, too.0 -
Sorry, I had to run to class without finishing that properly. I wanted to finish with - it just kinda sucks that we are taller than the average here too. It's hard not to feel big even when you are skinny. I think you're doing great!0
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I've found research that shows that 'overweight' for the Japanese starts at a lower BMI than for Westerners, but I can't find anything to say whether their lowest healthy bmi is lower too of not.
I feel the British school system let me down by making me think 1km was a long run!0 -
Unfortunately, I am only 5ft myself! But my frame is different, wider than the Japanese... I am just about maintaining at 1200 cals, but the thought of having to reduce my calorie intake in order to lose these final kilos depresses me. I know I could eat more if I exercised more, but with three yound kids that's hard (I currently fit in about 4 hours of exercise a week).
I agree that the Japanese (especially children and the elderly) are more active than back home! I am always impressed by this, they have a very healthy attitude - and it has made me realise how lazy Brits are in general!0 -
Yeah, bone frame and muscle mass can make a big difference too. I have a small bone structure, but large muscle mass, so I don't ever expect to weigh the same as a Japanese girl of the same height unless she's really sporty.
I can see how going under 1200 calories would be depressing! It's very little food really. My limit is also supposed to be 1200, but I have a hard time not eating over. Most days I don't make it and then I have to exercise more to make up for it. Unlike you, however, I have no kids to worry about!
I don't think you have to go under 1200 though. 5 feet is on the borderline of the regular BMI I think. A lot of Japanese girls are closer to 4 feet though, so I can see why 1000 might be acceptable for them. At the end of the day though, you'd be short-changing yourself on something. A lot of Japanese women suffer from osteoporosis and that could be caused by not eating enough. The traditional Japanese diet does not contain a lot of calcium in the first place, so if you are eating even less... well...
I think you're doing great by the way. 4 hours of exercise is a good amount especially when you are so busy and have kids to worry about. You're super good at keeping your calories around 1200 too.
Also, keep in mind that what you eat in childhood can make a big difference to how you are as an adult. Your Japanese friends have a big head start, so don't worry about it too much. Keep on keeping on and eventually you'll get there.0 -
I just left Japan and moved to Hong Kong and it is really refreshing to be around normal-sized people!
Although the truth is that I am going on a less than 1000 calorie diet at the moment (trying something new). I'm really surprised that your friends made you feel like that.
I'm also short (4'10") and when I went to see a group of (all Japanese) friends (most I had never met until that day), they had me stand back to back with the shortest Japanese girls to see how short I was (I was the shortest btw). haha. I think part of the problem is the difference in manners and group-mentality...once one person said, "You should eat less than 1,000 calories" the others were obliged to echo. <_< I'm sure you are familiar with this already though, so just keep that in mind.
Diet your way and don't mind them. ^_^ You know YOU better than anyone else.
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The average height of a Japanese woman is 5'2" according to Wikipedia, so still quite short in comparison to the average European for instance...but I think even tall people are supposed to weigh less than a certain amount if I'm correct. Translated to pounds, I believe that it is in South Korea (similar obsession with weight/appearances) that women of ANY height are "supposed" to be under 100 pounds. In fact, I've read stories about Korean men* stating that they ONLY want to date a woman under that weight, with their dream girlfriend's height being like 5'8" -_-Many Japanese women are quite short and have very light bone structures too. I'm 5''4' and a BMI of 49kg would be only slightly underweight (by half a pound only!) I could see how someone who is quite short could get away with eating only 1000 calories a day, too.
*Celebrities which young girls and women idolize...thus encouraging "doing anything necessary" to be a very low weight.0
