A'ight, who fibbed?

Before leaving, I was assured many many times that Americans that go to Japan lose tons of weight because of how healthy and nutritious the food is.

Wrong!

Okay, so in general, Japanese food is healthier than American food. But that rule only applies when you actually eat like an American! Unlike most Americans, I never eat fried food (except for tempura, which is Japanese), I eat only whole grains, and lots of fruits and veggies every day. I also, unfortunately, have a deep, uncompromising love for sweets, but I'm pretty good at ignoring it (i.e. I eat them, but don't admit it).

What no one told me was that most of the healthy food you can find in Japanese restaurants and grocery stores isn't appetizing, at least not to my American palette. I consider myself a seafood fan, but some of the fish that regularly appear in dishes here are rather... scary-looking. And not tasty. And though I like western mushrooms, I find most of the ones used here to be too intensely flavored and sour. Chicken usually comes in dark meat form (I only like white), and beef, though most often delicious, is usually the fatter cuts.

The healthiest, tastiest way I've found to get my daily protein is in omelet form; I make a vegetable omelet for breakfast everyday. It's an easy way to start myself off with protein, omega 3 fatty acids, vegetables, and a side of whole wheat bread. Yes, they have whole wheat here (who knew) and it's actually reasonably priced for Tokyo: $2.78 for 8 slices (yes, that is reasonable in Tokyo). Luckily, my favorite type of Japanese noodle, soba, is also a whole grain, so I'm not having trouble keeping that in my diet. And fruit, though pricey, is easy to purchase and munch on.

The real problem is vegetables. As everyone knows, vegetables are a very important part of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, I have great difficulty recognizing many of the vegetables used in Japanese dishes, and many of them I don't like. One of the easiest ways to get vegetables is to buy tempura veggies at the grocery store. The only catch: they're fried. Until today, I've shied away from buying anything fresh other than onions and bell peppers for my omelet, but today I decided to splurge for a zucchini ($2.80 for a small one) and a 3 pack of what appear to be thin Japanese eggplants (much cheaper).

In America, I have no trouble purchasing green beans, broccoli, or zucchini at the store and sauteing them with garlic and some spices. But here, the familiar vegetables are tiny and cost an arm and a leg. I also can't find any spices I'm familiar with, not even cinnamon! So I'm stuck sauteing my zucchini and eggplant in plain olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. With my tiny kitchen and lack of raw materials, it's about all I can do.

So to all the Americans reading my blog, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but unless you subsist completely on McDonald's in The States, moving to Japan will not help you lose weight. If anything, you will turn away from the healthy, native food and attack the INCREDIBLE desserts they have here. Seriously, they have taken every delightful pastry and confection from Europe and made it twice as good. I don't know how they do it. It may be crack; personally, I find them highly addicting. But that could just be the sweet tooth talking.

Time to go saute some veggies...