Japan

[scintilla]

Visiting Japan for 2 weeks

Hi everyone,
I will be in Japan for two weeks in April, and would appreciate any advice on how to do Atkins while I'm there. I don't know what kind of food is available there that's not going to put my hosts under too much pressure. Sometimes I will be going out for meals and would appreciate any advice on names of common dishes and carb content. What about drinks there? I'm currently on Induction, and may be on OWL by then. What kind of snacks can I easily buy there, or should I try and bring stuff from home (South Africa)

[Hayden]

Re: Japan

If you are on Induction then you'll need to stay away from rice and noodles. Both of which are the main foods in Japan.

You can eat yakitori and yakiniku just fine. Except avoid the sauces because they have sugar in. Fish will be your low carb friend.

Drinks. Green Tea. Coffee. Water. All fine.

Are you visiting for a couple of days? Staying with hosts you said. Low carbing in Japan if you can't shop in a super market will be very stressful for your hosts. Japanese have no sense of the low carb movement.

My advice. If you are only in Japan for a short time. Just enjoy eating some amazing Japanese food that you'll probably never get the chance to eat again. (Until you return to Japan)

[scintilla]

Re: Japan

Hi Haydn
Thanks so much for your quick response - helpful advice. Congratulations on the progress you've made!
What is yakatori and yakaniku?
I will be in Japan for 2 weeks. I think I will be able to go to the supermarkets and get food for the day and we'll be at restaurants most nights. What are some of the foods I can buy that are not prodigously expensive. What do you buy for snacks/quick foods? I'm on induction - thinking about introducing nuts on my first rung of OWL so that I can at least use this as a snack

[Hayden]

Re: Japan

Hi Haydn
Thanks so much for your quick response - helpful advice. Congratulations on the progress you've made!
What is yakatori and yakaniku?
I will be in Japan for 2 weeks. I think I will be able to go to the supermarkets and get food for the day and we'll be at restaurants most nights. What are some of the foods I can buy that are not prodigously expensive. What do you buy for snacks/quick foods? I'm on induction - thinking about introducing nuts on my first rung of OWL so that I can at least use this as a snack

Hello again.

Yakitori is a type of grilled chicken.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitori

Yakiniku is grilled meat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakiniku

(can you guess that "Yaki" means "grilled" in Japanese)

This is a good place to start to learn about Japanese food.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cuisine

If you can shop in supermarkets then you can low carb.

Rice in eaten with everything and everyday. It's not just a national food, but a national identity. Avoiding rice is going to be very difficult.

You can buy bacon and beef cheaply. Fish, cooked or not will be what you'll be eating most days.

The Japanese don't low carb and will not understand you. Most diets in Japan are silly fad diets, or if someone really wants to diet, then they will eat less bowls or rice or drink less beer.

If you really want to low carb with your host family, then say you don't eat sugar or carbs "for your heath", rather than "for a diet".

Good luck.

[scintilla]

Re: Japan

Hi Haydn

Thanks for the advice. I came across another website where someone who's low carbing in Japan discovered different Shirataki noodles - made from a japanese flour made from yams. Apparantly he says on the packet at the supermarket it comes out as 1g of carb per serving and it expands in your stomach so that you get full quickly. Have you heard of it? Apparantly the Japanese call it Kannyaku and in English it is called Konjac. Other names for the type of flour is Glucomannnan or Yam.