Food & Fat

The inner frustration has gone on long enough and it's time I let it out. I could discuss this with Mayumi, but she doesn't need a diatribe on Americans and fat, either. It's too far removed from her everyday reality.

In general (IN GENERAL), French people stay slim because they monitor their consumption like hawks, and they walk or ride bikes a lot. Chocolate after dinner? No no no, I'll just have this apple. I ate chocolate on Sunday with Abby at La Duree. Drive to school and back? Hell no, Paris traffic is crazy, I'll take my bike.

In Japan, most people stay relatively thin for a couple reasons (my own observations):

1) Genes. I've watched people eat TONS of noodles on a regular basis and remain thinner than I am. I've also watched Japanese people consume tons of tea, alcohol, and sodium (through soysauce and other forms), yet drink little to almost NO water. But they never seem dehydrated. When I go out with friends and ask for water, they always tell me it's strange. You don't want beer? You don't want tea? You drink a lot of water. That is strange for us. I've never seen a Japanese person drinking plain water, and it's unusual to find bottled water in a vending machine amongst the 10 different types of teas, colas, and sugared coffees, all of which dehydrate you. I may be wrong, but I also haven't heard of many kidney problems.

I've noticed that Japanese women don't really swing their hips, but seem to swing their legs out at the knee instead for better mobility. In fact, it looks like it is physically impossible for them to move their hips from side to side. Then I read that a certain tendon is significantly shorter in Japanese women than Western women, making it nearly impossible for them to swing their hips. Western women may have larger hips, but I like being able to swing 'em. It makes dancing much more fun.

The POINT of all that was to say: Japanese bodies are truly different from Western bodies, in multiple ways. They must process foods differently, as evidenced by their uncanny ability to take in large amounts of carbs and salt and relatively little water, but remain healthy and slim.

2) Diet. In general, the Japanese diet is one of the healthiest in the world. Aside from all the beer, tempura (deep-fried foods), fatty meats and oily, high-calorie ramen dishes, Japanese eat FISH, RICE, and VEGETABLES. You know this already. But what most people don't acknowledge is that it's very easy to eat yourself fat in Japan: there's PLENTY of junk food and fat.

Before I came to Japan I was clueless about the food. I read a couple books on Japanese cuisine to familiarize myself with the basics, but I expected one of my biggest hurdles to be enjoying the food. As it turns out, that hurdle was much easier to jump than I expected, and I like a good majority of Japanese cuisine. But the problem I never expected was being so unfamiliar with things that I literally did not know if it was healthy or not. Sometimes I couldn't tell if something was meat or vegetable. (And you thought you'd ALWAYS know that difference, for SURE, right? Nope.) Sometimes I couldn't tell if something came off the land or out of the ground or from the sea. Sometimes I still can't tell how something is flavored. I try many foods but I usually have no idea if what I'm eating is healthy or not. Obviously fresh vegetables are good for you. But what about that slightly-rubbery, slightly-squishy, slightly fibrous, clear-grey, brown-speckled sliver of material that's been covered in a spicy sauce? What the hell IS that? Does it provide any nutrition at all? Is it full of fat? Is it just added to the dish to help fill you up, a different kind of white rice? Turns out it's a high-fiber substance made from seaweed called konyakku. They say it's good for you...and now I have come to enjoy it. But to have no idea what you are putting into your body is unnerving, to say the least. I am constantly asking people, "Is this healthy? Is this unhealthy?" And the answer I usually get is, "No, it's high-calorie," or "Yes, it cleans your blood."

3) Regulation. Japanese people pay attention to their current states. (I love this because I'm hyper-aware of what is going on with my own body. It may annoy my friends and family, but I think it's fascinating.) For example, if a Japanese woman has eaten too much junk food in the past day or two, or just consumed too much in general, she says to herself, "Hmm, I've felt different lately," or "My pants are a little tight," or "That blemish near my mouth means I've been eating too much." (Yes, they actually believe that, but I swear it's true. Since different body parts are connected like in acupuncture, they believe that if something is wrong with your stomach, it will show up around your mouth, as a cold sore or pimple or other blemish. Pay attention and you'll notice it's completely true.) Anyway, they keep themselves in check, and are constantly adjusting to find an equilibrium. If they've eaten too much for a couple days, they cut back for a couple days. In the long run, this means they don't get fat. Americans, on the other hand (myself often included), believe in the "What-the-Hell" effect. My friends and I coined this phrase in high school. Oh wow, I want a second slice of cake. Well, my first piece was big and already bad for me, so what the hell? On to the second slice. I've been eating so much sugar lately. I guess one more bite won't hurt me, what the hell. In goes the gummy-worm. But you can see how in Japan the logic is different, and ultimately much better.

How any American stays thin is a mystery because everyone is overly-obsessed with it. Including me. Yesterday a teacher gave me a whole flourless chocolate cake. It looked incredible, and I made a joke about sharing it with others so I won't get fat. "You?" he said seriously. "You are afraid of getting fat?" And my immediate response was, "Of course I am, I'm American." It was a joke, and we both laughed, but later I realized how true it was. Why must Americans think about it so much? And why do Americans treat health like FASHION? This annoys me no end. Eat low-fat. Eat margarine. Eat butter. Eat low-carb. Don't eat chocolate. Now eat dark chocolate. Buy this book. Watch this TV program. Go to the gym. Do spot-work on your abs. Actually, spot-work doesn't do any good. Make yoga into something completely unspiritual and fashionable and aerobic. Add pilates. Drive your car to the gym.

Then I see crazy things on the internet, about how obese people are unfairly discriminated against, about how people eat so much they can't walk through doors, about how being overweight is blamed on genes and thyroids and advertising, about how obesity is a "disease" like alcoholism, about how McDonald's should be held responsible for people's health problems, about how an obese woman sued an airline company because they asked her to buy a 2nd seat on the plane....and it all makes me want to scream.

A few days ago, another teacher who has never spoken to me in my six months in Japan, stood by my desk silently watching me eat some Chinese pudding. I endured his stare because people always watch me eat. I hate being observed while eating, but it's a part of life I am still learning to accept as a foreigner in a small town. But then, this teacher who I've never heard SPEAK, much less speak to me, in English, smiled like a wise Native American / Indian chief and dubbed me, "Eating Spirit." He said only, "Eating Spirit," and then walked away. I had to laugh. Naturally, I don't stick to any meal schedules. I eat when I'm hungry, and I abstain when I'm not. This means I eat at crazy hours in between meal-times, which makes it look like I am constantly eating. I know some people around me think I eat all day long. What they don't realize is that I eat about 3 bites at a time.

Anyway, I thought this teacher named me "Eating Spirit" because he thinks I eat all the time. I was a little embarrassed and self-conscious and fell back into my hole about Americans thinking of fat and eating all the time. Later, another teacher told me he said "Eating Spirit" not because he thinks I'm getting fat, but because he was impressed with what I'm willing to try. Even though I never had a conversation with this teacher, unbeknownst to me he was noticing WHAT I ate. Evidently he was so impressed with the variety he opened his mouth to say only, "Eating Spirit," similar to "Daring Spirit" or "Adventuresome Spirit" or "Fighting Spirit." Being American, of course, I thought it was in reference to calories or fat or weight-gain.

I don't know why America is so fat and so obsessed with being fat. I don't know how the French are disciplined enough to eat chocolate eclairs only once a month. If they eat so little sweets, how do all the bakeries stay in business? The biggest mystery, though, is how the Japanese avoid kidney problems.

I DO know that I eat when I'm hungry no matter what time it is, that I eat what I am craving at the time, that I don't eat when I'm not hungry (no matter what time it is), and that I absolutely hate being pressured to eat or drink more when I am full. I think if I stick to my gut and walk to work instead of always riding the bus, and do yoga when I feel like I need yoga, and play tennis every now and then, and go skiing once a year, I'll be okay. And so would you. Do not blame McDonald's because the only one putting the fries in your mouth is you. And pointing fingers at major franchises or your mother or your own thyroid gland just really pisses me off.