Why Japanese are Skinny

                                      This is a typical Japanese breakfast: Natto, rice, miso soup. 

And that's exactly what I had: natto, rice and salmon for breakfast!

I just got back from a 12 day trip to Japan and if there was one thing that resignated with me it was the fact that the vast majority of Japanese people are much, much, thinner than their American counterparts. This should be of interest to us, as we are a country growing in obesity and are unable to get it under control. Amazingly, many “rules of the skinny” seem to not apply toJapanese, I guess they are right about everything being backwards in Japan. For example, rice is a major staple in the Japanese diet, they love pastries, and it's almost a tradition for them to drink beer after work, even the women; and still a majority of the population is skinny. Below I've listed 3 reasons why I feel Japanese people eat what they want and are still as a whole, a thin population.

1. Portion control: their portions are much, smaller than the portions of their American counterparts. Basicly, they just eat less of everything they want as opposed to Americans who eat more of everything, and then more to top it off. They eat rice, but they eat tiny rice balls, sometimes just that for a full meal. They eat pastries, but not boxes of doughnuts, they have one and their one pastry is not huge and they are satisfied with that. When we were in Japan my husbands friend ordered a hotdog while we were sitting at a cafe. The hotdog literally came with 5 chips. Not a bag of chips, just 5 pieces and he was ok with it (he's Japanese). It's quite common to see 1 family sharing a meal, including the father. They would order a beef curry plate with rice and the mom, dad and child would share that whole meal. I've even seen a bowl of ramen split, not because they are trying to save money, just because they don't live to eat, they eat to live.
2. Farming practices: In Japan they give much care to their farming practices. Unlike the American food manufacturing industry, the Japanese people practice a more organic approach to farming food. They understand that while American type manufacturing practices may yield more food in a shorter amount of time, they also know that in the long run, the people and the environment will be adversely effected, therefore they try to keep they farming as organic as possible. This is the opposite in America. Unless marked and certified organic, you can almost assume that the food you are eating is the worst version of it's self. Basicly, the food in Japan will be in a more natural state than food produced in America. This enables the body to use the food as fuel much more efficiently than food that is genetically modified and laced in herbicides and pesticides.
3. They walk everywhere. They walk, walk, walk. Because most people use the train system, they are on a time table. Even though in America we live busy lives we still make time to drive to a resturaunt, sit, order appitizers, drinks and a full meal with bread on the side. Not in Japan. They have just enough time to eat and make their train, so even if they eat a full dinner, immeadiately after, they are walking. From the morning, till they get home at night they are walking, they are moving.

We can learn much from the Japanese in the way they look at food. They to socilize while eating, but they do not make food the main subject of the socilizing. They make the company and conversation the main focus. They are all about portion control, so they are able to have what they want but they just don't have too much of it. They deffinately do not live to eat. While they do enjoy their food, they rarely over do it. Their farming practices are organic. They walk everywhere and are very weight conscious, did I forget to mention that? They actually care if they are overweight. While many Americans feel that weight gain is inevitable, Japanese will try to avoid it at all means.