Midnight Pariah's Journal

midnightpariah

midnightpariah

New member
So today is the second day of my diet. I'm doing very well! I only have one problem. I teach English in Japan and many times a day I receive gifts of food from my students. They are usually sweets or cakes of some sort. Normally they are wrapped and I just say "thank you" and put them away for later, but sometimes (like today) they give me a sweet on a plate. It is very rude not to accept, but I don't want to eat the sweets! I had one small one today and I feel kind of guilty about it, but not so bad because Japanese cakes and cookies are made with very little sugar. It is usually soy beans or green tea.

Another problem I'm really worried about is what to do this Thursday. Every week my boss' wife cooks us a really big meal. Since I'm on a very specific diet, I don't know what to say to get out of eating. Again it is really rude to refuse food given to you. I was thinking about saying I have a stomach ache and only eating very little, but I don't want to lie. I also don't want to say in front of all of my skinny co-workers who can eat whatever they want, that I am on a diet.

The third problem is that there is a big party on Sunday for our school at a beer garden. I don't drink alcohol, so that won't be a problem, but they have all you can eat food! This I am worried about...

Any advice would be appreciated!

~MP
 
Day 3:

I'm doing better than I thought I would be. I'm craving some salty french fries right now, but am eating a banana instead! I have set up a reward system for myself. In Japan they sell these wonderful cakes. I don't know what they are really called, but there is a bunny on the package with really long ears, so I call them bunny ear cakes! For every 10 lbs I lose, I get a bunny ear cake! I wanted to weigh myself today, but won't do it until next Monday. I told myself that I would wait a full week after I started dieting before weighing myself. It is so hard!!
 
What kinds of food does your bosses wife usually cook for you? Usually Japanese food is pretty healthy exept for maybe the sodium. I agree it would probably not be a very good idea to make special request or excuses not to eat. You should probably eat just enough where you can get by and not hinder your diet.

As for the sweets given to you by your classmates, I'm assuming the ones that are not home made come in packages with multiple sweets right? The best thing to do in that situation is split them with friends or co-workers. Maybe bring a box to the dinner party so everyone can eat them and you won't feel guilty, ykwim?

I don't know what kind of food will be served at the beer garden but it is a temtation. I reccomend that you don't deprive yourself and try to pick things that are not damaging to your diet if possible.

Japanese cakes are so good! It's very good that you set your goal before eating the cake! Some of my favorite cake are from the Cafe Comme Ca (), is there one in Hiroshima. The good thing is that while they are sweets they are not that unhealthy. Good luck with your goals!
 
Thanks for the advice! I'm doing so well on this diet and don't want to ruin it! She usually cooks pretty healthy food. I will just have to eat a little. I guess this will be a test in control. I'm not super worried about Sunday. I think that I can eat a little and it will be ok. I would assume they will have fish and rice and vegetables. Eating those should be good.

I cheated today and weighed myself. I'm down another 4 lbs. I am so glad that I have lost weight! I was feeling kinda depressed last night and was thinking about giving up on my diet. When I saw the 4 lb. loss this morning it gave me the motivation to keep on going. I hope I continue to lose more. I'm afraid that I will plateau soon. I just have to believe in myself!
 
Day 5:

This diet is amazing! I can't believe I've lost 6lbs already! I've tried everything before from strict diets to exercise, but I've never been able to drop weight this quickly! I was very skeptical at first, but now that I see it working, I'm amazed!
 
Feeling really depressed today. I'm so ready to go out and buy some french fries from McDonalds. =o(

I really don't want to break my diet...
 
Hi there MP,

dropping in to welcome you to the WLF. As for living in Japan, oh I'm so jealous. :) Foodwise, oh yes... Japanese customs are wicked when it comes to eating to show respect. (Chinese are exactly the same, so I feel you there.. haha) I'm originally from Honolulu, HI and there are many mainland Japanese who live there, so needless to say, Japanese food is everywhere. I'm a huge fan of mochi. Yumm... Although they have azuki beans or green tea fillings, the potato starch (or mochiko powder depending on what type of recipe they use) can be pretty up there in calories. As for dinner parties, I usually stick to eating lots of veggies (sukiyaki), sashimi, saba (fish) and a bowl of miso soup. (although it's high in sodium, I make sure to chug down lots of water)

Don't give up on yourself. You'll be fine. As for those fries, heck... if you're craving them, get your fix! Instead of ordering a large or a small fries and savor it. Don't restrict yourself too much or you'll be feeling more and more depressed as time goes on. Good luck.

-Sheryl
 
You are doing so well! May I ask what is the diet you are following? Whatever it is it sounds like its really working well!
 
tropicalgirl said:
You are doing so well! May I ask what is the diet you are following? Whatever it is it sounds like its really working well!
Click to expand...

The first 11 lbs I lost without even realizing it. Since I've moved to Japan I've pretty much been eating rice, boneless skinless chicken, and vegetables. I
also don't have a car, so I've had to ride my bike or walk everywhere.

For the pas week, though, I've been on the negative calorie diet. I was skeptical, at first. I figured that all I would be eating were fruits and vegetables. I was surprised to find out that it is more complicated than that. Basically you have fruit for breakfast, soup and vegetables for lunch, and then soup and chicken or fish for dinner. You aren't losing any food groups because there is rice in the soup.

Anywhoo, because of this diet I've lost 9 lbs since Monday. The first two days I felt really tired and had a headache. But after I got used to the diet, things became way easier. I told myself that I was going to try the diet for one week. If it worked, awesome, if not, then no big deal. I haven't put any money into this diet at all! I've never been prouder.

Thanks for the support! I really appreciate it!
 
I'm starting to scare myself. When I was 16 I was anorexic and bulemic. The only things I would eat and keep down were chocolate pop tarts and purple gatorade. My dad would give me money for lunch every morning, but instead of buying lunch, I would buy 2 packages of pop tarts. When I would go home, I would try to get out of eating dinner, but often I was forced to eat. Afterwards I would run upstairs and throw up what little I ate. I was also obsessed with weighing my self and staring in the mirror. I would also do situps constantly. When I woke up in the morning and before I went to sleep at night I would usually do like 100 in bed. I also would do them while watching TV.

When I finally got caught I was threatened with hospital trips, so I started eating normally again. Right now I'm afraid that I'm getting back to that point. I have been doing such a good job on my diet, and I feel very proud of myself. Tonight, however, was my work party. I really didn't want to eat anything, so I grabbed a little plate. Unfortunately most of the food was fried. =o( Soon afterwards I felt very guilty for eating. I proceeded to run to the bathroom and hid there for about 20 mins trying to convince myself not to throw up. I was almost in tears. When I got back I was handed some ice cream which made me feel even worse. Now I'm home and I'm desperately trying not to vomit. I don't want to go back to what I was before...

=o(
 
I don't know if this will help you or not but if it is possible could you stop the diet altogether? Honestly just eating Japanese food and getting around on foot and bike like you are doing you will lose weight, just like you have already seen. Living in Tokyo I'd have cake every week and was on no diet whatsoever but didn't gain weight and could wear a size 2 (Japan).

Maybe you could try looking up support resources for your illness? If there are none in your area at least you could find a support group on the web?
 
tropicalgirl said:
I don't know if this will help you or not but if it is possible could you stop the diet altogether? Honestly just eating Japanese food and getting around on foot and bike like you are doing you will lose weight, just like you have already seen. Living in Tokyo I'd have cake every week and was on no diet whatsoever but didn't gain weight and could wear a size 2 (Japan).

Maybe you could try looking up support resources for your illness? If there are none in your area at least you could find a support group on the web?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty much done with the diet. It was only a 7 day diet. You are supposed to wait at least a week before doing it again. I think that I had a moment of weakness tonight. I'm just so tired of being overweight. It is really hard emotionally. I don't even want to leave my apartment because I'm ashamed of how I look. I've talked to doctors before about my past eating disorder. It was brought on by my parents divorce. It was really hard on me especially when my mother told me that it was my fault. I guess I just felt really guilty about that and really believed that it was my fault. Because I couldn't control my home situation, I stopped eating healthily. I could control what I ate. Eventually I moved in with my grandparents and they were very supportive.

Thank you so much for taking time to respond to me. It was very kind of you! I greatly appreciate it. =o)
 
It's enough stress I think standing out as a foreigner in Japan looking different and feeling like an outsider without dealing with weight issues. After a while it can be so stressful and tense for your body even just hearing a language that isn't your native one everyday. What I think would be really helpful to you would be to take advantage of some of the relaxing things you can enjoy in Japan to take away from that stress.

Do you have ofuro in your apartment? If you do, go out and buy bath bombs with flowers or cute things inside, different kinds of bath salts, floating candles, floating relax light toy, nice soap that you can enjoy, and just take a lovely bath to relax and take time for you. Many times the beauty and fashion magazines have little exercises such as stretching and massage you can do in the bath too. There are many bath salts that are great for your skin too! Make the bath your oasis!

Maybe you can go and buy cute zakka or a little plant you can take cake of. Zakka are such a tiny thing but can cheer you up so much when your are having a stressful day you know? Cute insense things too! While you are out treat yourself at a cafe which have so many healthy and lo cal options which taste amazing and you won't feel guilty! Just sitting at a cafe to relax and get stuff done like studying or setting out the plan for work the next day can be so nice. Maybe try going on a day trip with some friends to an onsen or sightseeing too!

Most important don't let the stress get to you and lose weight at your pace. How long will you be in Hiroshima? Enjoy your time there!
 
So after my week of the negative calorie diet (in which I lost 9 lbs), I took a week off of the strict diet and went back to my normal diet (minus the soda and junk). I'm proud to say that I kept off the 9lbs! I read online that occasional bursts in caloric intake are good for you because it kinda tricks your metabolism. With this in mind, I made Saturday a cheat day. I bought a small cake at the grocery store and made myself tacos for dinner. After eating that junk, my body went into rejection mode! Without going into the gory details, I'll just say that I spent about an hour in the bathroom...I guess that my body likes the healthy foods better now! I also didn't realize that the cake thing had frosting in it. I'm lactose intolerent so dairy messes up my stomach. That could have been what caused it, but I'd rather believe that my body likes healthy food better! =o)

So today I'm on round two of the negative calorie diet. I'm hoping to drop another 9lbs, but I'm only setting my goal at 5lbs. The difference between this week and the previous one is that I'm adding more exercise. I ride my bike for about a mile a day normally because I don't have a car, so I basically considered that my exercise. I've decided to up that a little bit. Today I start my aikido lessons (Japanese martial arts). I'm really excited about it! I'm also going to go jogging in the mornings. I hope that it will help with my weight loss goals! :jump:
 
Aikido was hard work! I'm going to stick with it though because it is wonderful exercise. I feel really tired now and my muscles ache. It is a good feeling because I know I tried something new.

I'm back on the negative calorie diet. I've done really well today and am very proud!
 
Don't know what to do..

I'm really depressed. My boyfriend of almost 3 years has stopped talking to me and I have no idea why. He is supposed to be coming out to Japan to be with me, but I haven't heard from him since Saturday. This is totally unlike him. Because of all of this I have been eating my emotions. Yesterday I broke my diet for the first time and ate a bag of those small oreos and a bag of chips. I feel gross now and even more depressed. The only thing that keeps running through my mind is that he has found someone else, but is too afraid to tell me. I am thinking about going back to America now. I don't want to be here alone anymore...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

:(
 
Hi Midnightpariah, I'm sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. Have you managed to get in contact with your boyfriend? Sometimes it's difficult to keep in touch with the time difference especially when things get busy. I hope that everything goes better for you.
 
It has been awhile since I have written. I have been so busy with work and stuff as of late, that I let my diet slip...

On Jan. 1st I decided to renew my goal. I have started eating healthy again and exercising. I've been playing DDR everyday and doing sit-ups, push-ups, and various other strength training exercises. I've lost about 2 lbs so far! I'm thinking that it is just water weight though, but nonetheless it is encouraging!!
 
Today went really well! I had about 1500 calories and did all of my exercising. I felt kinda tired today though because I didn't sleep very well last night. I am surprised that I actually made it through my workout. I felt as if I would die due to lack of energy.

Today's Meals:

Breakfast:
2 hardboiled eggs
1 piece of rye toast
1/2 apple

Lunch:
rice, vegetables, and clams wrapped with seaweed
1/2 apple

Snack:
1/2 cup of raisins and peanuts

Dinner:
1 pork chop with fat cut off
1 carrot sliced and boiled with a little salt but no butter (even though I was tempted!! =o)
1.5 cups of Japanese white rice

7th day reward (I get to have one special treat a week!!)
1/2 of a Japanese style cake (it was about the size of two Oreos)

I'm wondering if I should allow myself one high calorie meal a week. I've read that you should let yourself splurge for one meal a week, but I'm afraid that I'll fall off of the bandwagon if I do it too soon...
 
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