sandor_clegane
New member
@prodigalson8523 34F here. I lived in Japan for almost 6 years. TLDR: I think CICO and being aware of macros kept me small in Japan. Plan to reapply what I learned in the US.
I'm 162cm and kept mostly between 50-55kg the whole time I was there. Japan clothing sizes are ridiculous; I was an M in tops/flared dresses, but an L or even LL in bottoms. I taught mostly preschoolers and the job I was at kept me in shape. I was allowed to pick up/carry little ones if they wanted me to, and I was suprised how much lifting that was for me and how toned my arms got. I also ate really lean-- an apple with pb and a coffee for breakfast (I ordered powdered pb online), high protein conbini foods for lunch (salads with chicken breast, protein bars/shakes, boiled eggs, cheese sticks, yogurts, these kinds of things), and since I was married to a Japanese guy, I made a lot of dinners that were healthy (a meat and/or tofu dish, a soup, rice [but I'd either sub rice for black bean natto or skip rice completely]). I did have sweets occasionally, but I was very active when not working, too-- the commute was long on foot, I did almost all of the shopping, cooking, and cleaning, and I was going to concerts when I had time or taking the train into Tokyo. I kept really fit just by being insanely busy.
I'm back in the US since I divorced, and I gained 20kg and then got married again to someone a lot more suitable for me and now I'm pregnant for the first time (32 weeks) so I'm even heavier than that, in the almost 4 years since.
I expect to weigh 80 ish kg in the 2-3 months following my birth, and my goal isn't exactly to get down to my Japan weight, but maybe somewhere in the 60-69kg range and focus more on adding even more muscle than I had before. But I expect that at my age to take a couple of years, and really I just want to be healthy enough to play with my son and be there for my husband. I plan to use some of what I learned before of how my body handles activity and macros. My husband also goes to the gym 5-6 days per week and is in generally great shape, but since he eats what I cook, he did gain 10kg throughout my pregnancy. So it will help him too if I lose weight. lol
I recommend doing both weight lifting and cardio, eating enough to feed your muscles but in the right ratios, and really, at least compared to the US where I am from, I think it's easier to be fit in Japan. One of my former coworkers was going to Curves (yes they have one in Chiba prefecture at least) and I know her trainer was actually recommending strength training to her, because her natural build would not suit being stereotypically slender. I think attitudes are changing a little bit. Even as recently as 5-10 years ago, what was considered the beauty standard in Japan was even more extreme than now.
I'm 162cm and kept mostly between 50-55kg the whole time I was there. Japan clothing sizes are ridiculous; I was an M in tops/flared dresses, but an L or even LL in bottoms. I taught mostly preschoolers and the job I was at kept me in shape. I was allowed to pick up/carry little ones if they wanted me to, and I was suprised how much lifting that was for me and how toned my arms got. I also ate really lean-- an apple with pb and a coffee for breakfast (I ordered powdered pb online), high protein conbini foods for lunch (salads with chicken breast, protein bars/shakes, boiled eggs, cheese sticks, yogurts, these kinds of things), and since I was married to a Japanese guy, I made a lot of dinners that were healthy (a meat and/or tofu dish, a soup, rice [but I'd either sub rice for black bean natto or skip rice completely]). I did have sweets occasionally, but I was very active when not working, too-- the commute was long on foot, I did almost all of the shopping, cooking, and cleaning, and I was going to concerts when I had time or taking the train into Tokyo. I kept really fit just by being insanely busy.
I'm back in the US since I divorced, and I gained 20kg and then got married again to someone a lot more suitable for me and now I'm pregnant for the first time (32 weeks) so I'm even heavier than that, in the almost 4 years since.
I expect to weigh 80 ish kg in the 2-3 months following my birth, and my goal isn't exactly to get down to my Japan weight, but maybe somewhere in the 60-69kg range and focus more on adding even more muscle than I had before. But I expect that at my age to take a couple of years, and really I just want to be healthy enough to play with my son and be there for my husband. I plan to use some of what I learned before of how my body handles activity and macros. My husband also goes to the gym 5-6 days per week and is in generally great shape, but since he eats what I cook, he did gain 10kg throughout my pregnancy. So it will help him too if I lose weight. lol
I recommend doing both weight lifting and cardio, eating enough to feed your muscles but in the right ratios, and really, at least compared to the US where I am from, I think it's easier to be fit in Japan. One of my former coworkers was going to Curves (yes they have one in Chiba prefecture at least) and I know her trainer was actually recommending strength training to her, because her natural build would not suit being stereotypically slender. I think attitudes are changing a little bit. Even as recently as 5-10 years ago, what was considered the beauty standard in Japan was even more extreme than now.