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Cycling diet and Japanese groceries

baribari

Maximum Pace
May 28, 2010
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Hi guys, can anyone tell me what sort of things you can get in Japanese grocery stores are good for losing weight?

I just bought some "rye bread" which I think was just regular Japanese high-calorie bread with bits of rye stuck in it for flavor. It's still 150 calories a slice. Christ.

I also bought some germinated brown rice, but the bags are tiny and way overpriced, since they only intend you to mix it with white rice. Where can I get bulk brown rice and barley without buying it straight from a farmer? Coops? Rice specialty stores?

Same goes for soy beans... the prices are ridiculous considering you can buy 100 grams of toufu for 40 yen!

It's so unfortunate that vegetables cost so much here...especially cucumber and eggplant during the winter months.

I've been struggling the same 10 kg of body fat since probably 8th grade. The least I've weighed in my adult life is probably 185, and I need to be more like 170...

I've noticed that the pre-seasoned salmon filets they sell taste great when broiled, even after freezing. All you have to do is pop it in the special fish cooker for maybe seven minutes and they come out perfectly broiled.

Sasami chicken breast filets also appear to have zero extra fat on them.
 
You have to search for good places for cheap vegetables but they certainly do exist. Compared to places like trader joes/new seasons in the states you can find stuff much much cheaper.
Usually these veggies won't have a long shelf life,though so eating cooking soon is key.
Where do you live? The little old ladies in your neighborhood probably know. I can recommend places in Funabashi, kichijoji/nishi ogikubo, and zengyo (nearish to Fujisawa).

Actually, the veggie/fruit shop in shibuya near the Inokashira line entrance and the hobgoblin sometimes has good last minute sales on things in the evenings.

Depending on your politics, seiyu--ie walmart-- has cheap veggies (scary long shelf life) and also things like decently priced quinoa.

I had some luck in the summer with yogurt (plain) for breakfast and tofu on salad/veggies for dinner. Minimal dressing. Only real carbs were at lunch.
 
Rice specialty store will sell you big amounts of genmai. If you want to more about weight loss foods, sorry I have no experience with them, but beer is no good.
 
I'm in rural Fukushima. All we have is two grocery stores and a 7-11. I occasionally get hakusai for free from someone I know. I have two heads frozen but it's only good for nabe once frozen.

The next town over has a rice store, but I just bought a big bag of rice a few days ago before deciding to start eating genmai. Oh well. I think I'll just keep mixing barely and hatsuga genmai with it until it's gone.

Is there any where you can buy whole-wheat bread? Because the grocery stores don't carry it.
 
A while back (onset of cool wx) we bought a 30kg bag of genmai. It'll be gone probably about the end of this month. Not sure where the wife got it, but it was milled to her instructions, and we also use a rice mill, which, for temaki and so on, mills it down enough for that. (Freshly milled does taste better than rice-out-of-the-bag, btw.)

I get good/real rye bread from a local bakery, usually buy half loaves. If they don't have that, or if it's too warm to run thru the slicer, I get a brown bread with walnuts, either one great with good cheese.

Kind of back to weight loss, I'm not the person to ask. I'm not overweight, but have never had to deal with that, so others here are giving better answers.

But I try to make pots of lentil soup (or other dals) or a curry or two. And take that to work w/some brown rice for lunch instead of using the cafeteria (which is worried about O-157, so they overcook or deepfry everything).

Cauliflower has been totally ¥¥¥¥ lately, but OTOH, good パプリカ (bell peppers) have been ¥98.
 
Fish

Fish is widely available, not cheap, but some of the freshest I've had and this is a good main course food.

Don't know if you have an AVE store near you. But I do most of my shopping there and their veggie prices are the best I've seen.

My downfall is bread products - got to cut it out to really drop any weight.
 
To be honest just cut Bread, Rice and Pasta from your diet.
 
I was going to say the same James.

I recommend initially eliminating all carbs for about 4 weeks and then reintroduce them but only as about 30-40% of your total diet. The first 4 week carb fast will be very very challenging, but it will be rewarding and it will totally change your thinking about the role that carbs should play in your diet.
 
Since last June I've lost about 22Kg or 50 pounds, I've got a ways to go get, but I'm working on it.

I read a book a while back about food, and how most people now eat "Processed Food Like Substances" :rolleyes: The author came up with seven words to healthy eating...

"Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not a Lot" :D

That, in a nutshell has been my approach, as well as just eating less and moving more. What has also really worked for me is logging everything I eat, and my exercise. The first week or so, I was logging on my iPhone app, I was honestly shocked to see how so many "little things" added up to way too many calories. I us an app called "My Fitness Pal" they have a community there too with forums etc, the app and everything else is free, it has really helped me.

Eat Less Move More, this is NOT rocket science:rolleyes: :D
 
Oh yeah, I was going to say about bread, I make my own, it's not hard, well I guess you would need some kind of oven, but you can often find decent sized electric ones in the second hand shops cheap.

>> Making Whole Wheat Bread <<

Making 100% Whole Wheat Bread, and getting it to rise is not easy, I get OK results with about 85% Whole Wheat, sure is tasty!
 
I can't help on the bread or rice front and totally agree about the veggie prices. I buy sweet potato and pumpkin whenever it is cheap. Boil it (I never peel the pumpkin) and pulverize it with a hand-held whizz thing. I eat it as mash or add water to make a soup. It really has minimal calories so you can eat large quantities. I'm a real carnivore so usually fry meat in its own juices (ie no oil) with soy sauce and eat with it. Shameful to admit but I eat instant mashed potatoes the same way ... luckily I can't read what is really in the packet, but 4 cups of spud for 180 calories and I'm happy. I also buy spinach in bulk when it is cheap. Rinse it and wilt over heat and also whizz and freeze. Add garlic and stock for soup or I usually just mix it into the pumpkin etc. You can change the flavours with seasonings such as peppers, curry powder etc. Not food to serve guests, but filling, healthy and cheap.
 
I lost alot of weight last year - mainly following same ideas of Stu and Yamabushi. One of the biggest assists was watching the GI Index and avoiding anything with GI over 50, unless I was riding within an hour or so of eating.

1) Yes - you can get real genmai (non-germinated - so you need to soak it). I'll get link and post it. We buy from internet in 30kg lot.

2) If you love bread - get a breadmaker. We bought one at Bic Camera. Awesome - whole grain bread in 3hr. And costs less than 100yen/loaf.

3) Mind your zones. If you really want to lose weight, then ride in fatburn zone. At least 2hrs and 3x a week.

4) Do <some kind> excercise everyday for at least 20min. Even if its a brisk walk.

5) Never eat carbs at night. And never eat less than 2hr before you go to sleep.

6) Cut way back on the volume of food you eat at one time and increase the frequency. Also - increase the amount of water you drink.

That's what I did - I went from 88kg (more or less) to 69kg in 10mo. Still have the 'last 5' to go - but have been very stable.
 
Agreed with everything that Tim has said above apart from;

5) Never eat carbs at night. And never eat less than 2hr before you go to sleep.

Last year I was coached by a LeMond Master and it was one of things we actually discussed. Sleeping is actually a great way to burn calories, your body temp raises when you sleep and to do this your body burns calories to do so..... (Look up what the definition of what a calorie is)

As long as you haven't eaten huge amounts of high GI foods then you're good to go, also eating things like nuts or slow burn proteins just before you sleep is a Pro Tip for recovery, ideal if you are stage racing or touring.

I've added the photo below of my diet results for the 2010 racing season, I started it on Christmas day 2009, why? Because it is a great motivator for the rest of the year especially when the going gets tough, I could look back on it and say "Hell, you didn't party hard at Christmas so keep it up!"

You'll also notice that it took around 3 months for the weight to really start coming off and there were times were the weight came back. This is because I started to put on muscle, the body adapted and then started burning Visceral fat which is the fat that surrounds your internal organs and the hardest to lose.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/1862/weigh****cher.jpg

The trick is to stay focused and stay motivated, it's not easy and you have to be really hard on yourself, I suffered hunger panks all day for about 4 weeks until my stomach shrank and my metabolism changed;

I did this by using technology…. I'm a fact and figure freak and love the science surrounding training so I used this to keep me motivated. I'm using Tanita Biometric scales that talks with my training software. This was really important for when I stated gaining weight as provided me with the knowledge that my bone mass % and muscle mass % were going up and body fat was decreasing. Without that knowledge I think I would have become demotivated.

Lastly there is no quick fix diet it takes time and dedication - - Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
 
Whole Wheat Flour

I order mine online:

King Arthur Flour. If you are trying to lose weight though, don't order their scone mix!
 
More healthy yes, to lose weight, no.

total elimination of processed foods like white flour, pasta, rice, sugar is great but bread is still very high on the GI ratings. If you realy must eat it then I suggest gluten free flour.

Fred, does King Arthur (snigger) deliver to Japan? (Actually a serious question as I bake a lot of my own breads)

Currently thinking about ordering this.

http://www.themeatguy.jp/app/en/products/view/916#content-top
 
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