Japanese diet - my story/diary

* * * Disclaimer: please be mindful that this is an extreme calorie cut diet. I am in no way suggesting that anybody should be doing this, I'm simply crazy and like to experiment on myself lol. As much as this diet makes you lose weight, it doesn't happen without consequences. If you do decide to try it out, please DO NOT do it more than the advised period of time and be aware that you WILL experience major fatigue. * * *

This is my diet diary for the diet I've talked about in my previous blog post.

First day:

Consumption: 914 kcal
Food cost: £4.90

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. 2 boiled eggs, fresh cabbage salad with olive oil, glass of tomato juice.

Dinner. 200-250g of boiled or fried (in olive oil) fish.

Only one cup of coffee for breakfast. It wasn't that unusual since I don't really eat a lot for breakfast. I LOVE eggs but the amount of cabbage I shredded as a side dish was way too much. (〜￣▽￣)〜 It's not bad though. Veggies are gooood. 

On the other hand, I absolutely hate tomato juice. I seriously don't understand how people drink it because it tastes like diluted ketchup. At least I was on a video call to distract me from disgustingness.（＿´ω｀）I love the fact that you can eat any fish you like. So salmon is my go-to choice!! I love salmon so much. It was my first time I cooked it all by itself without any spices. But I totally loved it. I think salmon has so much flavour in itself. (´▽`ʃƪ)

Feeling good so far. I don't feel very hungry.

Lost today: 1.9kg

Second day:

Consumption: 1192kcal
Food cost: £6.21

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with gluten free bread toast or gluten free crisp bread.  

Lunch. Boiled or fried fish, fresh vegetable salad (cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, etc.) with olive oil. 

Dinner. 100g boiled beef, cup of yoghurt or kefir.

Coffee and toast is goood. Be sure to eat slow. The feeling of fullness comes later. （＾_＾）

The only thing measured in today's lunch is fish. So if I feel hungry I can eat lots of veggies. Yay!

I feel really full. Didn't rush to eat dinner. Not a fan of beef but what needs to be done needs to be done lol. (Note to self: don't eat yoghurt too quick after eating meat. Not good results in the toilet... TMI...). 

Btw I also misread the menu and accidentally fried instead of boiled my beef... Oops! Not the healthiest option...but still beef right? Won't happen again. ＼(;ﾟ∇ﾟ)/

I wish breakfast was a bit fuller sometimes but it's okay. I can do it even though my bf is eating pizza... (▰˘︹˘▰)

Lost today: 0.7kg
Lost so far: 2.6kg

Third day:

Consumption: 1141kcal

Food cost: £5.01

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with gluten free bread toast or gluten free crisp bread.

Lunch. One fried big zucchini with olive oil OR squash OR blue cabbage OR 3 carrots, 3 apples.

Dinner. 2 boiled eggs, 200g boiled beef, cabbage salad with olive oil.

Coffee became my morning routine now (it used to be lunch/evening tradition lulz).

Instead of having fried carrots I've decided to do salad from the required ingredients. 3 grated carrots, 3 diced apples and a tablespoon of olive oil. Total perfection. There's so much salad though!! The fact that I must eat it all makes me laugh. It's super duper healthy yet has so little calories. That's the example of a perfect healthy eating and proof that you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. ◦°˚\(´°౪°`)/˚°◦

I was eating this while my boyfriend was eating pizza. Yes, I was a bit sad but honestly my sadness didn't last long when I noticed how slow my bf became after his meal and how energetic I was after my delicious salad. A total win. And when I gave it to my bf to try he even said that he's starting to understand how bad a heavy and fatty food is. (wow..finally?!) I think I'm starting to show good example. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

Lost today: 0kg
Lost so far: 2.6kg

Fourth day: 

Consumption: 716kcal
Food cost: £2.87

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee. 

Lunch. 1/2 small boiled chicken (no fat or skin); fresh cabbage or carrot salad. 

Dinner. 2 hard boiled eggs; fresh carrot salad with vegetable oil.

I was never a fan of cooked carrots. I didn't mind eating them in salads or soups. But I never thought I would hate them so much on their own. Today was our relationship anniversary. We went out to visit Madam Tussauds museum. After that I opened my packed lunch and after few tablespoons I just couldn't eat anymore! I was allowed to eat 15g of cheese today. I separated it into 3 pieces so I ate one as well. OMG I didn't realise that cheese was sooo delicious! It's probably because I didn't have any seasoning recently. My taste buds were having a party after that 5g of cheese. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Don't get scared about the calories. It is a low calorie diet after all. But I also brought this on myself because I didn't have enough fruits prepared for the evening and I didn't finish all my lunch because I almost threw up. Ugh, cooked carrots lol...

The amount of calories I've got were too little for a productive and active day, so I was extremely tired in the evening. But as I've said before. It's my own fault. ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ

Lost today: 0kg
Lost so far: 2.6kg

Fifth day:

Consumption: 898kcal
Food cost: £7.97

Breakfast. Fresh carrot with lemon juice.

Lunch. Boiled or fried fish, glass of tomato juice.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas and grapes).

Today was pretty awesome. I've had a perfect amount of food. Never felt hungry during all day. The fruit dinner was the best dinner in a whole week so far. Love love love it. ( ˘ ³˘)♥

Lost today: 1kg
Lost so far: 3.6kg

Sixth day:

Consumption: 933kcal
Food cost: £2.47

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. Half of small chicken (without skin), 3 tablespoons of fresh carrot and cabbage salad.

Dinner. 2 boiled eggs, fresh carrot salad with olive oil.

I'm almost halfway through. Feeling really good. Especially when I see that weight is disappearing little by little. If I would lose another 3.6kg I would be really happy. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Lost today: 0kg
Lost so far: 3.6kg

Seventh day:

Consumption: 880kcal
Food cost: £6.05

Breakfast. Green or herb tea.

Lunch. 200g of boiled beef, fruits (except bananas and grapes).

Dinner. Any food from other day’s dinner except 3rd.

This morning I was feeling really down. I missed normal food and was looking at my boyfriend eating pizza and fries full of jealousy (not that pizza and fries is normal food...). (ఠ్ఠ ˓̭ ఠ్ఠ) The dislike of beef became hate. I munched those tasteless pieces with grumpy face. ლ(ಠ益ಠლ

Since today is a free dinner choice from the other days (except 3rd) I've decided to have a fruit dinner. I need some flavour!!! At least dinner is great. Happy again. Waiting for the weight results tomorrow. 〜(￣▽￣〜)

Lost today: 0.3kg
Lost so far: 3.9kg

Eight day: 

Consumption: 812kcal
Food cost: £2.21

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. Half of small chicken (without skin), 3 tablespoons of fresh carrot and cabbage salad.

Dinner. 2 boiled eggs, fresh carrot salad with olive oil.

After yesterday's grumpiness and quite happy evening I've decided that being sad about food is just not for me. Especially when I saw that I've lost extra 0.3kg. That's not much but considering that my weight is not jumping up and down anymore - that's an improvement.

Managed to cook chicken really nice and juicy today. (´⌣`ʃƪ)

By the way, I've also noticed that the amount of calories are going down towards the halfway of the diet and back to normal ~1100 calories towards the end. Assuming it's kind of letting your body get used to a really low calorie diet and then putting you back to the normal diet. Body doesn't react well to 800 calories a day shock anyways. Thumbs up to people who created this. ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ

Lost today: 0.2kg
Lost so far: 4.1kg

Ninth day:

Consumption: 813kcal
Food cost: £5.25

Breakfast. Fresh carrot with lemon juice.

Lunch. Boiled or fried fish, glass of tomato juice.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas and grapes).

As my diet is coming to an end, I am dreaming about normal food more and more. Haha. But at the same time thinking that if my weight is gonna drop so slowly I won't lose as much as I would like to... (*￣m￣) Well, I still have 4 days. So lots of time to work on it!!!

For today's fruit dinner I've decided to have 2 clementines, kiwi and pear. <3

Can we take few minutes to appreciate the tiny clementine nestled into a big clementine?? Sooooo cuuuuuute! ヾ(o≧∀≦o)ﾉﾞ And delicious as well! б（＞ε＜）∂

What felt weird today is that in the evening I got a headache out of nowhere that I couldn't explain. I didn't want to take any medicine and basically didn't have energy and somehow it magically disappeared in like an hour. ╚═། . ◯ o ◯ . །═╝Could by a potential side effect for cutting out so many calories really quickly. Something to watch out for.

Lost today: 0kg
Lost so far: 4.1kg

Tenth day:

Consumption: 663kcal
Food cost: £2.20

Somehow I managed to eat very little calories today. Even though I ate a lot. I feel okay but I started feeling tired more. Whenever I go out for a walk for more than 2 hours I come back home feeling extremely tired and usually just fall asleep. I'm glad diet is almost over. (⊙︿⊙✿)

Lost today: 0kg
Lost so far: 4.1kg

Eleventh day:

Consumption: 1089kcal
Food cost: £3.95

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with gluten free bread toast or gluten free crisp bread.

Lunch. One fried big zucchini with olive oil OR squash OR blue cabbage OR 3 carrots, 3 apples.

Dinner. 2 boiled eggs, 200g boiled beef, cabbage salad with olive oil.

I had to go out unexpectedly today, so ended up eating only 1 apple for lunch. (┳◇┳) Also, I decided to treat myself with some latte. No regrets lol.

Lost today: 0.4kg
Lost so far: 4.5kg

Twelfth day:

Consumption: 894kcal
Food cost: £6.09

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with gluten free bread toast or gluten free crisp bread. 

Lunch. Boiled or fried fish, fresh vegetable salad (cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, etc.) with olive oil.

Dinner. 100g boiled beef, cup of yoghurt or kefir.

The day when I realised that I hate spiceless cod. ＼(*T▽T*)／

So I changed today's dinner radically. Even the thought of tasteless and disgusting beef made me sick so I just decided to have some yoghurt, apples and toast instead. *sighs* Sorry not sorry. ^-^ It was still healthy and not over my nutrition goals. (▰˘◡˘▰)

Lost today: 0kg
Lost overall: 4.5kg

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Oh my glob, where is day 13?? Well, my dear readers, there is no day 13 because I decided to stop! Yes, there was only one day left, but like I mentioned before I felt tired all the time and since I do like to go out for walks a lot, I would come back extremely tired, and it was just too much for me. After all, my weight was dropping really slowly anyway, so I decided to do what's right for me.

Verdict: 

I'm pretty happy with the results and being able to lose 4.5 kg in 12 days. Some might say it's a bit radical and unhealthy, but it's really not a bad weight loss for almost 2 weeks period of time. 

Would I do it again? No. It's not sustainable in a long run. Besides the fact that it's not recommended to do it more than one a year or something within those lines, I do not see how it's even possible to do 2 weeks straight without deviating here and there. Eating less than 1000 kcal can be really unhealthy for a grown adult, no matter the weight loss. I just think there are better ways to do it. 

Take care and good luck with your healthy start. ﾟ･✿ヾ╲(｡◕‿◕｡)╱✿･ﾟ

Rinatsu~ | My Facebook page | My Twitter | My Instagram | My Etsy

Japanese Diet - Menu and Thoughts

2023 update: I thought it was about time to update this train wreak lol.

So, back in 2013, a famous tabloid news website in Lithuania released an article called: "Japanese Diet: 7 kg in 14 days!". 2015 me, being obsessed with dieting, because I've lived in UK for almost 2 years and had insanely unhealthy diet, decided to take some extreme measures and try this bonkers diet instead of actually changing my diet into something healthy and sustainable. 🙄 

According to this website (which has zero references by the way, which makes this whole thing extremely questionable, which 2015 me did not bother to consider), this particular diet is way more popular than the traditional Japanese diet (doubtful), which mostly consists of fish, rice and seaweed. I could not find any diet like that online, but also it's now 2023 and with diet and fitness culture being at all times high, I think that any traces of it might have disappeared into the internet abyss... 

The diet requires you to follow strict rules:

• NO: alcohol, sugar, salt, potatoes, wheat products or rice.
• Eat with chopsticks - you'll eat less.
• Do not change anything and follow the menu to the dot.
• Drink lots of water - at least 1.5 litres per day. Vitamins are also recommended, because the diet isn't nutritious enough.
• If there's too much coffee for you, you can swap it for green tea for the good antioxidant dose. 
• The diet isn't recommended to people who have high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, stomach issues, digestives issues, are pregnant or breastfeeding.

If that doesn't sound dodgy to you then I don't know what does lol. Here's the menu, which kind of does a U-turn in the middle in terms of food selection:

1st day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. Boiled cabbage salad with olive oil; 2 hard boiled eggs; 1 glass of tomato juice without added salt.

Dinner. 200-250g of fish (ideally steamed but if fried, then without oil, in a non-stick pan).

2nd day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with rye or bran crisp-bread. 

Lunch. 200-250g of fish; fresh vegetable and cabbage salad with olive oil.

Dinner. 100g boiled beef, cup of kefir.

3rd day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with rye or bran crisp-bread. 

Lunch. 1 large courgette (zucchini), gently fried in small amount of oil.

Dinner. 2 hard boiled eggs; 200g boiled beef; fresh cabbage salad with a dash of vegetable oil.

4th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. 1 raw egg; 3 large boiled carrots with vegetable oil, 15g hard cheese.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas, grapes and mangoes).

5th day

Breakfast. Fresh carrot salad with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Lunch. 200-250g of fish; 1 glass of tomato juice.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas, grapes and mangoes).

6th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. 1/2 small boiled chicken (no fat or skin); fresh cabbage or carrot salad.

Dinner. 2 hard boiled eggs; fresh carrot salad with vegetable oil.

7th day

Breakfast. Green or herbal tea without sugar.

Lunch. 200g of boiled beef; fruits (except bananas, grapes or mangoes).

Dinner. Any dinner from any previous day, except day 3.

8th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. 1/2 small boiled chicken (no fat or skin); fresh cabbage or carrot salad.

Dinner. 2 hard boiled eggs; fresh carrot salad with vegetable oil.

9th day

Breakfast. Fresh carrot salad with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Lunch. 200-250g of fish; 1 glass of tomato juice.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas, grapes and mangoes).

10th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. 1 raw egg; 3 large boiled carrots with vegetable oil, 15g hard cheese.

Dinner. Fruits (except bananas, grapes and mangoes).

11th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with rye or bran crisp-bread. 

Lunch. 1 large courgette (zucchini), gently fried in small amount of oil.

Dinner. 2 hard boiled eggs; 200g boiled beef; fresh cabbage salad with a dash of vegetable oil.

12th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee with rye or bran crisp-bread. 

Lunch. 200-250g of fish; fresh vegetable and cabbage salad with olive oil.

Dinner. 100g boiled beef, cup of kefir.

13th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. Boiled cabbage salad with olive oil; 2 hard boiled eggs; 1 glass of tomato juice without added salt.

Dinner. 200-250g of fish (ideally steamed but if fried, then without oil, in a non-stick pan).

14th day

Breakfast. Cup of black coffee.

Lunch. Boiled fish; fresh cabbage salad with vegetable oil.

Dinner: 200g boiled beef; 1 cup of kefir. 

Honestly, this diet is completely bonkers. 2023 me is shocked at how unhealthy this diet is and it really gives me the crazy Kpop idol diet vibes. It's no wonder that this diet promises a 7 kilo loss in 2 weeks. Mostly because you're cutting loads of calories out, so being in a huge caloric deficit, it will definitely accelerate your weight loss. Is it healthy? Definitely not. Did 2015 me do this diet? Definitely yes. 🙄 I managed to find the website to this diet again and noticed some discrepancies in the menu I've posted back in 2015. I'll have to blame my past rubbish translation skills for that lol. You can read my diet journey here. Disclaimer/spoiler: I didn't follow the diet correctly lol.

Since my 2015 self thought adding a photo of guinea pig to this blog post was appropriate, I'll just leave it here in shame. 🤣

Good luck~

Rinatsu~ | My Facebook page | My Twitter | My Instagram