Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

I have two goals; to lose weight and eat cheaply. I am trying to devise some meal plans. I'd like your food suggestions.

I plan to carry a water bottle when I go out filled with tap water or home-made barley tea.

Eating on the run, I think buy a couple of onigiri at a convenience store will ease my hunger just enough.

At home, making dahl curry is cheap and protein rich.

Some veges such as carrots are still affordable on a shoestring budget.

Miso soup mix in those small plastic packets is cheap too.

Any other suggestions?

Of course I have to quit drinking alcohol as that is a luxury.

[Maitoshi]

Some would argue that drinking here is more necessity than luxury, since it is a means of coping with life here.

This being said, if you cannot give up drinking in its entirety, it can be done comparatively cheaply, if you aren't too picky.

There are some very affordable shochus in big 4-liter jugs that mix well into almost anything. A little soda water (StyleOne) and a dash of lemon juice, mixed with ice is an okay compromise on a budget. Monthly cost can be around 3,000¥ if you drink a lot, or less if you imbibe more responsibly.

Lot fewer calories than beer/happoshu/chuhi, as well.

Sorry if I'm a bit of an enabler

[TokyoLiz]

I'd say stock your kitchen well with cheap, healthful food. Make your own onigiri (I cook rice every other day) from genmai-hakumai mix. Genmai is filling and has more nutrition. Miso soup is so easy to make. There are many cheap brands that come in big plastic bags. Those little packets of miso taste like dirt.

Make low-cal okazu side dishes like stir fried moyashi or cabbage. Ponzu is a good flavoring for this.

I make obento four days a week because the bentos at work are bland and have little veg. I put genmai (a smaller portion standard bento) and fill it up with okazu, bought or made.

My roommate used to get a big bottle of Jinro and any cheap citrus and mix her drinks with "tea water" (I keep a container with tap water with charcoal for cooking and drinking).

[mitsui]

I lost 10 ponds as a volunteer in Miyagi. It was for five days.
Don`t eat snacks, don't drink beer.

I drove a truck, and loaded and unloaded the truck.

When you are in a rural area, it is healthier since you go to bed early, and get more sleep.

[Black_Beer_Man]

I just remembered a cheap food in Japan. Soba. You can buy the noodles and soup base at 100 yen stores.

When you're out, soba restaurants typically sell a bowl of noodles (Kaki soba) for just 300 yen. That's less than the beef bowl restaurants and healthier.

[TokyoLiz]

Soba is a good slow carbohydrate. I just had soba, salad and a banana for breakfast.

Black_Beer, do you bike in Yokohama? I visit there now and again, and consider moving there in the next few years. In my hometown I biked 15 km a day to work at an English school. I was in my mid twenties then, and Igot into great shape. I figure I could manage 10km these days.

[nightsintodreams]

Try walking to work in the morning before eating breakfast.

40-60 mins of walking before breakfast, then back after work in combination with eating fairly healthily and perhaps 2/3 gym sessions a week will make the fat come off fast.

[Black_Beer_Man]

Instead of potato chips, edamame or kimchi makes a healthy snack.

[Black_Beer_Man]

[Black_Beer_Man]

[TokyoLiz]

[Black_Beer_Man]

TokyoLiz, Ooops! I made an error with the tax figure. Actually, I don't know the tax for this year (I just started living in Yokohama). The tax bill I have is from my previous residence in Kanagawa (and it's over 100 K for the whole year).


The fact remains that that Japanese teacher claims that Yokohama is up at the top for having the highest city taxes in Japan.

[Maitoshi]

I also live in the countryside, TokyoLiz. I usually don't mind the chatting, except when I'm in a hurry. When it becomes too bothersome, I smile and speak rapidly in English. They probably think I'm off my rocker, but it moves things along when I've got to get going 😉

[TokyoLiz]

My annual city tax last year was over Y100,000. I was told that, in Chiba Prefecture, Matsudo City, where I live now, has very high tax. Yokohama would probably be in the same range.

Maitoshi, these days, when people ask me about where I'm from, I say, "You mean my ancestors? Do you know about the Irish famines and the Highland clearances in Scotland?" Cool people look thoughtful and stick around to talk, nosy people get embarrassed and go away.

[rxk22]