Dear Reader,

Life has been a bit overwhelming for me recently. I feel like I never have enough time, energy, or bandwidth, and taking care of myself can sometimes feel like an additional chore rather than a way to enhance my wellbeing.

But when I feel this way, I remind myself that healthy living doesn’t need to be stressful.

The steps you have to take to look after your health are not as drastic as hour-long workouts or following a ketogenic, sugar-free raw diet. It can require a bit of patience and grace, but it’s always the small habits, done consistently, that matters most.

And when you look after your health, you may find that it gives you a bit more bandwidth and perspective to do the things that bring you joy.

So if you’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by life lately, here are a few simple Japanese habits for eating well that might just give you the bit of care and attention your mind and body needs.

You got this 😊

5 simple Japanese habits for eating well when life is overwhelming

1. Eat until you’re 80% full

This one is straightforward enough– no need to change what you eat, how you eat, or at what time you eat. At any of your meals, try stopping at harahachi-bunme (腹八分目) or 80% full. In more qualitative terms, it’s eating until you feel satisfied, but not stuffed.

2. Add frozen vegetables to your meals

A common misconception about healthy eating is that healthy food needs to be fresh, organic, and prepped from scratch– but it doesn’t need to be!

One of my favorite tricks is simply adding frozen vegetables to whatever meal I’m having. For example, frozen spinach to pasta, or frozen edamame to fried rice. Frozen works especially well with soup and stews! And feel free to add it to your takeout.

The idea is that when it comes to health, we can actually focus on eating more rather than eating less. We should still practice moderation of course, but by shifting our perspective from what we need to eliminate from our diet to focusing on what we should add, we can take on a mindset of abundance rather than deprivation.

3. Cook vegetables in the microwave

Adding onto the point of convenience, feel free to use the microwave to cook food– you don’t need to boil broccoli for it to be healthy, you can just microwave it for 30 seconds.

Because let’s be real: boiling water, salting it, adding broccoli and watching over it for a minute, then draining it through a colander, and then washing all those dishes is tiring.

Try microwaving broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, peas, carrots, or squash (or really anything else in your fridge).

4. Drink some water

This is not a tip for suppressing hunger, because if you feel hungry, you should eat. But sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger, and we end up snacking without satisfying that need.

So if you’re unsure, try drinking some water and then checking in to see if you still want to eat.

5. Use herbs and aromatics for flavor

I finally bought some fresh herbs for my kitchen, and I’m happy to report that they’ve significantly elevated my meals. But you don’t need to use fresh– keep some dried herbs in your cabinet, and be generous when adding it to your cooking.

In Japanese home cooking, many recipes actually rely on ginger, garlic, wasabi, and shiso (perilla leaves) to add flavor without overpowering the dish. Another home cooking favorite seasoning is furikake.

The great thing about dried herbs and many aromatics is that they last a while in your fridge 🙂 Flavor doesn’t need to be salt, sugar, or oil-based.

These tips may not seem like a lot, but honestly, that’s the goal.

Looking after your health should not considered an additional chore, but a way to give yourself some much-deserved attention.

Start small, and stay consistent. Think in terms of your current bandwidth, and any slight shifts you might be able to make to give yourself the care you deserve 😊

What's a healthy habit you feel particularly proud of recently?

Best regards,

Kaki

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