I gained 13 pounds after I came to the U.S……I am five feet two inches tall and weigh 〇〇 pounds. I’m fat by Japanese standards, and I have to lose weight before I go back to Japan.
My friend T also gained 20 pounds in the 7 years since she moved to America, so she started a one-meal-a-day diet last year. She lost 22 pounds in 5 months, and the results were staggering. I met her at the end of September, and she looked like a completely different person. She looked good, and she felt great and energetic by scraping off excessive fat.
I started to eat one meal a day, and lost 6.5 pounds in one month. But then, I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I had to eat two meals a day because I needed more energy to exercise. Then, the weight loss stopped. No matter how hard I exercised, I couldn’t lose even 100 grams.
To make matters worse, I’m a petit woman by BJJ standard. Everybody weighs more than me, and I wear children’s size gi, a size in BJJ uniforms. It is reassuring that I am thinner than everybody else, but I have to mention that some of them look like Russian mobs in movies.
When I explain that I am on a diet, American people say I am not even curvy. Curvy! What a positive word!! I like that, but according to Urban dictionary, curvy is a word to euphemize fat or chubby. Yes, chubby is the right word to express my current body type, and I can’t accept that.
I feel normal in the U.S. where one third of the population is overweight. Only 3.5% of the Japanese population is obese, and the social pressure to lose weight is strong. I started to think how to excuse myself: this isn’t fat, I gained weight by acquiring knowledge, experience and courage in the U.S.! Will this gimmick work?
I feel like a loser already…
日本に帰国する前に痩せなければなりません。問題は、アメリカにいると周りがデカイせいか、危機感が無くなってしまうということ・・・。アメリカでは平均的な女性の体重は75kg（平均身長162cm）なので、太さの基準がわからなくなってしまうのです。
日本では痩せていない＝太っているという認識さえありますが、こちらにはCurvyという便利な言葉があります。日本で言えば渡辺直美さんや森三中のような感じでしょうか。私がダイエット宣言すると、”なんで？まだCurvyでさえないじゃん！”と言われてしまうのです。アメリカ人ポジティブ！！！それはカーヴィじゃなくてデブだよ！！
そしてアメリカ人の大きい人は本当にデカイ。身長190cm、体重は270パウンドという男性もいます。「僕の体重の半分もないんじゃない？」と言われて、さすがにそれは言い過ぎ・・・と思ったのですが、キロに換算してみると122kg。ガチムチなせいか太って見えないけど、確かに2倍以上ある(-_-;)。あんなガタイの男たちを見てしまうと、日本の細マッチョなんてニボシにしかみえません。
完全に感覚がおかしくなってしまいました。日本に帰国後、脳内体格スケールは是正されるのでしょうか。
【今日の一枚】
NYの高層ビル。
