New member

Hi, I'm Alan. I'm an American living in Yokohama, Japan. I've been on this site for the past two weeks trying the Slim Fast diet, and so far, so good. I'm aiming to lose about 80 lbs.

I've found the Food and Exercise tool on this site to be extremely helpful at keeping me on track and motivated. Living in Japan, where obesity is not a major issue, means a real dearth of resources when trying to lose weight. I even have to have the Slim Fast drinks and bars shipped in from the States; a process that takes 4-6 weeks. So having an easy way to track my calories makes a real difference.

I'm hoping to be active in the community here. I've always found it much easier to lose weight and stay motivated when sharing the experience with others. If anyone is interested in a diet buddy with many, many years experience trying to lose weight, I'm your man.

Cheers, everyone!
-Alan

Welcome and good luck!

Best of luck to you! Why are you in Japan btw?

Hi Alan. Welcome. We're happy to have you here.

Hey, and welcome! So, what do you do when the shipment doesn't arrive, or you get to your goal? How long will you be in Japan - is this permanent?

Try to be using as much resources to combine and blend what you are doing on Slim Fast, with learning to accomplish this thru food choices and activity. Sooner or later, you will have to adapt to a new way of eating, whether it be moderately low fat, or higher protein and exercise, or moderately low carb... eventually you will stop using the slimfast, correct? So, what a great opportunity to start phasing yourself into learning how to do this when it's 'all you'.

Good luck - and hope you come here often. Lots of people on this site able and willing to help!

Have just arrived also! I enjoy entering my diet mid day so i can see how many more calories I get for that evening! Since I realize this is the worst time to fill up,I work it off after! Am also having Slim-Fast for breakfast and lunch, but the 500 calories at night leaves a lot of room! Is the balance of carb, protien and fat that peaks my creativity when planning for dinner using the calorie calculator here! What I would choose to eat often differs with the calculator so I juggle in the proper proportions and walla' its dinner! Enjoy!

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.
I've been in Japan for 30 years, so it's probably permanent at this point. We own a small language school where we teach English to Japanese children. It's a lot of work, but it's really nice to be work for yourself.

@jsfantome - I agree completely. I don't know how many times over the years I've told myself that it's not a diet, it's a change of lifestyle. Unfortunately telling myself is a lot easier than making it happen. At any rate, I've made it through the first two weeks successfully and I'm feeling like my body has adjusted to the amount I'm eating, so I'm not hungry all the time. I've been in this place before, so I know I can sustain it for a substantial period until something comes up and knocks me off stride. It's dealing with that adversity that I really need to work on.

@MissClique - I'm amazed that I'm able to get by on 1200 calories a day and that I'm able to function without any real food until the 500 calorie dinner. But after two weeks I've adjusted quite well so right now I'm not feeling hungry that much. My only problem so far has been that when I get home from work I'm ready to eat right now! and most of the recipes from the Slim-Fast website take a substantial amount of time to prepare. On the other hand, the portions are so small, that cooking one chicken breast makes dinner for two days.

I would be concerned that eating such a big deficit of calories will eventually slow down your metabolism rate to compensate. On the other hand it works for you now and that's great! Don't let "something that comes up" to knock you off stride!