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How bento lunches helped me lose 30+ lbs (so far)
When I got married to a Swiss guy some decade or so ago, one of his far-flung friends in Germany sent him a letter congratulating him for ‘catching a beautiful Asian gazelle’. The Swiss guy told me this while rolling on the floor, where I kicked him hard. Ah, the point is not that I’m a spouse abuser, but that I’m nowhere near being gracefully gazelle-like. Going against the stereotype of the skinny Asian chick, I’ve always been on the round and cute side rather than sylph like.
This has bothered me of course off and on over the years, but I’ve never been good at sticking to any kind of diet. I just love to eat tasty food too much, and I also love to cook. This is where bento lunches come in.
Earlier this year I decided that I needed to Do Something about the weight issue. Two key parts of that strategy were eating 3 meals a day, and portion control. I’ve always been a no-breakfast, anything-for-lunch, and starving-by-dinner eater, which all of the literature I read on the subject told was not good. So, I decided that I needed to start making bento.
According to my height and activity level, 1800 to 2100 calories is optimal for a slow but steady weight loss. So I aimed for making bento lunches that came in at around 600 calories or under. There’s an occasional 800 calorie or so splurge, and some lower-calorie mini-bento options for the days ‘after’. I based the menus on whole grains, especially brown rice, lots of vegetables, and lean proteins.
But more important than the calorie count is that the bentos focused my attention on variety and portion size. Assembling a meal that will fit tightly and attractively in a small box requires a higher level of attention than laying food out on open plates. It’s also rather fun, once you get used to it.
Making bento for lunch is not the only reason I’ve managed to lose some weight (I hate to say this but exercise really is a key) but it certainly is one of the cornerstones of my success so far, and will continue to be so.
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Exercise indeed...
To this day I have only encountered one diet that actually seems to produce consistent results for anyone who tries it. Seems to be a secret well kept though, since if it was made public knowledge the whole diet industry and tabloid Sunday lifestyle magazines would lose significant income.
It is really simple, very straight forward, and I have decided to call it ELRM: Eat Less, Run More.
// Manne
Congrats!
Because you cook food yourself, you also appreciate it more. You also know to use less oil and butter, which is difficult to control when dining out.
Love the calorie counting!
I recently lost 50 lbs (I was 160, which isn’t a lot, unless you count in the fact that I’m barely five feet tall and that my doctor recommended it). I did pretty much what you do…slow weight loss by controlling calories and exercising…
Good for you! And I’m glad you put the calorie count on the bento boxes, mostly because it makes it easy to adjust and gives me new ideas for lower calorie and healthier options…
I’m not really into diets
I’m not really into diets - i hate the way you end up feeling when you eat something you shouldn’t … but … i must say that the whole bento box thing has me thinking about what i’m eating and since lunch is so very much the one meal i could just go out and buy some rich pastry type food for, by packing a bento (which is the envy of the rest of the teachers at school) i’m more interested in eating my own lunch and i’m eating less calories yet feeling much fuller - mine are always snack size things to eat from home made sushi (with pepper and avocado slivers) to fruit - i’m not SERIOUSLY trying to loose weight - but i am watching what i eat …
i’m also finding that when i’m having a snack dinner at home i make up a bento …
thank you
Hello, I’m a 27 year old girl, half french half chinese, but I only have Japan in my heart…You could call me an otaku…assuming assumin… Anyway I just discovered your sites while browsing “Lunch in a box”; I’ve always been a round shaped girl, I love eating, I’m so into sugar junk food, but lately with japanese bentos, I discovered one could make and eat delicious food without it being too sugared or fat. Please keep going I’ll be rooting for you from where I am. I hope to lose weight and for that, I’m going to follow your advices and recipes. By the way, could I use some of your photos and recipes for my personal use???
Sore ja, mate ne! Bento daisuki (0)/
photos and recipes
creamy_amande, as a fellow round Asian girl, I know where you are coming from! As for using the photos and recipes, if you put it on another site or so, you can use them as long as you give the correct attribution. If it’s just for your personal use such as printing them out, go head!
‘catching a beautiful
‘catching a beautiful Asian gazelle’?? WTH? You don’t hear Asian people saying, “So you caught yourself a big European bear.” I’m sure your husband’s friend didn’t mean to be offensive but Asian women are not “caught”. Sorry, just had to rant a little ‘cause what your husband’s friend said got me all worked up. Anyways. I love the site. Hope the bento diet will have the effect you desire. I look forward to reading future posts. Hopefully my bento making will have some effect on my waistline.
actually...
…after seeing photos of my Swiss husband, a couple of my Japanese friends did refer to my ‘swiss teddybear’ :) But I know what you mean…it is/was a bit insulting, but he was an elderly gentleman and so on so I guess I could excuse him… (or else I could always sit on him with my ungazelle like ass and crush him! haha)
Thank you for this website.
Thank you for this website. The information, attention to detail and the variety of food choices are truly a gem. What a wonderful concept for portion control!
Jumping on “Bento -box -diet” bandwagon—-check Committing to trying most of your bento recipes—-check Telling my friends about your website—-check
I’m glad you find the site
I’m glad you find the site useful :)
thanks for your inspiring site
so now i’m off to make my lunch more enjoyable after being the no-breakfast, no-lunch and eat till you burst-dinner person for so long (esp since i started working). heheh when working it’s hard to realize that lunch is to be eaten at a table and not infront of your pc and should be something more subtantial than dry crackers/fast food.
out of curiosity, it seems to me that with bento, lunch is the main course or? or do you also do bento for dinner and keep the portions same as for your lunch? i look forward to read more from your sit, and to hell the stereotype that all asians are skinny and petite!
greetings from a fellow asian!
dinner
Hi cheryl! I don’t usually make a bento for dinner - I just have whatever I/we feel like, though I do watch the portions (when I’m paying attention…which is like 80% of the time to be honest :)) I was a lunch skipper too, and I find that having a bento lunch really cuts down on the late-in-the-day hunger pains, which is a good thing! (I do sometimes eat part of what I made for my lunch bento for breakfast though)
thanks for your reply! well
thanks for your reply! well I was making my first bento (the bento box i bought “made in china” holds ~1L!!! so i ended with a tupperware of 800ml, will look out for 500 ml containers tomorrow as mine is more like diet needs and portion control) and for sure portion size is a bit tricky. haha but i found it enjoyable and creative esp figuring out how to arrange things and portions.
i’m not into the “decorative” side yet. now i wonder if eating in a 500 ml box for dinner might help as well..500 ml is SO tiny though and from the pictures I always thought the bento boxes were bigger!! kudos to you and other bento users for fitting that much (in variety as well) in such a small box!
and off subject you’re from switzerland? lucky you! my bf is from there too, the french part :D
Sure, using a bento box for
Sure, using a bento box for portion control for dinner should be very helpful if you’re trying to lose weight. Good luck!
Yes I do live in Switzerland (though I’m not from here :) )
What size bento?
I only just found this site, but was wondering what size bento you use? I’ve finally found two to order, but fear that mine may be a bit larger than needed.
Cheers.
soupy
I rotate a couple of bentos
I rotate a couple of bentos that range in size from 500 ml capacity to around 650ml. The number of ml. roughly corresponds to the no. of calories (if they are packed very tightly in the Japanese manner) they can hold, though that can always be controlled by what type of food you pack. See this page also for some more ideas on using bento boxes for weight loss!
Same here!!!
haha I just purchased some Urara bento stuff just for this purpose. My eating habits since getting a job where I sit down all day are atrocious and need to be put in check. And being half Korean, nothing’s better than going back to your roots right?! LOL But I did buy all that cute stuff because I’m a graphics person and making it cute is half the pleasure of eating it! ^_^ This is a wonderful site you have here by the way!!! Great reference for me!
Thanks for the great info!
I’m a ballet dancer and weight is important in my profession, so I’ve been thinking about going back to my Japanese roots and eating healthy bentos for lunch. Your site is very informative and interesting, and I’m feeling super inspired now! Thanks a bunch!
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