5-Week Fitness Challenge Nutrition Concept #3: Hara Hachi Bu
Today’s nutrition concept comes from the Japanese saying “Hara Hachi Bu.”
This term comes from the Okinawan region of Japan, which is known for it’s healthy and long-lived people. Hara Hachi Bu means, “eat only until 80{1d96d231ab15286cc2909578709a2dba1f05c1bc2821770822e5433a4504f686} full.”
If you’re like me, you grew up hearing things like, “Finish everything on your plate or you don’t get dessert,” or “Good boys finish their meals.” Well-meaning advice but taken too far it can lead you to eat more than you need. The thing is, if we eat beyond fullness, we’re overloading our internal organs, forcing them to do more work than they need. Anything that’s overworked will eventually break down, leading to disease, fatness, gas, or other pleasantries.
So if you analyze the way you normally eat, would you say that you eat until you’re 100{1d96d231ab15286cc2909578709a2dba1f05c1bc2821770822e5433a4504f686} full, or even stuffed beyond capacity? Eat slower, listen to your body and stop at 80{1d96d231ab15286cc2909578709a2dba1f05c1bc2821770822e5433a4504f686}. Don’t worry, you won’t die and you’re not bad if you don’t finish everything on your plate. Just put it in the fridge for later. 🙂
c/o Eric Wong