I \[F\] have moved to Japan almost half a year ago on a student visa. I’m already skinny to begin with but due to budget reasons, I’m having to be careful with my spendings and I noticed that I’ve lost quite a bit of weight lately. I even recently decided to stop working out so that I can figure things out because of how thin I’m becoming.
Does anyone have tips on budget friendly ways that I can eat healthily? I don’t mean half off supermarket bentos after 8pm… actual healthy meal ideas that can fit my student budget and get some meat back on my bones.
Small hiccup is that I live in a share house and the kitchen is usually super crowded and hard to use but until I can save up for my own place, that’s what I’m dealing with. Tbh, I usually just use the rice cooker in my room most of the time. Rice, veggies, tofu… that kind of thing.
Anyway, if anyone has recipe ideas or awesome tips for buying healthy food on a budget around Tokyo, I’m all ears!
Thanks!
8 comments
chicken n broccoli
Check Amazon – big oat meals for around 2500 yen.
Chicken breast is cheap here. Minced beef depends on your region. Noodles,pasta cheap as well.
Rice and natto (I like to add various toppings like green onions or mayo), pasta (definitely added weight to me), gyudon (should be relatively easy to make and cheap), agedofu, soboro (ground chicken and egg, super good and easy to make)
first, are you getting enough protein? adding a protein shake every day could be a simple addition to your diet, and then you don’t have to change anything else. I would also not stop strength training or cardio.
second, one obvious solution is to eat more things that you like. salads with heavy dressing are not only healthy but can be quite fattening due to the amount of oil in them, which is good for someone trying to put on some weight. most things available for consumption are healthy except when eaten excessively, barring some special exceptions like too much salt too much nitrates too much mercury so just have fun eating.
I have also lost some weight since coming here due to stress and smaller portion sizes. am trying to cook more rather than eat out so that I can get larger portions in every meal without feeling guilty about my wallet. my goal is to cook tasty stuff and once I have my weight back then I’ll start caring about auxiliary concerns.
good easy barley curry. Barley rice topper, rice, your fav curry pack (I like Lee’s x20), sliced beef/chicken, veggies.
Prepare barley rice (you need 1/2cup more of water for a good handful of barley). I boil hard veggies (sliced carrots and pumpkin) in 1-2 cups of water until the water is almost gone. Then add another cup of water and sliced onions (softer veggies). If using chicken add it at this step. Once veggies are as soft as I want the curry pack is poured in. When the curry hits its boiling point add the **beef*** (if you’re using beef) and turn off the heat. *It makes a lot of food so if not starving, before adding beef, you may want to pour half into a container.
Rice, eggs, natto!
The price fluctuates greatly, but sometimes there’s a bulk box of Quaker Oats on Amazon for pretty cheap.
Dorm life must be hard. Maybe get an air fryer that you can use in your room. Then it’s easy enough to make chicken, veggies, and potatoes. There are also a ton of rice cooker recipes.
My staples for weight gain are extra peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and beer.
Drink lots of beer.
Seriously, if you’re losing weight and you’re worried about it, you might want to track your calories. It’s a pain to count but you can start ball parking it after a week or two. Just figure out calories for a few go to meals and portion sizes. It also sucks having to force yourself to eat. Breaking it up into smaller snacks like sandwiches and onigiri help a lot.