The Okinawa Diet Plan is based upon the dietary practices of native Okinawans, who are purported to be among the leanest and healthiest people in the world. According to the Okinawa Centenarian Study, Okinawa's residents have one of the world's longest life expectancies and there are more centenarians living in Okinawa than any state or country worldwide. While the diet plan doesn't promise that you will live past 100, it does offer you a chance to lose weight in a well-balanced way.
Main Principle
If you intend to lose weight with the Okinawa Diet Plan, you should heed the main principle that you need to burn more calories than you take in. Considering one pound of fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories, and considering it is unhealthy to lose weight too quickly, you could safely burn an extra 500 calories a day to lose a pound every week. To lose these calories, you should combine diet and exercise rather than using just one or the other.
Eating Fewer Calories
While it is important to restrict the amount of calories you eat, it isn't necessary to feel deprived and hungry. Okinawans are said to eat about 500 fewer daily calories than most social groups; they are able to eat fewer calories by consuming nutritious meals rather than by eating tiny portions of unhealthy foods. One major mindset among Okinawans is that it isn't necessary to feel 100 percent full, but rather, 80 percent full is a comfortable level of satiety. Since Okinawans have developed the habit of eating 500 fewer calories to 80 percent fullness throughout their lives, they don't feel unsatisfied. You will need to acclimate, so the Okinawa Diet Plan institutes an eight-week plan that slowly eases you into the lifestyle.
Caloric Density Groups
The Okinawa Diet Plan encourages dieters to eat similar portions to what they ate before, but the food choices will be different. Meals will be filling and highly nutritious, but low in calories. Food choices are categorized into four groups based on their caloric density (how many calories they have.) "Featherweights" such as asparagus have the least amount of calories, "lightweights" such as brown rice have a small amount of calories, "middleweights" such as lean red meat have a moderate amount of calories, and "heavyweights" such as fried foods have the highest amount of calories. If you stick to the Okinawa Diet Plan, you will eat primarily "featherweight" and "lightweight" foods but are still allowed to eat some "middleweights" and an occasional "heavyweight" food.
Combine Exercises
The Okinawa Diet Plan recommends you increase your metabolism through lean muscle mass so you can burn more calories when at rest. To burn more calories throughout the day, build lean muscle through strength training. To burn calories on top of that and to build up a healthy heart, do aerobic activities such as running, walking, swimming or bicycling.
Recommendations
The Okinawa Diet Plan may be easier to follow if you alter some of your eating perspectives. For example, by slowing down and paying attention to the taste and texture of your meals (rather than watching television or wolfing down meals while standing up) you will be more likely to listen to your body's signals; this could lead you to feel the sensation of fullness and stop eating sooner. According to "The Okinawa Program," a bestseller by Drs. Bradley Willcox, D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki, traditional Okinawan serving sizes are as small as half the size of North American serving sizes. You may be able to convince yourself to feel full eating less by using smaller dishes.
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