Mango
July 16th, 2008, 07:43 AM
Since the Morning Banana Diet seem so simple as to be almost silly, I thought I'd post my ideas about why it's so popular in Japan and why it seems to be working for many people.
First of all, obviously, it prevents you from eating a big breakfast. After all, how many bananas can you eat? A medium banana is only 105 calories. So if you eat one or two, your calorie count for the morning is low, and you're starting off the day well. And even though the calorie count is low, bananas are filling.
Secondly, even though you can supposedly eat as normal for lunch and dinner, and you can have a snack at 3:00 p.m., the diet doesn't allow any other snacking (except fruit at night, but that is discouraged). So that between meal stuff is gone. That's where a lot of calories creep in.
Thirdly, calorific beverages are off the table. You can only drink water. In the U.S. that is big, since so much of our calories are liquid. In Japan, it's probably not quite as much of a factor, since unsweetened teas are more common during meals, and jumbo drinks and washing down food with beverages is not as common.
Next up, in Japan at least, people who work in offices often eat lunch with co-workers, and eating with others discourages overeating. You'd generally order a set menu, so the only real choice you have is the higher or lower calorie set menu. And for the afternoon snack, that would probably be at your desk for office workers, so you would be less likely to binge on chocolate under your co-workers eyes.
Some of these factors would translate to other countries, and some might not.
First of all, obviously, it prevents you from eating a big breakfast. After all, how many bananas can you eat? A medium banana is only 105 calories. So if you eat one or two, your calorie count for the morning is low, and you're starting off the day well. And even though the calorie count is low, bananas are filling.
Secondly, even though you can supposedly eat as normal for lunch and dinner, and you can have a snack at 3:00 p.m., the diet doesn't allow any other snacking (except fruit at night, but that is discouraged). So that between meal stuff is gone. That's where a lot of calories creep in.
Thirdly, calorific beverages are off the table. You can only drink water. In the U.S. that is big, since so much of our calories are liquid. In Japan, it's probably not quite as much of a factor, since unsweetened teas are more common during meals, and jumbo drinks and washing down food with beverages is not as common.
Next up, in Japan at least, people who work in offices often eat lunch with co-workers, and eating with others discourages overeating. You'd generally order a set menu, so the only real choice you have is the higher or lower calorie set menu. And for the afternoon snack, that would probably be at your desk for office workers, so you would be less likely to binge on chocolate under your co-workers eyes.
Some of these factors would translate to other countries, and some might not.