When I saw this as a recommendation on my Amazon Prime, I thought this was another cooking show about using miso paste. So, I naturally clicked “enter” on my TV remote.
Turned out it was something else
The program was actually about someone who was considered as overweight both by visual and dietitian standard accepting a job to document his journey to Japan looking for a Japanese diet to lose weight. The candidate involved was slightly offended when he got the call (he being a practitioner in the Australian media industry, naturally know other producers and crews), as although he knew definitely he is not fit and overweight, he did not want that ‘recognition’ from his peers, especially when the call on the other side of the phone said he ‘immediately thought of him’ when the program idea was conceived.
Nonetheless, knowing his current health condition, he thought it would be a good idea to take this slightly offending opportunity to turn his life around.
So, he went to the dietitian to measure up for the before tests, which unsurprisingly rang all the alarm bells for nearly every part of his body. Taking these depressing though not unexpected results with him, he set off to Japan – a country he has never been and had no knowledge of, to look for a diet that could help him turn his health around.
For me, though an inspiring story, I couldn’t help but asking myself – why did Amazon Prime recommended this to me. Is it spying on my lifestyle via any of the lenses in the house?
Having said that, it was quite interesting to see how the candidate in question tried to approach this whole new world from a completely green point of view. He had no idea but was willing to open his mind for new experiences if that means it will be better for him in the long run. The challenge was 3 weeks in Japan and then keep up with the lifestyle and diet he learned in those 3 weeks for another 12 weeks after he returned to Australia.
The interesting part was that even during the 3 weeks in Japan, you saw the changes in him. He was in a new country with no car access, so he had to either walk to various destinations or walk to the train or bus station to get around. The fact that he changed his perspective about walking just by doing that was impressive. He changed from seeing walking as a chore to enjoying the walks to explore the world around him, and then continued to do long walks after he returned to Australia was an impressive achievement.
In terms of diet, he had no idea about what Japanese cuisine is apart from the standard things he saw in Australia. The look on his face when he first stepped into a green tea shop after his first green tea ceremony session was priceless. He thought he was just grabbing a bag of tea, not knowing the variety of green tea available, and how he opened up to new experience to taste each of them to find his favourite was quite endearing to watch. As the time progressed in Japan, he learnt about all the ways to make tofu, learnt to appreciate natto as a standard diet, learnt to appreciate seaweed salad and tried to learn to make simple yet nutritious bento lunch box for himself.
Then the question that remained was – could he keep up with this?
The fact that during those 3 weeks, he actually felt his body changing because of the diet and lifestyle change was what gave him the motivation to press on to stay on the right side of his lifestyle.
After he returned to Australia, he made an effort to look for the ingredients he used in Japan and discovered that there was an Asian grocery store nearby that he didn’t even notice before. That’s how much a change of outlook to the world inside you could change your perception of your surroundings.
The fact that in 15 weeks, with changes in his lifestyle, diet and perception of personal health, he turned things around quite dramatically (won’t spoil it for you) told us that sometimes it is just a matter of perception and determination.
I was sceptical when I started the program and realised it was not a cooking show, but as I watched, I learnt to appreciate the message the show brought, and before long I am also changing my diet and seeking out ingredients mentioned in the show. Would I be able to turn things around as dramatically as what I saw? That I don’t know. But probably the universe is giving a message by leading me to this program on a quiet Sunday night?
Miso Hungry is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
