The Day Arrived Unexpectedly!

To explain the progress, I lost 3cm from my waist soon after starting the curvy dance. But as soon as I rejoiced, it didn’t just stop decreasing; it went back to the original measurement, then dropped by 3cm again, and the cycle repeated. This continued until early March. They say that when you’re trying to lose weight, you hit a plateau, but in my case, it felt like I was in a plateau from the very beginning. I was close to giving up because I wasn’t seeing results, but I kept telling myself, “Someday!” and continued the curvy dance five days a week. Then, one day, it happened suddenly.

One morning, when I measured my waist as usual, I had broken through the 3cm barrier and lost a full centimeter. “Finally, results are showing!” I cheered, and the next day, it decreased by another 0.5cm! The day after that, another 0.5cm. My waist suddenly started to slim down. I hadn’t reduced my food intake, and I was drinking alcohol as usual. The rapid change made me wonder, “Is it just the dance effect…?” As I thought back on my recent actions, I realized I had done just one thing differently. For the past three days, I had been making a smoothie from the fruits I usually eat for breakfast. “Maybe this is helping too!” The thought struck me, and I decided to re-read the book that inspired me to eat fruit for breakfast about eight years ago.

The Correlation Between My Body Type and Diet

It was a book by Asamiko Matsuda about a diet called “Natural Hygiene,” titled *Common Sense-Defying Super Health Revolution* (Gusukou Publishing). Natural Hygiene, in simple terms, is a diet centered around fruits and vegetables (my apologies for the oversimplification!!). In the book, the author shared her experience of losing stubborn fat around her stomach and waist as if it were being carved away. Even though I eat fruit for breakfast, I usually only have about two pieces. But when I make a smoothie using a blender, I use about four pieces, and perhaps that’s what did the trick.

After all, fruits are alkaline foods, rich in water and enzymes. These are apparently important not only for health but also for reducing body fat. This suggests that perhaps my body was too acidic up until then, even though I was exercising diligently. Or maybe I wasn’t getting enough hydration, or perhaps I was consuming too many foods lacking enzymes.

“But can it really be that effective so quickly?” you might ask skeptically. However, when it comes to what I consume, my body reacts extremely to food, medicine, or supplements—for better or worse. Therefore, in a way, I have a constitution that requires me to be careful about what I ingest.

Rethinking My Diet Now

Incidentally, I briefly delved into this Natural Hygiene diet about eight years ago, buying several books and becoming quite interested. The references included other books by Asamiko Matsuda, such as *Super Health Revolution for Those Over 50* and *Full-Moon Diet! Super Health Diet Declaration* (Gusukou Publishing), as well as *Lifestyle Revolution* (King Bear Publishing). I reread all of them this time. And it made me want to rethink my approach to food. For example, is the diet that has long been considered good truly good? Are foods said to be healthy actually beneficial?

That said, I haven’t switched my diet entirely to Natu-High (as practitioners apparently call it) yet. However, instead of choosing and eating food based solely on “I want to eat this” or “I want to eat more,” I’ve started to consciously choose foods and cooking methods that align with Natu-High principles. As a result, my waist has decreased by another 2cm. While I believe the ongoing curvy dance is contributing, this is clearly a Natu-High effect. My body feels lighter and more comfortable, not just my stomach.—I just realized, but I used to get shaky and break out in a cold sweat when I was hungry. Now, I don’t experience those symptoms even when hungry! Not only that, but I, who could never tolerate hunger, now find the lightness in my stomach pleasant. What a change! I’m surprised myself.

To implement it, mental acceptance and a change in mindset are essential.

In the past, I often rushed to eat quickly to suppress the trembling, which led to overeating. As a result, I repeatedly experienced my body feeling excessively heavy and becoming abnormally sleepy after each meal. Tired of this, I set a goal for myself this year, in addition to losing 10cm from my waist: “to be satisfied with simple, small meals.” And to clarify, when I say “simple meals,” I don’t mean poor-quality food. I mean eating an amount and in a way that reflects “knowing enough,” rather than indulging my desires.

I was struggling to achieve that goal when, by chance, I remembered Natu-High and started to be mindful of its dietary principles. This led me to pay attention to what I eat and how much, and my blood sugar levels no longer spiked dramatically. Thanks to this, I stopped binge eating and rapid eating, and I’ve become able to eat simple, small meals. Simply enduring wasn’t enough. Understanding and accepting *why* certain foods are bad or good, or *why* a certain way of eating is detrimental or beneficial, naturally guides my choices. This fosters willpower rather than mere restraint. To implement it, mental acceptance and a change in mindset are essential.

From now on, I want to live a lifestyle based on the catchphrase: “Eat intelligently, not out of desire.” Of course, I will continue the curvy dance and aim to achieve that curvy body with a 10cm reduction in my waist.