I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t eat meat. I also don’t eat spicy food and eggs. I eat fish, but I don’t really like it.

I remember when I used to live in Kagawa, I would go out with my meat eating , super 元気, smoking friends (back then I was drinking).  Life was good. I was only 24 and didn’t mind that I would spend equally as much as everyone else even though I would eat about 25% of what they did.

ぎょうざダメ！

豚カツダメ！

しゃぶしゃぶダメ！

すき焼きダメ！

からあげもダメ！

コロッケさえダメ！

It wasn’t fair! But such is the Japanese style of eating out in groups. Damn you 割り勘!

I stopped eating meat when I was 16 for health reasons, and I have never been able to tolerate spicy food. I love Mexican and Mexican food is NOT spicy. It’s only spicy if you add (hot) salsa or jalapenos.  I have never smoked. Well, I tried once. It felt like my throat was on fire, so I never tried a second time. Where I’m from smoking is not allowed in restaurants, so I never had a problem with people smoking at restaurants.

However, eating out became more challenging when I stopped drinking. No, I’m not Muslim. No, I’m not pregnant either! I decided four years ago to improve my health, so I stopped drinking alcohol, which not only resulted in various health benefits but also social and spiritual ones (a post about my yoga journey will come later!).

As most of you know, smoking, drinking and eating meat seems to be a significant part of the Japanese dining experience. I can occasionally withstand a night out for a few hours at an izakaya , but I can’t do it every weekend, let alone once week. Twice a month is my limit, but I want to go out more and not get bombarded with questions about why I don’t drink, or why I don’t eat meat, or what I can eat, or if I can eat this while having cigarette smoke invade my body!

By the way, I respect you all and am not trying to convert anyone into being like me! This is just my way of life and I’m curious to know if any others like me are out there.

Any suggestions are welcome!