Over the past couple years, I’ve managed to lose almost three notches on my belt or just over two inches on my waist. (For the metrically minded, I’ve lost around 6 cm). I don’t weigh myself, so I don’t know how much actual weight has been lost.

This has been accomplished with very little conscious effort on my part. I’ve reduced my bread and pasta intake, increased the push-ups and squat kicks in the morning, and decreased snacking except for nuts and some beef jerky and the occasional Reese’s Peanut Butter cup binge right before Valentine’s Day when they are available in Japan. (I can quit any time I want; I just like having them in the country.)

The main source of my weight loss, though, has been a simple formula: Regular Meal Size + Growing Eight Year Old + Growing Teenager = Reduced Portions for Daddy (and fewer leftovers).

In the past, because we have a small kitchen and, by US standards a small refrigerator, and therefore don’t have much room to store leftovers and because Japan has no mechanical version of them, I was the house garbage disposal. Imagine the snaggle-toothed pig under the sink in the Flintsones’ house and that’s pretty much what I was.

Now, however, that is what our daughters are for. The youngest likes to eat and the oldest, especially if she likes the food, can put away shocking amounts. They’ve also got long arms, allowing them to reach food without third-party intervention, even when the plates are closer to my end of the table. Just like THAT, the last piece of chicken is gone. I look away for a second because they say Jennifer Lawrence is standing behind me and the last shuumai disappears mysteriously (as does Jennifer Lawrence as she can apparently only be seen by females, or something like that, or I’m just slow).

We try to keep a mix of both healthy and tasty snacks, and Japanese sweets are less, well, sweet than those from the USA. Cinnabon cinnamon rolls were too big and sweet for Japanese taste and now there’s only one store left in all of Japan. Krispy Kreme has done well–the original store had two-hour waits–but most Japanese only get one at a time along with a cup of coffee. Bags of potato chips are not much larger than most free samples handed out in grocery stores. (Oh, and I’m now competing for the chips, too. Remind me again, why was it necessary for our girls to eat solid food?)

It’s also been fun to see which snacks each girl likes. The youngest loves red licorice; the oldest can’t stand it. The oldest likes Reese’s Peanut Butter cups; the youngest doesn’t (although they seem to be growing on her). Unfortunately, that means I have to fight for all those, too.

Luckily, there are still places I can reach that they can’t. That will change soon though; the oldest is almost as tall as her mother.

Time to invest in a safe.