When I moved to the U.S. from Japan in 1994, I was very curious to try classic American fast food. But my body pushed back right away. Fast food gave me low energy, poor digestion, and even weight gain. Over time, I that realized much of what we call “food” here is engineered to be addictive, not nourishing.

Today, I live by the same principles I grew up with: simple home-cooked meals, rice, seasonal vegetables, fermented foods, green tea, and fruits. Nothing extreme. I respect my body and strive for balance.

At the same time, I understand that fast food is everywhere. Sometimes, it’s tempting and hard to escape. But here are five fast foods in particular that I personally avoid — and how I stay healthy without giving up convenience.

Hot dogs are essentially processed meat high in saturated fat and sodium, wrapped in a refined carb bun. Paired with soda (even diet soda), you’ve got a combo that contributes to obesity, inflammation, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer.

What I eat instead: Tofu dumplings or grilled tofu sandwiches make great alternatives. For something a little lighter, try a whole grain pita with hummus, avocado, or falafel. To quench my thirst, I’ll have sparkling water or herbal tea.

This typical fast food combo often contains over 1,000 calories, mostly from saturated fat, salt, and processed ingredients. Add a sugary drink, and you’re getting a full day’s worth of empty calories in one meal.

From a health and environmental view, meat-heavy diets contribute to both heart disease and environmental strain. It takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef.

What I eat instead: When I’m craving something hearty, I roast potatoes, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes with garlic, olive oil, and a touch of cinnamon. It’s filling, flavorful, and nourishing.

I also love tofu burgers. They’re delicious, protein-rich, and packed with vitamins and minerals, without all the cholesterol. I always make extra to keep in the fridge or freezer.

Many people think chicken is a healthier choice than beef. But most fast food versions are highly processed, deep-fried, and filled with questionable ingredients. 

And chicken breast still contains cholesterol, especially if you’re eating it with the skin on. Even worse, many chicken nuggets are made with only 45% real meat.

What I eat instead: I love homemade tofu nuggets (baked and seasoned with garlic, paprika, ginger, sesame seeds, and nori flakes). They have an equally satisfying crunch and are packed with protein.

Donuts are soft, sweet, and easy to overeat. But they’re mostly refined flour and sugar with almost no nutritional value. Pair that with a sweet, creamy coffee drink, and you’re consuming up to 800 calories and 100 grams of sugar in one sitting.

What I eat instead: Whole grain rice ball or toast with nut butter and a banana. Make your own instant coffee with unsweetened soy milk and cinnamon. It just takes two minutes and you’re out the door!

Pizza is universally loved. But fast food versions are usually high in calories, sodium, and saturated fat, with little fiber or fresh ingredients. It’s easy to grab “just one more slice,” especially in social settings.

What I eat instead: If you must have pizza, go for just one slice. Pair it with a side salad, and drink lots of water. At home, I make my own with whole wheat dough, homemade tomato sauce, and seasonal vegetables.

Life is unpredictable. Kids get hungry and parents get busy. Here’s how I stay grounded when fast food is the only option.

1. Don’t get too hungry. Hunger leads to poor choices. I always carry emergency snacks like dried fruit, unsalted nuts, or rice crackers to keep hunger at bay.

2. Follow the “5-A-Day” rule. Aim for at least five servings of fruits and veggies daily. Choose meals with whole foods, fiber, and plenty of color.

3. Ditch the “value meal” mindset. Upsizing fries or drinks is a health cost, not a bargain!

4. Slow down, even with fast food. Take deep breaths, chew slowly, and eat mindfully to aid digestion and avoid overeating.

Michiko Tomioka, MBA, RDN is a certified nutritionist and longevity expert. Born and raised Nara, Japan, her approach focuses on a plant-based diet. She has worked in nutritional roles at substance recovery centers, charter schools and food banks. Follow her on Instagram @michian_rd.

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While working as a teacher in Atlanta, Georgia, Lexi Smith, 24, found herself dreaming of seeing more of the world and living a simpler life.

“I wasn’t quite loving the school system from having an overbearing administration that didn’t appreciate me to having a hard time living on my salary,” Smith tells CNBC Make It. “When I found out that I could teach abroad for a much easier life and the ability to see more culture, I had to jump on it.”

Smith started looking into the possibility of going abroad to teach English and worked with a company called Xplore Asia, an organization that helps people get their TEFL certification to work and study abroad.

She received her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification and taught English as a foreign language in the U.S. for a bit while Xplore Asia worked to find her potential employers.

Eventually, Smith landed a teaching position at an eikaiwa, a private language school focused on conversational English, in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan and moved in March of this year.

“My interest in Japan began with anime, like a lot of other people out there, and I’m a big foodie. The opportunity to eat ramen and sushi and things like that is something I had to go after,” Smith says.

“Plus, the culture is so respectful here. Teachers are well respected and just in general, people are just so kind to each other.”

The Chiba Prefecture is located on Japan’s eastern Pacific coast to the east of Tokyo. It is about a four-hour drive from the country’s capital city.

“Living in the countryside of the Chiba Prefecture is quite different than Tokyo. Things are a lot cheaper out here. The culture is more respectful, and what you see when you look around is rice fields,” Smith says.

Smith admits she was nervous about moving to the countryside, having grown up in a city like Atlanta, but it was a much easier transition than she expected.

“I really did move here by myself without knowing the language or anyone here. My family knows that I’m a bit of a wild child, and I want to see the world. I’m a free spirit, so they accepted it,” Smith says. “They were a little bit nervous for me, but after virtually meeting my boss and seeing how well prepared I was, they weren’t that concerned anymore.”

Before Smith made the official move to Japan, she was able to connect with some of her coworkers via Zoom, so by the time she arrived, she had already established a sense of community with them.

“I was immediately friends with my coworkers even before I landed there, then they introduced me to other teachers in the area,” she says. “We started going to cherry blossom viewings together and having movie nights, and it became a really cool thing. I also got to become familiar with the train system of Japan.”

One of the perks of Smith’s job was that her employer was able to secure her an apartment before she even got to Japan. It’s a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with a balcony that rents for 35,000 yen or $238 a month. The apartment is also within walking distance of the school where Smith teaches.

Smith’s employment contract includes her employer covering the costs of some expenses, like key money —a one-time, non-refundable payment given to the landlord when renting an apartment or house. Smith also didn’t have to put down a security deposit, which is usually the case in the U.S.

Her employer also pays for her fire insurance and was able to help her get a car, which she pays $100 a month for.

The apartment also came with a portable washer in her bathroom, and she uses the balcony to dry her clothes. One of the unique aspects of the apartment is that it came with an emergency bag containing items, like a safety helmet, needed in case of events like a tsunami, fire or earthquake.

As an English teacher, Smith’s typical workday consists of teaching from around 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Smith teaches five to seven classes a day to students ranging from three to 73 years old. Classes are one-on-one or two-on-one and 30 to 40 minutes long. She earns about 250,000 yen or $1,700 a month from her teaching job, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

“The mornings, I really have them to myself. Since I don’t have to go into work until three, it feels like I have almost two days in one because of that,” Smith says. “I love my work-life balance here in Japan. I have full flexibility to do what I want in my classrooms, so it doesn’t feel like such a high-pressure environment.”

Smith’s work-life balance in Japan is a stark difference from the one she had in the U.S. In America, the 24-year-old teacher had to have multiple jobs to make ends meet. She was even working as a teacher at two different schools at the same time.

“In America, when I was working at the schools there, I would be there for 10 or 12 hours a day, working very hard and sometimes skipping my breaks because the kids needed me and there was no one to fill in. I remember countless times asking other teachers to watch my kids so I could run to the bathroom. It was rough. Plus, I would work extra jobs just to kind of get by in the States. Whereas here I get by just on my full-time job teaching English.”

In Japan, some of Smith’s other monthly expenses include water, gas, electricity, health insurance, and groceries, which total approximately $376 a month.

Smith has been living in Japan for about six months and says her biggest challenge is that she’s not yet fluent in Japanese. Because of her job, Smith mostly speaks English, and she’s surrounded by people who speak English as well.

When she needs help with things like going to the post office or getting an appointment at City Hall, Smith enlists the help of her boss to do all the translation.

Though Smith is enjoying her time in Japan, she already knows she will move back to Atlanta at the end of her one-year contract.

“There is a big part of me that does want to stay longer than a year in Japan, but there’s so much of the world to see. As much as I love Japan, I can’t wait to also expand myself to see the rest of the world as well,” Smith says. “I miss my family. We’re really close-knit, so it’s hard being 7,000 miles away from them, but also being a Southern girl, I miss my soul food so much. Japan’s food is great, but there’s nothing like a good collard green at the end of the day.”

Smith still isn’t sure what she’ll do when she moves back to the U.S., but is considering pursuing a graduate degree or a return to teaching.

“I’m not quite sure what the future holds for me, but I’m excited to take whatever path it has,” she says.

One way that Smith is making sure she gets the most out of her experience living in Japan is by documenting her journey on social media, which is she started doing three months after relocating.

“I decided to start sharing my experience because people don’t know what regular life is like. I feel that Tokyo gets a lot of viewership, but all of Japan isn’t Tokyo. A lot of us live in the countryside and live regular lives, and I wanted to share that with the world. A lot of people are thinking about leaving the States and I wanted to share my perspective on it too,” Smith says.

“As a black woman and as a young person who might not have their whole life figured out quite yet, I wanted to inspire people that they can do whatever they want to do. I love building more of a community of expats.”

Since she started sharing her life in Japan on TikTok, Smith says the reception has been positive.

“A lot of people who live in Japan do see themselves in me. They feel like I am sharing the authentic Japanese experience and that means a lot to me that I can create that visibility where it might not otherwise exist,” she says.

“And for other people who look like me, [they can] also feel empowered that they can do it too. I feel that knowing more about the place that you’re going and seeing other people doing it can take some of the fear out of doing that move.”

Conversions from Japanese yen to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 147 Japanese yen to $1 USD on August 30, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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Louisa Serene Schneider has never been short on business ideas.

She once started a yoga-wear company (“long before Lululemon existed,” she says) and at another point tried to launch a language tutoring business. Neither of them stuck, but ideas kept coming.

Then, in 2017, Schneider came up with an idea that she felt had momentum. She quit her high-profile job on Wall Street with what she calls a “competitive C-level salary” to bet on herself and start an ear-piercing business.

“It was the first time in my life that I hadn’t had a full-time job,” Schneider, now 48, tells CNBC Make It. “I was actually terrified, and I was working out of my attic.”

Seven years later the business, now known as Rowan, is the only ear-piercing business with its own medical board and where registered nurses are trained to pierce ears. Rowan has 90 studios across the U.S. and roughly 800 employees, over half of whom are nurses.

Schneider’s journey to becoming founder and CEO of Rowan hasn’t been easy. “There were many days when I wanted to give up, and days when I would look at the bank account and think, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make payroll,’” she says. “I would just have to keep going.”

Here’s how she built Rowan into a profitable business that brought in over $70 million in revenue last year.

Like many company origin stories, the idea for Rowan came from Schneider’s own needs.

At the time, she was looking for places to get her daughter’s ears pierced. She’d had her own bad piercing experiences and wasn’t loving the options to take her daughter to a mall or jewelry store.

“Our pediatrician didn’t pierce ears, and I did not want to take her to any of the existing ear-piercing options,” Schneider says.

Her work as a hedge fund manager involved assessing ailing malls, and she saw a gap in the market for ear-piercing services that provided “safety and the medical aspect of piercing, and combining that with a celebratory and intentional service.”

Pus, “my parents are both doctors, and I knew that for our family, ear piercing was a medical procedure and I really wanted it to be done safely,” she says. “And that is where the idea for Rowan was born.”

In 2017, Schneider got to work from her attic in Larchmont, New York.

She didn’t have the money to build out an actual store, so she started with an at-home concierge-style piercing service where people could call and email to have a nurse come to them for a piercing appointment. Schneider says the company built its original network of piercers thanks to a friend who teaches nursing at Columbia University.

The company also sold monthly subscription boxes of hypoallergenic earrings for $20 per pair — the idea being that piercing customers would then buy into a subscription model for new jewelry every month.

Schneider says she and her friend Sarah Fraser, a finance executive who is no longer with the business, bootstrapped initial operations with their own savings.

“It was an experience for me that was unlike any I had had before, where people audibly sighed or questioned me when I told them what I was doing,” she says. “A lot of people looked at me as if I was crazy, and they didn’t see ear piercing or earrings or jewelry as a real business.”

But Schneider saw the potential of her market: Provide someone a good piercing experience once, and they and their family could be lifelong customers.

In December 2018, Schneider paid digital creator Beth Chappo to promote her subscription jewelry line in time for the holidays.

Within minutes of the post going live, Schneider says the company started selling “hundreds and hundreds” of subscription boxes.

It was way more than they expected, and she was worried about completing the gift orders in time. “We didn’t have the ability to fulfill those orders,” she says, “so I called the only people that I could at the time, my parents, who drove six hours and spent the next 48 hours working with me in my attic, putting the boxes together.”

After the influencer’s viral post, Schneider started a formal round of seed funding. While Rowan was seeing positive feedback from customers, getting investors onboard was a different story.

“Fundraising is awful,” Schneider says. “People tell you that you’re an idiot over and over and over again, and then you have to pick yourself up and say, ‘OK, am I? No, I know this is right. I know I can do this.’”

During one particularly low moment, Schneider says she was presented an opportunity to take investor meetings while on a family trip to California, only to be told “no” repeatedly: “Not only was I missing my family vacation, but I was being told that the business idea wasn’t big enough for them.”

It’s not lost on her that investors, mostly men, didn’t see the potential in her business that caters primarily to women. “Male investors are typically the allocators of capital, and because they don’t typically get their ears pierced, I felt that there was an obvious gap in this market” they weren’t investing in, Schneider says. Other ear-piercing companies have been around for decades, she notes, but “the experience has not changed or evolved to modern day.”

Keep the momentum going long enough, though, and “eventually you meet somebody that believes in you,” she says.

The company raised $5 million in seed capital between 2018 to 2021. It went on to raise a series A in the spring of 2021, and by that fall, raised $20 million in series B funding.

“Since that time, we have not raised any money because our business, fortunately and with a lot of hard work, has been very profitable,” Schneider says. The company became profitable in 2023, she says.

In 2019, Target reached out to Rowan for a partnership, which resulted in over 300 piercing pop-up locations in the retailer’s stores across the country.

In 2020, when the world shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rowan continued to operate by sending nurses to people’s homes to get their ears pierced.

“Families did not have to forego this milestone during what was otherwise a really sad time for a lot of people,” Schneider says.

The company finally opened its first brick and mortar store where people can get their ears pierced and buy earrings in New York City later that year, ending the at-home piercing service and subscription boxes.

Rowan continued to open new brick-and-mortar locations. By 2022, Schneider decided to end their Target partnership because their own studios were becoming more profitable, and they could provide a better experience to customers and nurses in their own spaces.

Rowan currently employs over 550 nurses, and the company’s medical team created its own curriculum to train nurses in ear piercing techniques.

Schneider says it’s important to her that Rowan provides a good opportunity for nurses, who often work three 12-hour or four 10-hour shifts per week at a hospital, but may want to pick up additional work on their off days.

Nurses are paid around $23 to $30 per hour, plus tips, depending on the Rowan studio location, according to the company’s recent job listings.

Daniela, a nurse at a NYC hospital, works part-time at Rowan two days a week. “I love it here because of the creative side of nursing,” she says. “We’re able to work with our customers, pierce their ears, get them excited, whereas at the hospital it’s more of a stressful job.”

Rowan is on track to provide those opportunities to more nurses and customers: The company will hit 100 studios by the end of 2025 and is projected to bring in $150 million in revenue, Schneider says.

“Every time I see a piercing and the smile afterwards and the clapping and the joy of the family,” she says, “that’s when I know we’re successful. It really is about the joy that we’re bringing.”

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In her latest book, “Love by Design,” social psychologist Sara Nasserzadeh explains that there are six ingredients a romantic relationship needs to be able to last and thrive.

These ingredients include compassion, trust and a shared vision and they need to be present to give relationships “a chance to even survive,” she says. “Let alone thrive.”

Respect is also a key ingredient and a fundamental one, Nasserzadeh says. It helps build the base for how each partner behaves.

In fact, a lack of respect in a relationship is a major red flag. In the long run, it can “bash the whole self-esteem and sense of self of the other person,” Nasserzadeh says

Disrespect can show up in romantic relationships in a number of ways.

Maybe a couple is out for a meal and one person starts eating as soon as their meal arrives, even if their partner hasn’t gotten their food. Or a couple is walking together, but one person is 10 steps ahead of the other.

Disrespect can also show up in bigger ways. For example, your partner can “stop seeing your priorities,” Nasserzadeh says. What matters to you doesn’t matter to them. If they’ve made a commitment to show up somewhere, for example, “they walk all over that commitment” and don’t show up, she says.

A partner can also disrespect your identity. If you identify with a certain gender, social class or any other group, they might put down or devalue the things that make you who you are.

All of these behaviors show a lack of recognizing, acknowledging or caring about one side of the couple.

If you feel like this might be happening in your relationship, Nasserzadeh suggests having a conversation with your partner. ”[Say] ‘hey, you know, I observed these things, where is it coming from?’” she says. “And sometimes the person can change and can learn, and sometimes, no.”

When we seek a relationship, we often look for someone who understands and accepts us, who can see us for who we truly are. Ultimately, “we get into relationships to be seen,” Nasserzadeh says. If your relationship isn’t providing that sense of being understood and valued, it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth continuing.

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The worst thing you can ask at the start of any interaction is: “How are you?” 

You’re essentially telling the other person that the interaction will be like every other interaction. They’ll most likely respond, “My day’s been busy. Good but busy.” It’s boring and generates a social script. 

I’ve spent the last 17 years studying human behavior and what sparks connections between strangers. I’ve learned that trust can catch fire or die out right away, all due to small signals in those first seconds of an interaction. 

Here’s what to do if you really want to instantly gain trust.

Don’t ask what everyone else is asking, like “What’s up?” or “Been busy lately?” Try a question that’s still casual, but looking for excitement. This sets you up for a better interaction.

A few examples:

• Don’t ask: “How’s it going?” Instead, ask: “What’s the highlight of your week so far?”
• Don’t ask: “Have you been keeping busy?” Instead, ask: “Any big wins lately?”
• Don’t ask: “Working on anything lately?” Instead, ask: “Working on anything exciting these days?”

DON’T MISS: How to Build a Standout Personal Brand: Online, In Person, and At Work

If you want to generate trust with anyone, encourage them to tell stories about their lives. Be known for asking others what they are most looking forward to.

Here’s my trick:

• On Mondays and Tuesdays, I ask everyone, “Did you do anything fun this past weekend?” 
• On Thursdays and Fridays, I modify it to, “Are you doing anything fun this upcoming weekend?” 
• On Wednesdays, I ask, “Working on anything fun or exciting this week?” 
• Before any holiday or break, I ask, “Looking forward to anything fun for the holidays?”

Everyone on my team and in my life knows I’m going to be asking for fun or exciting plans, so they save them up to tell me all about them (or avoid me when life is boring). It’s a win-win!

When it comes to building trust, it isn’t just the questions you ask, but how you respond when someone tries to connect with you, too.

The biggest mistake I see people make is that when they start conversations, they immediately lead with negativity: “Ugh this terrible weather!” or “My schedule has been crazy!” Instead, save one interesting thing to lead with and be ready when someone asks you a boring question. 

The next time someone asks, “How are you?” try to respond with some humor or whimsy instead. You might try a reply like:

• “Good enough that I remembered to floss. So, a win.”
• “Running on caffeine and a dream.”
• “10 of 10 today, I just got one new follower on Instagram.”
• “Hanging in there like a cat on a motivational poster.”

Essentially, anything other than the standard “Busy, but good” will wake people up.

Words matter, but your body talks louder. Keep arms uncrossed and face them square to seem open. An open stance invites reciprocity; a closed one sparks doubt. 

A solid handshake — one to three pumps, firm but easy — says you’re sure of yourself and can even signal your personality traits. 

On video calls, lean in a bit to close the gap. If they nod, try nodding back. Matching or mirroring their body signals tells their brain you’re safe.

Test these tips in safe, low-pressure places, like chatting with a cashier, a neighbor, or a friend over coffee. 

I do it myself before big talks — with my family at dinner, strangers in line, Uber drivers during rides, you name it — and it sharpens how I come across, making the moves feel second nature.

The key is to start small, and be consistent.

Try the question about positive future plans at lunch, or the mirroring body language on a walk. Over time, you’ll notice people opening up quicker, smiling more, and engaging deeper, even in brief encounters.

Vanessa Van Edwards is a speaker, researcher and the author of ”Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People″ and ”Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication.” She is the founder of Science of People, where she leads workshops and courses on science-based soft skills to help people become better communicators.

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