How Does Taro Sakamoto Lose Weight So Quickly?

Summary

Sakamoto is outrageously active due to being hunted by assassins, but his metabolism seems to match his extreme lifestyle.
His caloric intake is extraordinary, consuming over 12,000 calories in one sitting, leading to drastic body transformations.
Sakamoto’s metabolic rate may be around 10,309 kcal/day based on his physique and level of activity, according to a fun fictional calculation.

The series titled “Sakomoto Days” revolves around a former assassin, now running a convenience store with his family and apprentices he once trained. After retiring from the deadly profession, Taro Sakamoto has become softer, transitioning from a sculpted figure to a more paternal ‘dad bod’. However, despite his weight gain, Taro continues to demonstrate toughness in his role as the resilient protagonist of “Sakamoto Days”.

In episode 4 titled “Hard Boiled,” Taro demonstrates an extraordinary ability during a fierce fight against an old peer from the Assassin School. His body rapidly loses over a hundred pounds, transforming into a shape reminiscent of his assassin physique. The very next day, he regains all the lost weight by consuming an enormous number of calories. What kind of metabolism does this character possess?

Sakamoto Has Peculiar Health Habits

Taro Sakamoto presents an unusual portrayal of a larger character due to his exceptional agility. Yet, he’s known for consuming prodigious amounts of food, which adds to his unique charm. Given his past as an assassin, one might assume that his active lifestyle demanded both physical exertion and caloric intake to match. Although his activity level in retirement has decreased, Taro maintains the same voracious eating habits, leading to a surplus of calories.

Sakamoto is Very Physically Active

Lately, Sakamoto’s physical activity has skyrocketed to a level comparable to an assassin, due to his high-value target status of a billion yen. This has made Taro a prime target for numerous greedy assassins who are after his wealth. To protect Aoi, Hana, Lu, and Shin, he must confront and ward off enemies on a daily basis. Moreover, Taro has embarked on an intense training program to ready himself for his impending showdown with Slur, the infamous JAA serial killer.

Sakamoto Eats A Lot of Calorie-Dense Food

In the fifth episode of Season 1, titled “Source of Strength,” characters Taro, Shin, and Lu meet with an informant who also runs a cinema. As they watch a movie about the Dondenkai agency’s past, it becomes evident that Taro has a remarkable appetite, as he manages to consume no less than eight extra-large popcorn containers during the screening.

In my observation, a typical large popcorn bucket at movie theaters is roughly around 1,000 calories. If, as it seems, Sakamoto opted for butter on his popcorn, that number jumps to approximately 1,500 calories per bucket. That’s a whopping 12,000 calories when you consider eight buckets! To make matters worse, he also munched on an order of french fries before reaching the movie theater. A pound of fat equals around 3,500 calories, implying that Sakamoto potentially added nearly three pounds to his weight in a single sitting.

How Does Sakamoto’s Habits Affect His Metabolism?

As per Harvard Health Publishing, while metabolism does play a part in weight management, it has a relatively minor influence when it comes to weight loss. Instead, an individual’s genes largely dictate their metabolic rate. Consequently, making assumptions about someone else’s metabolic speed based on their physical appearance is generally inaccurate. Nonetheless, certain aspects of lifestyle can provide hints as to how Sakamoto’s habits might impact his metabolism.

A research conducted by the Department of Physical Education at UC Davis indicates that the level of physical activity directly influences one’s metabolic rate. In simpler terms, engaging in more physical activities can speed up your metabolism. Conversely, a life spent largely sedentary tends to slow down the metabolic rate, especially when paired with a diet that provides fewer calories than needed, which also decreases the body’s response to food intake (our metabolism rises when we eat).

Considering Sakamoto seems to be as active as he eats, it follows that his metabolism would be quite fast. Even though his metabolism may have decreased during retirement, the new training regimen should boost its pace again. (Note: The character Sakamoto is from a shonen anime and this description doesn’t reflect real-life situations.)

Foods that require more time for the body to break down, such as proteins, have a greater impact on increasing heat production (thermogenesis) compared to carbohydrates. A diet predominantly composed of quick-to-digest foods like Cup Noodles might negatively affect Taro’s metabolic rate.

What is Sakamoto’s Metabolic Rate?

If you’ve made it this far, you understand that metabolic rate doesn’t matter much when it comes to a person’s weight, or their ability to shed it – at least in the case of characters like Taro, whose extraordinary abilities allow for unique body transformations. However, let’s engage in some pretend number-crunching and try to estimate Taro’s metabolic rate just for fun. (Keep in mind that this is all part of a fictional context.)

How to Calculate Metabolic Rate

When thinking about metabolic rates, there are two primary categories: Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). BMR is the minimal energy needed for your body to carry out essential functions while at complete rest. In contrast, RMR is like BMR but factors in light physical activities. The Benedict-Harris equation, developed by Francis Gano Benedict and James Arthur Harris in 1919, can be used to calculate BMR. To find your RMR, simply multiply your calculated BMR by your activity level.

Benedict-Harris Equation for AMAB (Assigned Male at Birth) Individuals:
- BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x height in cm) – (5.677 x age in years)
RMR Adjustment:
- Sedentary: Multiply by 1.2
- Lightly active: Multiply by 1.375
- Moderately active: Multiply by 1.55
- Very active: Multiply by 1.725
- Extremely active: Multiply by 1.9

Taro Sakamoto’s Metabolic Rate

To figure out Sakamoto’s Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), we’ll use the Benedict-Harris equation with Taro’s age, height, and weight from the Sakamoto Days wiki. Here’s what we know: Taro is 27 years old, stands 188 cm (6 ft 2 in), and weighs 140 kg (309 lbs).

BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x 140) + (4.799 x 188) – (5.677 x 27)
- BMR = 88.362 + (1,875.58) + (902.212) – (153.279)
- BMR = 2,713 kcal

Taro Sakamoto uses approximately 2,713 calories each day just for his body’s basic functions. Now, we need to assess his activity level. Since Sakamoto shed more than 100 lbs (35,000 kcal) in roughly half an hour, it appears that his Basal Metabolic Rate (RMR) adjustment is greater than 1.9. If a professional athlete’s activity level is represented by 1.9, we’ll double it to 3.8 as a rough estimate for Sakamoto’s activity level.

RMR = 2,713 kcal × 3.8
- RMR = 10,309 kcal

Incredible! It seems like Taro Sakamoto might burn energy at an astonishing rate of around 10,309 calories a day, just from being alive, if anime physics apply!

2025-02-23 17:55