Eating in the USA

Yes, it is fairly common. And the farther 'down' you go in food, the bigger the portions get.

In most restraunts a skinless, boneless, baked piece of chicken will probably fit in the palm of your hand, but you can get unlimited garlic buttered/oiled bread, nonstop baskets of nachos and have you ever seen the size of something like a 'blooming onion' at the average outback?

for about 10 bucks you can go to a golden corral restraunt which is an all you can eat buffet and eat until they have to roll your fat a** out the door

Walk into a 7-11 anywhere in the u.s. and look at their drink cup selection

You can get 64 ounces of fountain soda (which is pretty much sugar water) for about 1.50

You'll pay for food that is good for you to eat in correct portions in the u.s., but if you want tons of garbage food, we have that for pocket change

We DO have a problem with obesity. Under the NEW definition of obese, I am obese, albeit barely. But I don't eat that much, and never really have.

So HOW do we get fat? Less exercise, and a lot of HIGH glycemic CARBS.

Of course, many of those that weight like 300 pounds(about 136KG) + probably DO overeat also. Outside of perhaps 2-3 days when I was recuperating from my aorta problem, I NEVER weighed anything CLOSE to that.

ALSO, in some areas, the meat has a LOT of fat on it.

Steve

Food calories are not the major factor in today's obesity. There will always be over-eaters, but if you notice now, people are having more difficulty than ever taking the weight back off.......

I did an extremely indepth study and have a manual on all of the reasons we are so fat here (we meaning YOU/THEY - I am 5'6" and 110 lbs). There are many factors in play that are not even related to food....as well as many that are, such as the MSG they are pouring into almost everything and if you read the REAL stats on that stuff it's not much of a wonder that the US is one of the only, if not the only, countries in the world that would allow such poison dumped in food. It is not only deadly in ways most people aren't aware of, but it makes food highly addicting at the same time it is poisoning us. It is an infuriatingly disgusting display of disconcern for the health of a population just to acquiesce to corporation money - just as is dumping sodium/silica fluoride (not natural fluoride) in water, which is also another factor in the fattening of our people.

Of course, sedentary lifestyles don't help either, that is true. But in 1900 there were very few actually obese people, there are 2/3 more per capita now in 2009. Considering many of the sources of fat that people don't understand and are, therefore, not avoiding or forming loud activist groups about, you can expect to just sit back and watch our people expand like balloons. Don't look to conventional diets to stop the expansion, or pills, or programs.


If you think that is all because of food calories, you are dead wrong.

Like TL said.
Being an old guy and one who sold a ton of depression glass and vintage housewares on eBay I know that to be true.
But I also remember with those smaller plates, going back for seconds more then today.
So maybe the super sizing came about to match the appetites we already had.
Also I know we had large meals in my house because we could.
My parents had both lived through the depression in the 20's and the rationing of WWII.
They used to tell me to eat it while you got it because it may not be there the next day.
We also grew our own veggies and had very good relationships with all the farmers around us so there was a lot of canning in the fall to insure a lot of food in the winter.

no, thats what fatties tell themselves. along with 'im not fat, im chunky, or 'big boned'.

^^^^^^^ Guys? She is NOT kidding! SEE, I TOLD you there was another extreme.

Do we have restaurants that have cakes that are 2 feet or more tall? YEP! But that is EXTREME!
Do we have restaurants that have 18 pound meals with steak and competitions where the winner gets it for FREE? YEP, but that is EXTREME!
Do we have HUGE sundaes that cost tens of thousands of dollars? YEP, but that is EXTREME!

On the other side, you can get TINY meals known by the artistry and maybe the chef, but a PALTRY amount of food that may not give enough nutrition to even DIGEST it, that cost over $100, and wine like you would NOT believe.

Frankly, for dinner most of the last week I had a microwave dinner that was like 300 calories. The US RDA standard for a day is apparently like 2000 calories. Of course, that IS really dependent on weight and activity. For ME, a lot of people say I should take over 3048, and I sometimes take as much as 3600.

There is a nice company here that has some themed restaurants. Perhaps their MOST famous is one called "OUTBACK STEAK HOUSE". My favorite meal there is chicken on the barbie, and MAYBE the "chocolate thunder from down under' Outback Steakhouse

GRANTED, it is an AUSTRALIAN themed restaurant, but IT is probably more like TRADITIONAL american dinner fare.

IHOP with say 5 pancakes, 2 eggs, milk/orange juice, and bacon, or sausage, is like a traditional american breakfast.

Lunch is often like a small dinner. MOST americans have 2-3 meals a day. I am taking about 6 or so, but they are smaller to try to be more efficient.

Of course, you WILL see people in tennessee, etc... talking about specially cured pork for dinner, etc... People in the south talking about grits for breakfast.... People in louisiana talking about ALL SORTS of food with french and caribean influence, etc.... But I am trying to give the idea of something you will see in almost any traditional restaurant around.

A lot of THIN people have that kind of food. Some FAT people simply eat more of it, or snacks, or have some problem like cushings. Sadly, it is just too easy for many to gain fat.

Steve

When that first started the idea was to serve a small 1 or 2 bite serving but make it a 12 or so course theme meal.
So you would take a couple of items like say pomegranates and shrimp and base each course on one or both of them.
Presentation has always been important, in fact some schools of thought places presentation above taste

I wish I could be sure of what you mean there...



Yeah, ONLY in america!

You would think that the owner offering all that a NORMAL person could eat would be MORE than enough. HEY, my sensibilities, coupled with how the general public reacts, means I can NEVER go to such a place. Where are the courts to help ME!?!? I have ACTUALLY gone to restaurants, found they were suddenly only offering a buffet, and I had to leave!

Steve

Tell these people to send me into those places. I'll teach them that you don't have to be fat to reap some "all you can eat" destruction on an establishment that wants to put up all you can eat specials.

My metabolism is so high that I have had employers worry about results I might get from a drug test..(another common misconception is that you have to be doing crank or meth to be thin).

I once had Red Lobster cut me off......fun thing was I was having dinner with a lawyer and we ate that place out of their all you can eat crab legs between the two of us. LOL.

I love food....and work hard enough on my metabolism to be able to destroy any amount put on my plate if it tastes good enough to do so.

The whole purpose of that title was the club trying to get out of giving me a raise.
I still remember being called into the manager's office.
He explained I had a new title and gave me my new business cards.
I thanked him and then told him instead of a buck an hour raise I figured with that fancy title I wanted a 3 buck an hour raise
We ended up splitting the difference and I walked out with a 2 dollar an hour raise.

Titles are only relative, and can be a lot of fun. Years ago I was
working as a manager for a large computer software company.

My boss was the Assistant Director of Operations. Not a very nice
guy to be working for.

On his huge desk, there was his nameplate, prominently displaying
his name in big bold letters. And with even bigger letters was his
title: Asst. Director.

Someone had taken his nameplate, and with a minor modification,
affixed it over the Men sign on the restroom door.

And no one ever did found out who it was that put his big proud
nameplate, Ass Director, on the door of the men's room.

I HAVE been to europe, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and ate standard fare in those restaurants. They weren't noticably smaller.

derekwong,

That may be an advertising gimic of sorts. ALSO, in the US, we tend to eat more protein, and others tend to eat more carbs. Of course, from what I understand, Australia tends to eat more protein also. I think spain, ireland, scotland, and some other places also do. But for china, italy, etc... you often have LOTS of noodles, pasta, etc... So some things may just LOOK bigger. And protein can actualy make you LOSE fat. The reason why it doesn't seem to work like that is because carbs and fats are usually included in the deal. Go to a good restaurant, and the hamburger may cause you to lose fat, but the bun, condiments, and fries would negate it, and probably cause a net fat GAIN!

BTW high fructose corn syrup is generally one of the worst carbs you can get. noodles and pasta have carbs, but they are generally low glycemic so they digest slowly and keep the blood sugar stable and somewhat low. HFCS is usually VERY high GI, and can cause a sugar spike which can cause an insulin spike, and have that all become fat.

Steve

Gasp!
Shame, shame!! NEVER eat at McDonalds. Don't you know just one of their "value meals" has all the fat and calories you need in 1 day Not to mention almost no nutrition. Even their grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing has more fat than a big mac. Their ranch dressing alone has over 30 grams of fat.

Yep, exporting obesity looks like a big business.

I notice I felt a lot better after stopping eating at all fast food places and eating something homemade and fresh instead.

Oh no myob was right they are trying to take over the world.

I lived in China for a few years while I was in Middle School. I went to an American private school but the lunches were factory-worker-grade local fare... and they put MSG on EVERYTHING.

Same for the restaurants - MSG was practically used as a salt substitute.

Question is (curious, not challenging): how come it doesn't affect the Chinese that badly if it's such a dangerous additive?

Although, caveat, the new middle class Chinese kids are ridiculously obese, so maybe it's a matter of moderation and lack thereof...

Gil-Ad

I read Cosmo just to keep up with all of my wife's little tricks.
But sure glad she don't read my Muscle mag.

Actually, we just look at the pictures.

I had a subscription.

That and Glamour.

I guess, I'm not a typical female then! I like to look good for me!
One of my fav mottos is...I am who I am, your approval not needed!

Another is, I don't care if you love me or hate me, either way...I'm always on your mind!

And there is Shopping is fun, DUH!
MissTerraK

Sal, I am eating celery already when I wake up in the morning but the problem is I eat at KFC afterwards havinf driven my daughter to school. I couldn't resist eating at that revolving restaurant again. For $15, I must have had 20-30 rock lobsters plus 6 thin slices of roast prime rib.

What gets me is how KFC managed to raise their prices twice this year and get away with it, whereas the "normal" food restaurants are still in the doldurms. Now, quite a few Burger King meals cost more than $5 and this is really getting expensive.

Derek