Americans eat too much!!!
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And Americans have gotten lazy, don't want to workout, want everything handed, bunch of cry babies. Even Sonic has a drive through! A drive through on a chain that's suppose to have people bring the food to you while you wait in the car!
Well, now that's just laughable. It's well documented that working Americans work harder and have much less time off than workers in similar nations. I actually think that, from a health perspective, this is one of the major culprits. Fast food, frozen meals, prepared meals, drive throughs are abused because they save time and they are easy.
Good point
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Of course.I don't think we can say it's just Americans which you can see by the fact that there are not only Americans on this and other sites like it
But in all honesty, I have noticed a difference in the portion sizes in the US. I live in Canada but very close to the US border and travel to the US frequently, at least once a week. I am always surprised at the serving sizes when I eat out in the US.
That's not to say that the US is the only country with an obesity epidemic, just an observation of mine.
When I visited Canada for three weeks I put on a stone. The portion sizes there are enormous, so I can only imagine what the US portion sizes are.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »
I just got back from Mexico. While there are plenty of fattening foods to be had there is virtually no fast food. It was so refreshing. I want to go back so badly. Fresh fish everywhere, little taco stands....
And yet Mexico is every bit as fat as the US.[/quote]
I didn't notice any large people, just....chubby. Then again maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.
My perception is very skewed because I live in one of the fittest towns in America. It's seriously insane how fit people are around here.
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TimothyFish wrote: »Perhaps the problem isn't that we east too much, but that we don't work hard enough.
Doubtful. Yes, we're lazy as all git the more technology we acquire, but weight gain does come down to how much you're eating. It's hard to out-exercise a bad diet.
While true, people who are busy don't have as much time to sit around snacking.0 -
I have no idea, but even as an American I have to say, isn't that quite alot? I mean isn't the caricature of the PMS-y chick or the person crying and getting over a breakup and overeating, a whole pint of ice cream? Or eating directly from the pint carton with a spoon or whatever?
Shoot. For me, a pint of icecream was always a single serving. And I ate it right out of the carton. New York Super Fudge Chunk, baby!0 -
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lemurcat12 wrote: »spilledmilk wrote: »It's true that most restaurant portions in the US are out of control huge. But at least for me, I've never expected them to be single-serving. I don't think I've ever eaten an entire portion of something I was served in a restaurant, ever. Unless it was upscale or a small plate.
I go to a decent number of restaurants (more upscale) where the serving size isn't really off what a normal serving is (although I'm sure the calorie count still is). People end up ordering multiple courses or doing the tasting menu or some such, so probably lose track of the total amount of food they eat.
And in restaurants with massive servings definitely one of the perks is bringing some home, but I strongly suspect that while people typically don't eat the whole thing, the huge amount on the plate means they eat a lot more than they normally would, without necessarily realizing it.
Not saying this is anyone's responsibility but the eater's, however.
I think how fast people eat plays a part, too. At the higher end restaurants, there's not as much as a push to get you out the door and someone else at your table. Family places, the server is offering dessert 5 minutes after you get your plates, and has the check ready if you say no. If you get soup or salad, you have to rush to finish it before they bring the food, again with appetizers. A lot of people already eat too fast, so they don't register being full until it's too late to stop, and that pressure makes it even more likely.
Yeah, I think this is true too.0 -
I've never considered a pint of ice cream a single serving, but I have been known to eat the whole thing and treat it as a meal. (All 800 calories of it.)0
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TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Perhaps the problem isn't that we east too much, but that we don't work hard enough.
Doubtful. Yes, we're lazy as all git the more technology we acquire, but weight gain does come down to how much you're eating. It's hard to out-exercise a bad diet.
While true, people who are busy don't have as much time to sit around snacking.
I haven't noticed this. In fact, it often seems that it's the MORE busy people who have quick "grabbable" foods constantly at hand. In the car, in the desk, in the purse, backpack, school locker, munching "something quick" at the child's soccer practice, running from the car to the store (yes, I have seen this), everywhere.
All. Day. Long.
Then they're jetting in and out of McD's, Taco Bell, etc. for breakfast, lunch and often dinner as well. Because "I need to grab something quick, I'm so busy, busy busy busy, just look how busy I am."
"Busy" seems to be a national badge of honor and even if you aren't busy, you're darned well going to look it. And you're going to be "grabbing something quick" the whole way. Well, unless your job is as a neurosurgeon or something and you're standing in one place for 11 hours with both hands filled with surgical instruments or something.
Nobody "sits around and" snacks as you stated, how many people do you know who sit down to a plate and napkin every time they want to eat something? The cool thing to do is to run around and shove in the food, not sit down to it. Actually taking time and sitting down is more likely to produce the opposite result, actually, than "quick" snacking.
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I like to eat more and shrink. To heck with the scales. I'll still weigh (not too often) for data and trends. But, any meat the size of my palm, no. If it fits my daily calories, I'll move more and eat more.0
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TimothyFish wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Perhaps the problem isn't that we east too much, but that we don't work hard enough.
Doubtful. Yes, we're lazy as all git the more technology we acquire, but weight gain does come down to how much you're eating. It's hard to out-exercise a bad diet.
While true, people who are busy don't have as much time to sit around snacking.
I haven't noticed this. In fact, it often seems that it's the MORE busy people who have quick "grabbable" foods constantly at hand. In the car, in the desk, in the purse, backpack, school locker, munching "something quick" at the child's soccer practice, running from the car to the store (yes, I have seen this), everywhere.
All. Day. Long.
Then they're jetting in and out of McD's, Taco Bell, etc. for breakfast, lunch and often dinner as well. Because "I need to grab something quick, I'm so busy, busy busy busy, just look how busy I am."
"Busy" seems to be a national badge of honor and even if you aren't busy, you're darned well going to look it. And you're going to be "grabbing something quick" the whole way. Well, unless your job is as a neurosurgeon or something and you're standing in one place for 11 hours with both hands filled with surgical instruments or something.
Nobody "sits around and" snacks as you stated, how many people do you know who sit down to a plate and napkin every time they want to eat something? The cool thing to do is to run around and shove in the food, not sit down to it. Actually taking time and sitting down is more likely to produce the opposite result, actually, than "quick" snacking.
Busy is awfully subjective, too. When I'm in crunch time, I can be busy, as in too busy to cook a normal meal, for up to 36 hrs straight. That entire time is spent at my desk. A lot of people who are "too busy to (whatever)" manage to be busy without even leaving the house.0 -
Tuning in from New Zealand- trust me, it's not just American's who eat too much.0
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We have this restaurant chain here in Eng. It's called ''Frankie and Benny's'' and it serves Italian and American food. The portions are huge and take me forever to eat. I am used to smaller portions.0
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Of course.I don't think we can say it's just Americans which you can see by the fact that there are not only Americans on this and other sites like it
But in all honesty, I have noticed a difference in the portion sizes in the US. I live in Canada but very close to the US border and travel to the US frequently, at least once a week. I am always surprised at the serving sizes when I eat out in the US.
That's not to say that the US is the only country with an obesity epidemic, just an observation of mine.
I agree - I'm not saying that Canadian portions are what they should be either so don't think I'm saying we're perfect but I'm about 2 hours away from a major US border crossing so I go all the time and I have to say I definitely notice a difference between serving sizes and the amount of "All You Can Eat" places. Canada doesn't have a ton of those - we do have buffets and such but for example, last time I was there I went to Ruby Tuesdays where they had - at one point - all you can eat sides (fries, potatoes I think, etc). We've never had that in Canada, that I know of. There's definitely a big difference between Canadian restaurants and American ones.0 -
None of the restaurants I go to are all you can eat, so that's hardly universal at US restaurants. I didn't even know it was a thing outside of buffets.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »
I just got back from Mexico. While there are plenty of fattening foods to be had there is virtually no fast food. It was so refreshing. I want to go back so badly. Fresh fish everywhere, little taco stands....And yet Mexico is every bit as fat as the US.
I didn't notice any large people, just....chubby. Then again maybe I wasn't paying enough attention.
My perception is very skewed because I live in one of the fittest towns in America. It's seriously insane how fit people are around here.
I think a couple of years ago, Mexico actually surpassed the US as the most obese country in the world.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »None of the restaurants I go to are all you can eat, so that's hardly universal at US restaurants. I didn't even know it was a thing outside of buffets.
This is nothing I've ever seen in person either. I didn't know they existed either. I know one person said they're on the Canadian border (she didn't say exactly where)...is this perhaps a regional thing?
I HAVE seen buffets...and am not about to step anywhere near a bucket of food that 27 other people before me picked through having finished picking their noses and then dropped back down in the bucket to choose something else. Blargh. Never, never, never. It's bad enough thinking about what might be happening to just my one plate in kitchen. A buffet is a bridge too far, personally.
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Buffets and All-you-can-eat are very regional within the US.
I live in an area with neither of those, except for the occasional very high end posh Sunday brunch. We also have no drive through fast-food outlets in my town.
Not coincidentally, I live in one of the parts of the country with the lowest rates of obesity.
But, then, cause/effect? All-you-can-eat may not be a good profit plan in a health-conscious area.
Either way, I have more local veggie farms than I do fast food outlets.
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I feel like this is too much of a generalization. Plenty of countries in the world eat WAY TOO MUCH.
Mexico (aka the fattest nation in the world with 32.8% obese), the UK, Canada, heck even FINLAND!
I agree portion sizes are too big, but quite frankly it's up to each individual person to decide how much they want to eat. There's no reason to make giant ridiculous portion sizes unless it was lucrative to do so.0 -
Buffets and All-you-can-eat are very regional within the US.
I live in an area with neither of those, except for the occasional very high end posh Sunday brunch. We also have no drive through fast-food outlets in my town.
Not coincidentally, I live in one of the parts of the country with the lowest rates of obesity.
But, then, cause/effect? All-you-can-eat may not be a good profit plan in a health-conscious area.
Either way, I have more local veggie farms than I do fast food outlets.
When my husband and I were driving cross-country, we passed through one state...I wish I could remember now what it was. Maybe Iowa? (Beautiful state, BTW, it was a big surprise, so pretty.) I'll ask my husband to confirm, but anyway, we went into a McD's to grab a McMuffin for breakfast and there was a breakfast buffet. Yes, a McDONALD'S BUFFET. We were so ashamed to be Americans.
We just kind of grabbed our McMuffins and slunk out before anybody could bite our hands off.
p.s. I managed to get plenty of fat without buffets.
ETA: OK, my husband just emailed me back...it was Nebraska.
He reminded me that there was also a KFC buffet. Actually, that was a really fun trip, looking back on it.
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