Does just immigrating to the USA lead to weight gain?
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DaughterOfTheMostHighKing wrote: »portion sizes, processed foods,… if we go back to just eating fruits and vegetables and cut out processed foods, we'd be good. it's hard tho'. fresh produce is more costly than processed foods and the government doesn't help by subsidizing the corn (corn syrup, fructose….) industry… and a lot of the fast foods use the processed corn products to make their foods tasty and made cheaply cause the government subsidizes it.
Again it is all about calories in versus calories out
Not good or bad foods
I always ate pretty "healthy" i like to call it balanced
But like pointed out before...normal diary here in the US has MORE calories than in Europe/Holland
A glass of milk a bowl with yogurt etc...same amount but more calories... So easy to step into that mistake. It is not only the junk food!
And after all you always have to stay counting. I also agree that there is a big difference of being on a holiday ( when you are more active) and living in the US.
Yogurts! I remember yogurt/pudding cups in France. They're typically tiny compared to what we have here.The weird thing when you visit the USA is the portion sizes
You start off by laughing at them, stunned almost at the amount of food someone has put in front of you on a single plate
Then you understand why you guys do doggy bags which just aren't the norm in other countries
But then after a few days you start to adjust, and by about a week in you're easily finishing your plate
And you have so many high fat foods, everything comes with fries it seems
THIS. And the fries, it makes it so frustrating to eat out sometimes (when you're lucky you can substitute a side salad, but often you have to pay extra). In France when I ordered a sandwich, it didn't come with anything else. Sure, you don't have to eat the fries, but it's free, and it's in front of you... so people eat them. I mean in Paris I ate out all the time and I had fries maybe once or twice a month...
The biggest shocker for me was when I went to seafood restaurants here. Everything fried. I just couldn't get over it. We never fry seafood in France. I still can't do fried seafood. Heck even at Chinese places, my go-to in France was sweet and sour chicken, which was pieces of chicken, onions, peppers, and pineapple with some sauce... Imagine my surprise when I ordered it here and it was big pieces of battered/fried chickens with a dip. Ugh.
Obviously though people in cities are less likely to be overweight because of all the walking anyway.
my point is not even the portion sizes
My point is that the calorie amount is higher in the same amount / grams of yogurt
And not ca couple but like 40 calories more! at 7 ounce/200ml
Milk, Cheese etc etc
So while i was used to have a 2 times yogurt a day and milk i had without knowing a easily a couple hundred calories more here in the US than i had before... and yes not reading the label was my down fall.... i was used oke fat free yogurt or milk is so much calories...but it was more.
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DaughterOfTheMostHighKing wrote: »portion sizes, processed foods,… if we go back to just eating fruits and vegetables and cut out processed foods, we'd be good. it's hard tho'. fresh produce is more costly than processed foods and the government doesn't help by subsidizing the corn (corn syrup, fructose….) industry… and a lot of the fast foods use the processed corn products to make their foods tasty and made cheaply cause the government subsidizes it.
Again it is all about calories in versus calories out
Not good or bad foods
I always ate pretty "healthy" i like to call it balanced
But like pointed out before...normal diary here in the US has MORE calories than in Europe/Holland
A glass of milk a bowl with yogurt etc...same amount but more calories... So easy to step into that mistake. It is not only the junk food!
And after all you always have to stay counting. I also agree that there is a big difference of being on a holiday ( when you are more active) and living in the US.
Yogurts! I remember yogurt/pudding cups in France. They're typically tiny compared to what we have here.The weird thing when you visit the USA is the portion sizes
You start off by laughing at them, stunned almost at the amount of food someone has put in front of you on a single plate
Then you understand why you guys do doggy bags which just aren't the norm in other countries
But then after a few days you start to adjust, and by about a week in you're easily finishing your plate
And you have so many high fat foods, everything comes with fries it seems
THIS. And the fries, it makes it so frustrating to eat out sometimes (when you're lucky you can substitute a side salad, but often you have to pay extra). In France when I ordered a sandwich, it didn't come with anything else. Sure, you don't have to eat the fries, but it's free, and it's in front of you... so people eat them. I mean in Paris I ate out all the time and I had fries maybe once or twice a month...
The biggest shocker for me was when I went to seafood restaurants here. Everything fried. I just couldn't get over it. We never fry seafood in France. I still can't do fried seafood. Heck even at Chinese places, my go-to in France was sweet and sour chicken, which was pieces of chicken, onions, peppers, and pineapple with some sauce... Imagine my surprise when I ordered it here and it was big pieces of battered/fried chickens with a dip. Ugh.
Obviously though people in cities are less likely to be overweight because of all the walking anyway.
my point is not even the portion sizes
My point is that the calorie amount is higher in the same amount / grams of yogurt
And not ca couple but like 40 calories more! at 7 ounce/200ml
Milk, Cheese etc etc
So while i was used to have a 2 times yogurt a day and milk i had without knowing a easily a couple hundred calories more here in the US than i had before... and yes not reading the label was my down fall.... i was used oke fat free yogurt or milk is so much calories...but it was more.
I compared a few yogurt brands and it's the same calories. Same for milk... What exactly do you think has more calories in the US? Maybe it depends on where you're from, or you're not using the same brands, but I compared French and US labels and it's about the same.
Cheese depends on the kind of cheese obviously so it's hard to say.0 -
ok mountain fat free yogurt is for 7 oz = 106 calories
But the Dutch magere yogurt same amount =72 calories
Milk same thing...
when you search for Dutch things use "magere" that is skinny or skinned products or fat free.
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The main difference is the ( natural) sugar amounts...in like Mountain it is 6% About the lowest you can get here
Dutch yogurts have 1 or 2% or not even listed on the label. That is why the yogurt in the US taste is also much sweeter than in Holland. In Holland the yogurt taste sour..real sour. We also dont talk about butter milk but sweet and sour milk
Karnemelk= buttermilk And our yogurt tast is like the buttermilk tast here so sour no sugars in it.
Milk the same cheeses too. I am talking specially about diary because that is were i found the most differences i didnt expect to see.
But in a lot of products is diary...in some sort.
than we have like bread
Normal brown bread ( so whole wheat) 74 calories Try to find normal bread here for that amount....you have to take some sort of Sara Lee of some sort that get that amounts...But the Dutch whole wheat or white skinny breads are lower than that those again.
So when you are used to eating your diaries and bread everyday and cook "healthy" like i said balanced
Than still in the US you get more calories in for the same amounts than you get in Holland.
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Meijer low fat milk ( 1%) 42 calories (100ml)
Magere melk (100ml) 34 calories
Just look it up its fun Be sure you get the same amounts ( needs some conversations sometimes) But also the right kinda products...
Because skimmed is not per definition skinny in Dutch0 -
The main difference is the ( natural) sugar amounts...in like Mountain it is 6% About the lowest you can get here
Dutch yogurts have 1 or 2% or not even listed on the label. That is why the yogurt in the US taste is also much sweeter than in Holland. In Holland the yogurt taste sour..real sour. We also dont talk about butter milk but sweet and sour milk Karnemelk= buttermilk And our yogurt tast is like the buttermilk tast here so sour no sugars in it.
Milk the same cheeses too. I am talking specially about diary because that is were i found the most differences i didnt expect to see.
But in a lot of products is diary...in some sort.
than we have like bread
Normal brown bread ( so whole wheat) 74 calories Try to find normal bread here for that amount....you have to take some sort of Sara Lee of some sort that get that amounts...But the Dutch whole wheat or white skinny breads are lower than that those again.
So when you are used to eating your diaries and bread everyday and cook "healthy" like i said balanced
Than still in the US you get more calories in for the same amounts than you get in Holland.
Yeah apparently bread is sweeter here (although I haven't noticed, but I've never really eaten a lot of packaged bread).
But I get what you're saying, I guess they don't have the same brands at all where you come from. It's not really different from France... the main difference is that the same yogurt will be 125g over there, but 150g or 170g here. And I don't remember seeing so many different kinds of milk there (there's skimmed, and 'semi skimmed', here we have 1%, 2% and nonfat). And obviously there are products on both sides that are not available elsewhere.0 -
20yearsyounger wrote: »Portions, accessibility, and the rat race. After 22 years I finally figured out what I used to do before I came to the US
good one
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The main difference is the ( natural) sugar amounts...in like Mountain it is 6% About the lowest you can get here
Dutch yogurts have 1 or 2% or not even listed on the label. That is why the yogurt in the US taste is also much sweeter than in Holland. In Holland the yogurt taste sour..real sour. We also dont talk about butter milk but sweet and sour milk Karnemelk= buttermilk And our yogurt tast is like the buttermilk tast here so sour no sugars in it.
Milk the same cheeses too. I am talking specially about diary because that is were i found the most differences i didnt expect to see.
But in a lot of products is diary...in some sort.
than we have like bread
Normal brown bread ( so whole wheat) 74 calories Try to find normal bread here for that amount....you have to take some sort of Sara Lee of some sort that get that amounts...But the Dutch whole wheat or white skinny breads are lower than that those again.
So when you are used to eating your diaries and bread everyday and cook "healthy" like i said balanced
Than still in the US you get more calories in for the same amounts than you get in Holland.
Yeah apparently bread is sweeter here (although I haven't noticed, but I've never really eaten a lot of packaged bread).
But I get what you're saying, I guess they don't have the same brands at all where you come from. It's not really different from France... the main difference is that the same yogurt will be 125g over there, but 150g or 170g here. And I don't remember seeing so many different kinds of milk there (there's skimmed, and 'semi skimmed', here we have 1%, 2% and nonfat). And obviously there are products on both sides that are not available elsewhere.
yes the brands are not the same.
And also from France btw.
I can hardly get here the brands i used before...Knorr is one they have in Holland and here.
And of course when you look it up you will find the same brands for certain things like O'Lace crisps
But milk cheese and stuff nope nope nope lol
And yes in Holland 3 kinds too. mager = without anything so say 1% than we have "half mager= probably the 2% here and we have vol= full so the normal one
And oh yes the bread so sweet in the beginning to me...i didn't eat bread at all anymore because i hated the taste...i started to make my own again and i am used to the Sara Lee now. But yes much sweeter than in Holland But that is with a lot of products here...it is all sweeter to me or more salt....
But i agree or for me it is still too much calories make you gain weight
It was only that i was in certain habits and didn't check it...till i found out...oops that is more than i thought. own fault i should have gone back checking right away.
The strange things i did btw...but the normal stuff...well i bought fat free yogurt and milk and my buttermilk and cheese and though that's about XXX calories like in Holland.... hehehe
Now i am back to counting EVERYTHING again
Not a big deal.
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I think it just boils down to prosperity as others have said. When we were dirt broke, still living in America, my siblings and I were all thin. My mom cooked for us and dad would treat us to take out once every two weeks, and that was the routine. We rode public transportation, and played outside for hours... As we got older, got jobs, moved out, got cars, ate out more often, adapted a more sedentary lifestyle etc..speaking for myself, I put on 40lbs in 4years. If the above lifestyle isn't one you grew up with, then once you start to head in that direction, weight gain is unavoidable.0
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I think it just boils down to prosperity as others have said. When we were dirt broke, still living in America, my siblings and I were all thin. My mom cooked for us and dad would treat us to take out once every two weeks, and that was the routine. We rode public transportation, and played outside for hours... As we got older, got jobs, moved out, got cars, ate out more often, adapted a more sedentary lifestyle etc..speaking for myself, I put on 40lbs in 4years. If the above lifestyle isn't one you grew up with, then once you start to head in that direction, weight gain is unavoidable.
Well yes and no.... i should have start counting right away
But everything new...lots of yummie scrummie to try out
And that combined with my injury and sudden sedentary life style instead of very....very active.
So yeah own fault but i dont regret a thing, or blame anybody. My own responsibility and i paid for the consequences for the road i took. Simple and plain. Accepted it, got to sick and now it comes off
Also my own choice, and almost there and i will keep it off because i want it too.
I will keep counting and watching as long as needed:) i have no problem what so ever to count and weigh my food. It is a small price to pay for my general health and weight management
That said i was a coach and trainer...so i better got my *kitten* moving lol
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The main difference is the ( natural) sugar amounts...in like Mountain it is 6% About the lowest you can get here
Dutch yogurts have 1 or 2% or not even listed on the label. That is why the yogurt in the US taste is also much sweeter than in Holland. In Holland the yogurt taste sour..real sour. We also dont talk about butter milk but sweet and sour milk Karnemelk= buttermilk And our yogurt tast is like the buttermilk tast here so sour no sugars in it.
Milk the same cheeses too. I am talking specially about diary because that is were i found the most differences i didnt expect to see.
But in a lot of products is diary...in some sort.
than we have like bread
Normal brown bread ( so whole wheat) 74 calories Try to find normal bread here for that amount....you have to take some sort of Sara Lee of some sort that get that amounts...But the Dutch whole wheat or white skinny breads are lower than that those again.
So when you are used to eating your diaries and bread everyday and cook "healthy" like i said balanced
Than still in the US you get more calories in for the same amounts than you get in Holland.
Yeah apparently bread is sweeter here (although I haven't noticed, but I've never really eaten a lot of packaged bread).
But I get what you're saying, I guess they don't have the same brands at all where you come from. It's not really different from France... the main difference is that the same yogurt will be 125g over there, but 150g or 170g here. And I don't remember seeing so many different kinds of milk there (there's skimmed, and 'semi skimmed', here we have 1%, 2% and nonfat). And obviously there are products on both sides that are not available elsewhere.
American food seems to, in general, have more sugar added
Even Heinz baked beans are overly sweet compared to uk beans
"The American product contains brown sugar where the British beans do not, and the US product contains 14 g of sugar per 16 oz tin[10] compared to 7 g for the British version (equating to 140 versus 90 calories). " wiki0 -
The main difference is the ( natural) sugar amounts...in like Mountain it is 6% About the lowest you can get here
Dutch yogurts have 1 or 2% or not even listed on the label. That is why the yogurt in the US taste is also much sweeter than in Holland. In Holland the yogurt taste sour..real sour. We also dont talk about butter milk but sweet and sour milk Karnemelk= buttermilk And our yogurt tast is like the buttermilk tast here so sour no sugars in it.
Milk the same cheeses too. I am talking specially about diary because that is were i found the most differences i didnt expect to see.
But in a lot of products is diary...in some sort.
than we have like bread
Normal brown bread ( so whole wheat) 74 calories Try to find normal bread here for that amount....you have to take some sort of Sara Lee of some sort that get that amounts...But the Dutch whole wheat or white skinny breads are lower than that those again.
So when you are used to eating your diaries and bread everyday and cook "healthy" like i said balanced
Than still in the US you get more calories in for the same amounts than you get in Holland.
Yeah apparently bread is sweeter here (although I haven't noticed, but I've never really eaten a lot of packaged bread).
But I get what you're saying, I guess they don't have the same brands at all where you come from. It's not really different from France... the main difference is that the same yogurt will be 125g over there, but 150g or 170g here. And I don't remember seeing so many different kinds of milk there (there's skimmed, and 'semi skimmed', here we have 1%, 2% and nonfat). And obviously there are products on both sides that are not available elsewhere.
American food seems to, in general, have more sugar added
Even Heinz baked beans are overly sweet compared to uk beans
"The American product contains brown sugar where the British beans do not, and the US product contains 14 g of sugar per 16 oz tin[10] compared to 7 g for the British version (equating to 140 versus 90 calories). " wiki
Yes it is all sauces, diary, bread etc have more sugar
lol the American sliced cheese...i cant get used to it lol Don't eat it btw...when i can i buy old Amsterdam cheese hehehe.
But indeed rabbith there is more sugar and salt too in the US foods.
I had a blast with some Dutch friends who couldn't believe the yogurts here...They were like ewwwwwwwwwwww rofl
What is this what is in it? It is sweet as hell.... This isn't yogurt.
Some things you get used too and adapt. Some things i never will.
Mayonnaise is a good one... i make my own. Without the huge amount of salt.
Just plain eggs and oil and when i want a taste to it spices and herbs. But the mayo here i lollllllzz about it.
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America doesn't do it.
eating too many calories does. It just might be easier here0 -
Rabbitjb, agree about the beans, still don't like the Canadian version of them or ketchup.
A lot of the same brand canned goods that are available in the UK, USA, and Canada are made with country specific recipes. ie: Canadian soups, in general, have more salt than the other countries, the USA tends to have more sweetening products in their food.
This is just observations from when I travel, I don't like salty food so always check labels.
Cheers, h.0 -
America doesn't do it.
eating too many calories does. It just might be easier here
well i said that isnt it?
Its eating surplus
But there was only something i didn't consider before and didn't realize that i even with consuming the same as i did in Holland ate far more than i thought.
My own fault
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AlabasterVerve wrote: »I think it's because eating habits and customs have changed so dramatically more than increased food availability or a lack of exercise. I think those things play a part, of course, but its become not only normal to eat all hours of the day and night we're encouraged to and told it's healthy.
Here are some of the differences I see from when I grew up (and obese children with adult diseases were rare):- Snacking between meals was rare and frowned upon lest you "spoil your appetite"
- Sending a child to bed without dinner was a perfectly acceptable punishment
- Telling a child to eat now or you'll be hungry later and actually letting a child be hungry if they didn't eat their meal
- Bringing "emergency food" -- snacks and drinks -- with you outside of the house wasn't a thing. You waited until you got home to eat or drink.
- Taking a walk after dinner "to help your food digest" was a thing
- You didn't eat after dinner or dessert
- Eating out was a special occasion
- Eating some fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, starches etc. was good enough. No one had it in their head in order to be healthy you had to consume so much of everything or a particular number servings .
It was just a completely different attitude towards eating that has been completely eroded by government food recommendations and food industry marketing.
I remember all this from my childhood. There was only one overweight child in my class. Also, we watched very little TV and didn't have video games in my house or the internet.
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I was always outside from 1st grade to 12th grade. It's a rarity now to see many kids playing ball in the street, or having that basketball backboard on the house above the garage and everyone playing. People are a bit more paranoid about their kids playing outside I guess.
But even when I snacked as a kid, it wasn't a whole family size bag of Doritos. Nor giant size Snickers bar. I believe in America, the bigger the better is viewed as good when it comes to eating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Weight gain is caused by a calorie surplus and not geographic location.0
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Its very sad to think that prosperity and availability leads to FAT so in my opinion its simply a lack of discipline. period0
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I have spent a lot of time overseas. I lost 10 pounds each trip because I've walked so much. For example, when I travel to Sweden, I take the bus to the rail (Stockholm) or the rail direct to my destination (Göteborg). I, then, walk from the rail station into town and walk the whole trip. This is what helped me to finally rid of my auto here in 2012. Americans have a serious auto addiction excused by their choice of where they bought a home and/or found a job. They also do little to make public transportation more widespread. I do have a Zipcar account incase I do want to go places where I can not walk/take public transportation.
The other issue is portion sizes. They are outrageous here. One serving can feed three people easily. These portions also include grossly unhealthy things like butter sauces. This is not typical in Europe.0
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