Moved to America, now struggling to get under control
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GeriBeck19 wrote: »I haven't read through the other replies, but want to share the experience of our 17 yr old foreign exchange student. She became sick after eating our American diet for a few days upon her arrival. She was so concerned about her abdominal pain that we made a trip to the ER, but everything checked out fine. Our diets are crap, I'm afraid, compared to other countries and our proportions hideous! But, you can make health choices if you're disciplined. I have to watch calories like crazy and still have a very difficult time keeping what I consume within my calorie limit WHEN I eat out. It's so much easier to prepare simple meals at home and grill or bake your meat and pare it with tons of veggies. You can do it! And look for simple recipes of the Internet to add variety. I'm not a big fish eater, but with great recipes, I have become one. Good luck!
It's actually pretty normal to have stomach issues after a long trip.2 -
I was at work and didn't have time to look things up. Cyclamate is the name of the sweetener. But I'm not going to respond to the rest since this thread has moved so much.
Organic doesn't mean no pesticides, sometimes they use more toxic pesticides, it's just the source of the ingredients.I can sympathise with you as I noticed while living in the US it is almost impossible to buy healthy convenience foods. We take for granted the fact we can pop into an M&S attached to a petrol station and buy a 150cal five bean salad or fresh sushi. In the US there are no healthy fast foods. You have to go to cafes inside Whole Foods or pack your own food from home.
For eating out my husband and I would ALWAYS split a meal...with him being twice my size he'd eat about two thirds and I'd eat a third and we'd both be satiated. I did like Panera though because you can buy half salads and half sandwiches. They do this because people are encouraged to have a half salad with a soup or a half sandwich. I'd just buy a half salad or half sandwich and eat that by itself. Don't fall for the Oanera ploy of do you want a pastry for only $1 more? (Noooooo)
In the US the portion sizes are massive but over time, they don't look so massive you get desensitised into thinking you're starving yourself. Scientific studies have also shown that if you are presented with more food, you'll eat more food so that is why splitting a meal or just ordering a half size up front is you best bet to not overeat. Too, some restaurants have menus for senior citizens that tend to be smaller sized and lower calorie...i.e. Two egg omelette instead of the standard ridiculously huge three or four egg omelette. I've asked if I can order them before and usually the restaurant will let you. At times, if my husband and I don't want the same meal, we'll each order an appetiser and a side salad as our meal which works too. Follow just the portioning rules on cheat days..make cheat days be about eating what you want but not overeating/gorging on whatever you want.
While portion sizes in many US restaurants are very large, the sentences bolded above are just completely wrong. I can go into my Lowe's foods grocery store here in NC and find a salad bar with a good selection of vegetables and fruits (as well as some higher calorie options). There are pre-made salads, both low and high calorie, with a selection of lower and higher calorie dressings. Most of our fast food restaurants have lower calorie options (ex. baked potato and side salad at Wendys; egg white sandwiches at MacDonalds; etc). It may take a little more work at first, but it is possible to make better choices.
Sorry, when in the US I ate only organic food so your sources didn't even come to mind. I have a bit of a prejudice against non organic food in the US because the production of it uses additives, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics that are outlawed as unsafe here in the UK.
And there is stuff that is legal in the U.K. That is illegal in the US.
I know organic doesn't mean zero peticides. Where did I ever say that? "Toxic" is a relative concept. Yes some organic pesticides may be more "toxic" but what matters is how much of said pesticide do you actually ingest..Ingesting a lot of a less toxic pesticide can be worse than a trace amount of a more toxic one.
I don't know of anything that is legal in the UK that is illegal in the US in terms of food additives, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics due to safety standards. Care to name a few things?
There actually is an artificial sweetener that is legal in the U.K., but illegal here. Haggis is not allowed here, raw milk is mostly banned here.
But the thing is that we don't ban something here unless it is proven to cause problems, and many pesticides that are banned, this is true in both countries, are banned not because they hurt people, but because they hurt native wildlife, plants and insects. And those that are used must have little to no trace left on the produce when it is harvested. There are entire labs dealing with these things.
Hormones are rarely used in the US for animal agriculture anymore. Just go look at all the dairy, it's rare that you see something that doesn't say hormone free. And it's because farmers found that they didn't help their bottom line, not because the government told them to.
I'm sorry but haggis and milk are foods not a food additive, pesticide, herbicide, hormone or antibiotic. I am sure you know the difference and are just flailing about a bit. You failed to name this "artificial sweetener" so how can I verify your statement?
In fact, you've not named a single food additive, pesticide, herbicide, hormone or antibiotic that is legal in the UK but banned in the US due to safety standards. So, without further ado, I'm calling BS on your assertion. ⛳️
I think you're a little misinformed on the hormone and antibiotic usage in the US vs the UK. There is a big difference.
The UK doesn't ban things unless theyre proven to cause problems, we just have what is called the precautionary principle where we test things before putting it into the food production chain instead of using our populace and ecosystem as guinea pigs.
Now you can wave your
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When someone is first trying to change habits, it can be a bit overwhelming to find the right strategies. Asking the community for suggestions is a great idea. If you can find and use 5 -6 suggestions from this thread, it can help get you started and sustain you while you hunt for other healthy options that appeal to you. The challenge lies in changing your mind about what is appealing. You can do it if you're determined and believe in your own resilience.3 -
diannethegeek wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »Probably because although I don't know Denver, I know what she means about soup options. I think we have similar eating habits. I am a forgetful idiot, so end up far from home without my prelogged packed lunch frequently. However, thus far, it has never been a problem, because I just find a supermarket and buy a soup or curry in a plastic tub from the cabinet by the door. UK supermarkets do a roaring trade in these, clearly.
Every supermarket I've been in has soup options like that. So do quick serve restaurants, of course.
Probably curry is more rare (here I'd assume curry was high cal unless it was something like a low cal frozen meal), so certainly our premade stuff would be different (but there would be lower cal options available).
There's also normally sushi and sashimi in a grocery store IME. I would not try to buy one (or any food other than maybe a protein bar) at a gas station, but I would hope gas station cuisine does not define us.
Where do you live that there is normally sushi and sashimi in a grocery store? That is certainly not true where I live. There are a couple of brand new grocery stores in ritzy suburbs that have it, but it's the exception, not the rule.
FWIW, I live in a mid-sized town in Kansas. Every Dillons in town has a sushi bar and the nearest HyVee just added one.
I'm jealous. Dillons didn't have them when I lived there, but it was my favorite grocery store even if it wasn't quite like California grocery stores.0 -
I found the complete opposite. We holidayed in the US for a month, from Australia, and had absolutely no issues eating healthily when eating out or buying ingredients from the supermarkets (to prepare warm meals in a small studio apartment, or cold from ingredients and preprepared options we stored in hotel room fridges.)
I found there to be heaps of options, moreso than here. The supermarkets were full of so many weird and wonderful things, with a greater variety of low-cal foods, and better grab-and-go options.
Sure, there's also a huge range on the other end of the spectrum, and overeating would be easy if you didn't pay attention to what you were consuming - it's up to you to make the right choices.2 -
When I moved to US I found foods more different from UK than I expected...example bread is sweet - took me a long time to discover that UK bread is more like sour dough. Being a northerner in Texas, I also missed meat pies and of course the variety of curries
. When I first arrived there seemed an overwhelming choice of foods and things that looked the same (like the bread) but were quite different in content. That to me is part of the enjoyment of moving to a different culture and I guess I was like a kid in a sweet shop trying all the goodies. However, it's not just the food that's different and when you emigrate, you are trying to get to grips with a whole other set of changes (driving, accommodation, healthcare, work to name a few) so it's easy for nutrition to slip. In addition, the clothes sizes are way different ( when I first moved it was 1size different so UK 12 was US 10, a few yrs later, it was 2 sizes different)..so it's easy to think that you're not even gaining without a scale. I ate out a lot at first because of circumstances and the fact that it was cheaper than in the U.K. so a bonus. It's surprising how quickly you adjust to larger portions! Took me a while to realise it was socially acceptable to ask to take home leftovers but that made a big difference. I also got to the point where I preferred home made from scratch meals to the pre packaged stuff. Once I adjusted, I actually found it just as easy to keep the weight down as in the uk. It's hard to resist a fresh pancake stack covered in maple syrup with bacon though...now I'm back in the UK that's the thing I miss most. My advice...set a goal, get a food scale, weigh everything fill up on veg and only eat snacks that fir in your goal. If you like soup, get a slow cooker and pile in the veg. 6 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »It also can be more embarrassing to ask for help and/or directions if your accent marks you out as a marauding tourist.
Americans usually love people with British accents. A friend of mine used to work for a UK-based firm and the management would joke about how they loved to come to the US since the accent would give them credit for extra perceived IQ points and sophistication.
I went through a Dunkin Donuts drive through the other day and ordered a coffee. The young lass said "Um, could you say that again please?" I apologized to her for my accent, and she said, "oh I understood you perfectly, I just wanted to hear it again. It's like I'm talking to the Queen of England." (I don't think the Queen has a broad Yorkshire accent, but it made my day.)5 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »I can sympathise with you as I noticed while living in the US it is almost impossible to buy healthy convenience foods. We take for granted the fact we can pop into an M&S attached to a petrol station and buy a 150cal five bean salad or fresh sushi. In the US there are no healthy fast foods. You have to go to cafes inside Whole Foods or pack your own food from home.
For eating out my husband and I would ALWAYS split a meal...with him being twice my size he'd eat about two thirds and I'd eat a third and we'd both be satiated. I did like Panera though because you can buy half salads and half sandwiches. They do this because people are encouraged to have a half salad with a soup or a half sandwich. I'd just buy a half salad or half sandwich and eat that by itself. Don't fall for the Oanera ploy of do you want a pastry for only $1 more? (Noooooo)
In the US the portion sizes are massive but over time, they don't look so massive you get desensitised into thinking you're starving yourself. Scientific studies have also shown that if you are presented with more food, you'll eat more food so that is why splitting a meal or just ordering a half size up front is you best bet to not overeat. Too, some restaurants have menus for senior citizens that tend to be smaller sized and lower calorie...i.e. Two egg omelette instead of the standard ridiculously huge three or four egg omelette. I've asked if I can order them before and usually the restaurant will let you. At times, if my husband and I don't want the same meal, we'll each order an appetiser and a side salad as our meal which works too. Follow just the portioning rules on cheat days..make cheat days be about eating what you want but not overeating/gorging on whatever you want.
if you think our portion sizes are big now you should have seen them 20-30 years ago. most things that are prepackaged here have SHRUNK in size.we used to be able to supersize at mcdonalds,they dont do that now,but its still all about calories in vs calories out.I have never been to a gas station here in the us where they sell fresh sushi.he fast food restaurants in the us most of them do have healthier options,its not all "bad" foods
American portion sizes are HUGE, I can't imagine what they were years ago.
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OP, as a European living in US I can understand what you are saying. Everything is bigger here. I can't imagine what portion size looks like in Texas. Lol. There has to be some truth behind the statistics that show that more than 50% of people in US are overweight. But there's overweight people everywhere.
All that means is that it takes a little more work, but it's doable. You just have to adjust your portion size.2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »
I fail to see how discussing pitfalls has anything to do with not taking responsibility.bigmuneymfp wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »
Ah. So have you been to Australia or not?bigmuneymfp wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »
How do you find Australian and/or UK food compares then, in your visits there and here, then?bigmuneymfp wrote: »I moved here from AU and found the same thing. The food is quite different, portion sizes and hard to find healthy alternatives. I also found everything, well nearly everything has high fructose corn syrup which is not good for the waist line. Plus all the hidden sugar and salt in foods. Even the bread tastes sweet compared to what we are used to.
It took no time to put it on and even longer to take it off. My advice, read the labels on everything, if you don't know what it is then avoid it.
Complete bs
It's irrelevant you can buy anything you want in the US
Let's recap. A poster describes their experiences with adjusting to US food culture, and made suggestions for how the OP could adjust too, as have others. Recommendations have all basically been to be mindful during shopping, without allowing yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security by knowledge of the calorie counts in an equivalent product elsewhere, as they always are on this kind of thread.
I think reducing all that to "complete bs" reflects very poorly on you.
Another bs post, take responsibility, count calories, don't get fat, it's simple
Claiming that it's difficult to find low cal food in a place like Denver seems questionable to me.
I live in Chicago which is likely less health conscious than Denver, and it's incredibly simple if one wants to do it.
Agree. I live in MI (lemurcat and I are practically neighbors lol), and I have no problem finding lots of food that would be considered low calories and 'healthy'. Grocery stores have large produce sections as well as isles and isles full of things like whole grain items, beans and lentils, fish, eggs, frozen produce etc etc. We also have numerous farmers markets in the summer where you can find all sorts of locally grown/raised food. Many of the farmers also sell during the fall and winter in shops and online with local pick up, where you can get shares of local, pasture raised beef/pig, eggs, canned items, local honey etc.
I also have no problem going out to eat and finding options that fit within my calorie goals, from salads to fish centered meals. I've learned to check restaurant's websites before going, ordering water to drink, choosing low calorie options most of the time, and then if I want to go with something higher calorie I either split it, save some for later or I adjust the rest of my day to fit in the calories. It's really not a big deal.
Op, I'm a bit confused because it sounds like you used to be obese in the UK? It doesn't sound like location is an issue, but that you struggle to keep your calorie intake lined up with your weight management goals. Taking responsibility for what's actually the problem will go a long way in helping you take control of the situation and then moving on and correcting it.1 -
rheddmobile wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »HeliumIsNoble wrote: »Probably because although I don't know Denver, I know what she means about soup options. I think we have similar eating habits. I am a forgetful idiot, so end up far from home without my prelogged packed lunch frequently. However, thus far, it has never been a problem, because I just find a supermarket and buy a soup or curry in a plastic tub from the cabinet by the door. UK supermarkets do a roaring trade in these, clearly.
Every supermarket I've been in has soup options like that. So do quick serve restaurants, of course.
Probably curry is more rare (here I'd assume curry was high cal unless it was something like a low cal frozen meal), so certainly our premade stuff would be different (but there would be lower cal options available).
There's also normally sushi and sashimi in a grocery store IME. I would not try to buy one (or any food other than maybe a protein bar) at a gas station, but I would hope gas station cuisine does not define us.
Where do you live that there is normally sushi and sashimi in a grocery store? That is certainly not true where I live. There are a couple of brand new grocery stores in ritzy suburbs that have it, but it's the exception, not the rule.
Midwest here and I know Meijer sells sushi.0 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »OP, as a European living in US I can understand what you are saying. Everything is bigger here. I can't imagine what portion size looks like in Texas. Lol. There has to be some truth behind the statistics that show that more than 50% of people in US are overweight. But there's overweight people everywhere.
All that means is that it takes a little more work, but it's doable. You just have to adjust your portion size.
I have relatives in TX and when we visit the thing that always surprises me is the big hair and high heels lol. We were there one year for a cousin's wedding and that was quite the culture shock-how they do weddings is much different than how we do weddings here in the midwest. Food wise I didn't notice anything different except the rehearsal dinner was at a very upscale steak house and the portions were grotesque in size. But, I just ate how much I'd normally eat and then left the rest. Still fit into my size 2 dress the next day for the wedding 0 -
100 cal snacks are very easy to find. They might not all be individually wrapped for convenience, but they are there. You just have to do the work and look.
I'm a little boggled at the fact that if our portion sizes at restaurants are "obviously" larger than other countries, why would you make the conscious decision to eat the WHOLE thing? Do people think we somehow found a magical way to get more bang for our buck yet still stay in a healthy calorie range?
I guess the point is, a little effort goes a long way. None of this blame game bs.2 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »I can sympathise with you as I noticed while living in the US it is almost impossible to buy healthy convenience foods. We take for granted the fact we can pop into an M&S attached to a petrol station and buy a 150cal five bean salad or fresh sushi. In the US there are no healthy fast foods. You have to go to cafes inside Whole Foods or pack your own food from home.
For eating out my husband and I would ALWAYS split a meal...with him being twice my size he'd eat about two thirds and I'd eat a third and we'd both be satiated. I did like Panera though because you can buy half salads and half sandwiches. They do this because people are encouraged to have a half salad with a soup or a half sandwich. I'd just buy a half salad or half sandwich and eat that by itself. Don't fall for the Oanera ploy of do you want a pastry for only $1 more? (Noooooo)
In the US the portion sizes are massive but over time, they don't look so massive you get desensitised into thinking you're starving yourself. Scientific studies have also shown that if you are presented with more food, you'll eat more food so that is why splitting a meal or just ordering a half size up front is you best bet to not overeat. Too, some restaurants have menus for senior citizens that tend to be smaller sized and lower calorie...i.e. Two egg omelette instead of the standard ridiculously huge three or four egg omelette. I've asked if I can order them before and usually the restaurant will let you. At times, if my husband and I don't want the same meal, we'll each order an appetiser and a side salad as our meal which works too. Follow just the portioning rules on cheat days..make cheat days be about eating what you want but not overeating/gorging on whatever you want.
if you think our portion sizes are big now you should have seen them 20-30 years ago. most things that are prepackaged here have SHRUNK in size.we used to be able to supersize at mcdonalds,they dont do that now,but its still all about calories in vs calories out.I have never been to a gas station here in the us where they sell fresh sushi.he fast food restaurants in the us most of them do have healthier options,its not all "bad" foods
American portion sizes are HUGE, I can't imagine what they were years ago.
I think they are as big or bigger than 20 years ago, definitely bigger than 30 years ago. What adults ate when I was a kid would be considered small or child-sized now if we mean fast food.
For regular restaurants there's a good bit of variety (fine dining won't necessarily have huge portions, but your casual or steak house or ethnic place often will be quite large), but I'd say no smaller now than then. Quick service type places are going to have more normal sized things and have calories available (one place I buy lunch off and on is Pret a Manger, and looking at the sites I am pretty sure the US restaurants do not have larger servings than the UK restaurants -- some stuff is larger and more caloric than others, you can get multiple sizes of soup, etc.) and that is typical of what I can get at other similar places here. Some places (like Noodles Inc., although I rarely go there) has 2 sizes and the smaller one is what I personally would want, but it's not like only the large one is available.0 -
crazyycatladyy1 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »OP, as a European living in US I can understand what you are saying. Everything is bigger here. I can't imagine what portion size looks like in Texas. Lol. There has to be some truth behind the statistics that show that more than 50% of people in US are overweight. But there's overweight people everywhere.
All that means is that it takes a little more work, but it's doable. You just have to adjust your portion size.
I have relatives in TX and when we visit the thing that always surprises me is the big hair and high heels lol. We were there one year for a cousin's wedding and that was quite the culture shock-how they do weddings is much different than how we do weddings here in the midwest. Food wise I didn't notice anything different except the rehearsal dinner was at a very upscale steak house and the portions were grotesque in size. But, I just ate how much I'd normally eat and then left the rest. Still fit into my size 2 dress the next day for the wedding
It is strange our perception of things. I live in Austin TX and I rarely see big hair and high heels. If you had of said cowboy boots I would agree!
I have lived all over the US and the place where I saw the most high heels was DC.
As far as hair goes...it is so hot here during the summer and hot for so long that mostly I see hair pulled up for coolness. Texas does love their beef and pickup trucks!
In other parts of Texas your assessment might be accurate. Even within a state things vary...even within a city. Austin is very much a foodie dream and you can find about anything you want. We are known for having a taco truck on every corner...so someone said during the elections.
To tie in to the OP..
In Texas and within Austin we have a diverse population. I shop at HEB (a Texas and Mexico based grocery). At the HEB that I shop at now they serve a very large Hispanic population while at the HEB that I used to shop at they don't. Their stock is different even their produce varies a lot. I am always amazed at what I find. Cactus and some other strange things are offered where I shop now while my other HEB doesn't have it (at least it is not prominent).
At the holiday time I walked by a freezer chest that contained whole hog heads...I was disturbed at first until I thought about it. Many in our Hispanic communities cook them at their celebrations. Grocery's cater to the demands of their shoppers.
While it might take a while to get used to shopping in other locals the options are there if people spend the time to look for them.
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Yet another member genuinely asking for some help, who didn't word her OP perfectly and is now subject to the usual MFP style of bullying behaviour that 99% of us would vehemently object to if it happened to us in our real lives. "Let's all climb aboard the pedantic express and ride this noob till she crashes!". Sometimes I feel like I've accidentally fallen into a YouTube comment section.6
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crazyycatladyy1 wrote: »Ironandwine69 wrote: »OP, as a European living in US I can understand what you are saying. Everything is bigger here. I can't imagine what portion size looks like in Texas. Lol. There has to be some truth behind the statistics that show that more than 50% of people in US are overweight. But there's overweight people everywhere.
All that means is that it takes a little more work, but it's doable. You just have to adjust your portion size.
I have relatives in TX and when we visit the thing that always surprises me is the big hair and high heels lol. We were there one year for a cousin's wedding and that was quite the culture shock-how they do weddings is much different than how we do weddings here in the midwest. Food wise I didn't notice anything different except the rehearsal dinner was at a very upscale steak house and the portions were grotesque in size. But, I just ate how much I'd normally eat and then left the rest. Still fit into my size 2 dress the next day for the wedding
It is strange our perception of things. I live in Austin TX and I rarely see big hair and high heels. If you had of said cowboy boots I would agree!
I think of TX as having much bigger hair than here, but not Austin (which I love, you are lucky), but more Dallas or Houston. I've never done anything especially formal in Austin (or San Antonio), but only in Dallas (and I went to a wedding in Houston years ago), so that all colors it, perhaps.0 -
JohnnyPenso wrote: »Yet another member genuinely asking for some help, who didn't word her OP perfectly and is now subject to the usual MFP style of bullying behaviour that 99% of us would vehemently object to if it happened to us in our real lives. "Let's all climb aboard the pedantic express and ride this noob till she crashes!". Sometimes I feel like I've accidentally fallen into a YouTube comment section.
Love it.
Yes, OP worded it a little too strong, but funny thing is how many people that never lived outside US pretend to have a fair view of what she is saying.8 -
Ironandwine69 wrote: »JohnnyPenso wrote: »Yet another member genuinely asking for some help, who didn't word her OP perfectly and is now subject to the usual MFP style of bullying behaviour that 99% of us would vehemently object to if it happened to us in our real lives. "Let's all climb aboard the pedantic express and ride this noob till she crashes!". Sometimes I feel like I've accidentally fallen into a YouTube comment section.
Love it.
Yes, OP worded it a little too strong, but funny thing is how many people that never lived outside US pretend to have a fair view of what she is saying.
I was wondering how many people that are getting offended by the OP have tried living abroad (not just a holiday). There is so much to deal with and food is just one of many things that can be bewildering! It looks from some replies as though one should ask not advice on here, just suck it up and work it out for yourself otherwise you're just not putting in the effort. I hope that the OP sees past all those replies as there are a lot of helpful people on here.4
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