Going to the UK

My mom went to London a few years ago. She said they served peas with every meal. Blech.

I can assure you that the food there is every bit as good, if not better and often healthier than you can get in the US. For a start, the fresh bread isn't loaded with sugar which saves a lot of calories. I don't think that British people have such a sweet tooth as the Americans and, as a result, the food probably won't be as sweet as you may be used to, which is a good thing if you're dieting. They have all the food that you can get here, fresh salads, wraps, cottage cheese, all the fruits and vegetables you can buy here. Of course there are things like fish and chips, which you can also get here, which you will obviously avoid. In fact, Indian food is so popular in the UK that it overtook fish and chips as the national dish!

It won't be a problem at all.

And peas are good for you!

Hi, I'm from the UK but I haven't been to America so not sure what's different- except obviously brands of things! But nutritional information is shown on alll store bought sandwiches, salads etc- and can be seen on any food you buy in a store. Restaurants may be able to offer you nutritional information if you ask them, or at least be able to give you a general idea. There are loads of places to eat in London- quite expensive though compared to the rest of Britain. If you're looking for light lunches, try Marks and Spencer's stores for things like pre-packed sushi, sandwiches and salads- they do a count on us range which are especially for dieters. When eating out in most restaurants you get a choice of chips (fries), jacket potato, mash or new potatoes- go for new, these are just boiled. Don't worry, we don't spread lard on our food or anything, just use your common sense with things: no fish and chips, curries... avoid takeaways unless it's sushi. Do look in stores like tesco and marks and spencers for sandwiches etc, and when you eat out go for baked fish dishes or anything you feel you could enjoy guiltlessly. x

We're going next month as well... Last time we stayed, we had a place that had a kitchenette, so it was nice to be able to fix our own food. Loved the fresh fruit at the Tesco. I remember I got wonderful raspberries, that said they were a product of the USA, and they were in better condition than any I've bought in a store here at home.

If any Londoners pop on here... I have a question. I have dairy and egg allergies. To replace the dairy, I drink oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk and soy milk. Are those readily available at places like Tesco? Thanks...

We're going next month as well... Last time we stayed, we had a place that had a kitchenette, so it was nice to be able to fix our own food. Loved the fresh fruit at the Tesco. I remember I got wonderful raspberries, that said they were a product of the USA, and they were in better condition than any I've bought in a store here at home.

If any Londoners pop on here... I have a question. I have dairy and egg allergies. To replace the dairy, I drink oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk and soy milk. Are those readily available at places like Tesco? Thanks...

Definitely soy milk is available at tescos. I haven't heard of hemp milk or oat milk but I think I've seen almond milk on the shelves. There are a lot of dairy alternatives available in Tesco, just have a good look around. x

I'll be going in 2 weeks and am worried. It is not so much the British food as it is eating out 3 times a day for 2 weeks. I will be eating at an on-site cafeteria for lunch. It seems like most of their sandwiches are mayo based - bleh. I will make the best choices I can and try to get my workouts in. For dinners, I try to do Indian as much as I can. I need to do my research on the best Indian choices to make.

Yeah there are a lot of mayo based sandwiches, that is true- maybe get something like turkey though. whenever i buy a pre=packed sandwich, i always scrape off what i can of the fattier things on it like butter, mayo etc. if you're going to eat at indians then it is best to get the tandoori dishes- these are meats cooked dry with the sauce served seperately- it's best to not eat all of the sauce because that's where the majority of the calories are. Otherwise go for dahls made from split peas and lentils. I'd avoid any proper 'curries' in indian restaurants- they use a lot of ghee in their cooking and a lot of coconut and cream- they tend to use these things to tone down the hotness for the British palate. x

Thanks for the info - the one huge difference between the US and UK is portion size. The US portions could feed 2 or 3. I forgot about butter on the sandwiches. I'll have to remember that one. I love granary (sp?) bread! That is the one thing that I look forward to when eating in the cafeteria.

We're going next month as well... Last time we stayed, we had a place that had a kitchenette, so it was nice to be able to fix our own food. Loved the fresh fruit at the Tesco. I remember I got wonderful raspberries, that said they were a product of the USA, and they were in better condition than any I've bought in a store here at home.

If any Londoners pop on here... I have a question. I have dairy and egg allergies. To replace the dairy, I drink oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk and soy milk. Are those readily available at places like Tesco? Thanks...

Definitely soy milk is available at tescos. I haven't heard of hemp milk or oat milk but I think I've seen almond milk on the shelves. There are a lot of dairy alternatives available in Tesco, just have a good look around. x

Tesco also sell rice milk x

Thanks guys! That takes a big worry off my mind!

Im from the UK too and have been to America.
Few things:
- If you are eating out the portion sizes are much much much smaller.
- the salads in some places don't even come with dressings!!!
- things like mcdonalds are the same size, well the burgers at least, I believe the fries (as you call then) are smaller over here.
- as someone mentioned our fresh food is actually fresh with no crap in it, such as apples they don't have the weird wax layer over it and the the bread isn't full of sugar.
- if you from a hotter part of america you'll burn more calories staying warm!!!

Food labels - we do our per portion very differently, stick to looking at the 100g information, look at the front of pack, see how big your serving is and multiple the 100g figure by the serving size/100!!
If for example you looking at fat, in 100g it may be 5g, this means 5%, just multiple the serving size by 5% and you'll get the amount of fat your about to eat.

Hope that makes sense!!

Hi,

As a UK user of MFP, I can't imagine you will have much problem.
Most of the main stuff is on MPF - and eating out will bring you smaller portions...so easier to be aware.
Try subway too, for fresh stuff that is easy to calculate and listed on MPF.
Enjoy your trip )

I live in the UK, ive always wanted to visit the US but this is making me worry lol i would go with my boyfriend, in which case we might as well order 1 meal and share it, some of the UK portions are a bit big for me now, im used to eating less now. we ordered a chinese the other week and i could only just manage a fourth of the noodles (i only like noodles so thats the only thing i eat from there, my dad eats it all :O )
in our supermarkets we have loads of healthy options all fruit, veg and food have nutritional info on.

here are the links to some UK supermarkets, so you can get a better idea of what we have on offer:
Tesco:- http://www.tesco.com/
Morrisons:- http://www.morrisons.co.uk/
Sainsburys:- http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/index.jsp
Marks and Spencers (M&S):- http://tiny.cc/ibd4k
Asda:- http://www.asda.co.uk/corp/home.html
Somerfield:- http://www.somerfield.co.uk/
The Co-op:- http://www.co-operative.coop/food/

most restaurants and on most of the supermarket websites above have nutritional info on them.
Have fun on your trip.
Just remember to bring an umbrella