Americans eat too much!!!
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I think knowing how much you're eating is important. I also think that's separate from portion sizes.
You can have a huge portion, as long as it fits in your goals and it doesn't have some adverse effect (like hunger) later on that makes it unsustainable.
Or put another way, I'm perfectly capable of knowing how much chicken I can eat. Thanks, though.
Correct. OTOH, you can convince yourself you're superior to others by eating dainty little portions...yet manage to eat them all day long, and get fat.
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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!0
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The visual palm/deck of cards/pair of dice type portion clues are not as helpful as old-time diet plans would have had you believe. There is too much variation in those concepts for them to be accurate.
Weigh out your portions of solid foods, use measuring cups for liquids.
I'm not sure about portion sizes in restaurants around the world because I haven't been abroad for years. However, I do find the portions at mid-level US restaurants to be absurd, I've always gotten 2-3 meals out of them (I bring home my leftovers!). When my husband and I treat ourselves to a higher-end fine dining place? He whines about the "small" servings, but we always leave sated and happy. I think that higher end restaurants do a much better job of serving food as it "should" be....smaller servings, better flavor. But, you know...preferences.0 -
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.
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It's down to convenience and a shift in the kinds of jobs we have. Many, many Americans have jobs where we sit all day, then get in a car to go home. Then, because in America we work absurd hours just to stay afloat, no one has time to cook and we end up eating high-calorie convenience foods on a regular basis. You have to actively fight not to fall into that pattern, because it's just so easy and expected.0
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Did you miss the bolded part?
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.
Then how are other nations beginning to become too overweight as well? Are they still eating the same portion sizes as before, just more of them? Or are the portion sizes beginning to grow, just as at one point, they began to grow in the U.S.?
Because one thing's pretty much sure: the UK, for example, isn't getting fat by continuing to eat small portions without snacking.
As I said, personal observation.
I don't have the answer and wasn't claiming to.
ETA: that didn't quote properly. What I was meaning to highlight was my previous comment: "That's not to say that the US is the only country with an obesity epidemic, just an observation of mine."
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AMEN to that! My boyfriend and I will split a chicken breast for dinner and then have healthy veggies for the sides!0
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I would agree that we do eat too much. Specifically, we eat portions that are too large and some of us eat too fast. Me!
But you can easily change that by:
1. Making less food, or even better making a dish and reheating the rest the next day, not having to cook again.
2. Chewing more (why not count)
3. Ordering more wisely when eating out, or take half home. You can order appetizers and sometimes menus have half size meals. Or eat out less. We eat out only once a month. Yes, really!
Years ago I was doing the Weight Watcher program and questioned the wisdom of "unlimited vegetables". I did feel the volume of food I was eating (too much, because I could) was not what I needed most. I needed to eat less for my body. Still struggle with that.
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Coming from Holland, the first time i went to a dinner out in the US i was shocked about the portion size. The refills of soda's etc. Was totally unfamiliar with it. People in Holland dont take left over food from restaurants home, well it is rare. Also the buffets are not so common as in the US.
A lot of people do gardening or some sort of mini garden. Which means moving more ( after work) keeping up your garden and fresh foods.
But what is worrying most is the whole commercial industry around the food in the US. The US food commercials are everywhere. And a lot of people see this as normal, children grow up with a couple of "take outs" a day. Go to school by bus ( well a lot) etc etc
Were i come from a take out like McDonalds is for special occasions like birth days. Or just sometimes. Going out for dinner is mostly on Sundays People still cook.
Going to work or school they take the bicycle if they can. People move more in general.
Drive through's ???? only Mac has it...mostly restaurants dont have it. btw there are less restaurants and take out services too. Less advertising for them also.
People pay for their shopping card and have to bring it back to get their money back. etc et So they move more
Children bike to school or walk sometimes the bus.
In general they are member of 1 or 3 clubs and are active. So less tv watching and video games
Aldo everything is changing slowly too. And with the change the overweight people percentage will grow.
Really a shame
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Did you miss the bolded part?
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.
Then how are other nations beginning to become too overweight as well? Are they still eating the same portion sizes as before, just more of them? Or are the portion sizes beginning to grow, just as at one point, they began to grow in the U.S.?
Because one thing's pretty much sure: the UK, for example, isn't getting fat by continuing to eat small portions without snacking.
As I said, personal observation.
I don't have the answer and wasn't claiming to.
ETA: that didn't quote properly. What I was meaning to highlight was my previous comment: "That's not to say that the US is the only country with an obesity epidemic, just an observation of mine."
(shrug) No need to get defensive. Just as yours were personal observations, so too are mine, and I felt the question was legitimate. And important, and here's why...
Yes, although you sandwiched a half-hearted disqualifier in there, obviously, the main thrust is (and will continue to be) how fat Americans are and how gigantic our portion sizes are, shame shame, tsk tsk. Although I don't disagree with either of those sentiments, we're no longer unique on at least the former; the latter deserves an explanation - and a more critical eye. Because if one is deciding one is "doing things better" by not eating "American" portions, but is fat, well, there's obviously a reason, correct? It's no less important to look for those reasons as well - at least if one doesn't want to be (or no longer wants to be) fat.
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When family/friends go on holiday to America this definitely the feedback. Restaurant and cafe servings are massive. I'm sure it's not true of super posh places. Definitely bigger than standard servings in UK restaurants.
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Especially my palm which is 3"x2.5". Now if we're talking the size of Zēng Jīnlián's palm, I'm all for it.Someone would be getting very short shrift if they served me a piece of chicken breast the size of a women's palm.0 -
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TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »Coming from Holland, the first time i went to a dinner out in the US i was shocked about the portion size. The refills of soda's etc. Was totally unfamiliar with it. People in Holland dont take left over food from restaurants home, well it is rare. Also the buffets are not so common as in the US.
A lot of people do gardening or some sort of mini garden. Which means moving more ( after work) keeping up your garden and fresh foods.
But what is worrying most is the whole commercial industry around the food in the US. The US food commercials are everywhere. And a lot of people see this as normal, children grow up with a couple of "take outs" a day. Go to school by bus ( well a lot) etc etc
Were i come from a take out like McDonalds is for special occasions like birth days. Or just sometimes. Going out for dinner is mostly on Sundays People still cook.
Going to work or school they take the bicycle if they can. People move more in general.
Drive through's ???? only Mac has it...mostly restaurants dont have it. btw there are less restaurants and take out services too. Less advertising for them also.
People pay for their shopping card and have to bring it back to get their money back. etc et So they move more
Children bike to school or walk sometimes the bus.
In general they are member of 1 or 3 clubs and are active. So less tv watching and video games
Aldo everything is changing slowly too. And with the change the overweight people percentage will grow.
Really a shame
Thanks for sharing that. I love hearing other perspectives.
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....
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Eating reasonable size portions at a meal is not a problem for me. Between meal snacking is the problem. If I cut out snacking and just have 3 meals a day, I can make those meals pretty big and I'm still within my calorie goals.
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Mots industrialized countries are well on their way to the same sort of obesity issues that we have here in North America. What people here consider a 'normal' portion size is grossly overstated. Plates are getting bigger and so are our waistlines!
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Koldnomore wrote: »Mots industrialized countries are well on their way to the same sort of obesity issues that we have here in North America. What people here consider a 'normal' portion size is grossly overstated. Plates are getting bigger and so are our waistlines!
Surely no one thinks a litre bottle is meant to be a single serving though?!0 -
The intent of my comment was not "shame shame tsk tsk". I am in agreement that the obesity epidemic is not solely a US phenomenon but I do agree with the OP, and a number of other posters here apparently, that typical US portion sizes do appear to dwarf those of other countries.
Did you miss the bolded part?
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.
Then how are other nations beginning to become too overweight as well? Are they still eating the same portion sizes as before, just more of them? Or are the portion sizes beginning to grow, just as at one point, they began to grow in the U.S.?
Because one thing's pretty much sure: the UK, for example, isn't getting fat by continuing to eat small portions without snacking.
As I said, personal observation.
I don't have the answer and wasn't claiming to.
ETA: that didn't quote properly. What I was meaning to highlight was my previous comment: "That's not to say that the US is the only country with an obesity epidemic, just an observation of mine."
(shrug) No need to get defensive. Just as yours were personal observations, so too are mine, and I felt the question was legitimate. And important, and here's why...
Yes, although you sandwiched a half-hearted disqualifier in there, obviously, the main thrust is (and will continue to be) how fat Americans are and how gigantic our portion sizes are, shame shame, tsk tsk. Although I don't disagree with either of those sentiments, we're no longer unique on at least the former; the latter deserves an explanation - and a more critical eye. Because if one is deciding one is "doing things better" by not eating "American" portions, but is fat, well, there's obviously a reason, correct? It's no less important to look for those reasons as well - at least if one doesn't want to be (or no longer wants to be) fat.
Is that the only reason for the obesity epidemic? Obviously not, given your keen observation that many other countries struggle with it as well.
So in reality, we agree. Sort of. Truce?
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