Americans eat too much!!!
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I'm from the UK and have been to Florida 5 times or so in the last ten years or so. Your restaurant portions are enormous. I have to say we are catching up so please don't take this the wrong way. Your child portions are adult portion sizes I think. Not sure if Florida is different as I guess many American people are also on holiday and let's face it on holiday we all pig out!
I watched a programme last night that said we in the UK eat as many processed meals as the rest of Europe combined which now I'm learning to eat healthier thanks to MFP is worrying as they nearly all contain more salts and sugars.
I think we all need to start to eat less for the sake of the next generation.0 -
My parents live near Portland, in an area that seems reasonably fit (lots of outdoor activities), but they've recently started going to all-you-can-eat buffets. I assumed it was a result of them turning 70, as in my mind it's mostly an age-related thing. Back in the 70s when I was a little kid (and the US was less fat), I remember being brought to all-you-can-eat places with my grandparents (and hating it then).
It is true that although there are plenty of fat people in my city, they seem pretty rare in my neighborhood and social circle (although not unheard of, and I was definitely fat). There are a lot of kids in my neighborhood and I'm right by an elementary school and none of the kids seem to be overweight. (They also have a nice outdoor play area, which can be a problem in some less well-off and safe areas of the city.)
The last buffet-like thing I've been to was last year (a definite "treat" meal) when a friend insisted upon having a birthday celebration at Shaw's Crab House's Sunday Brunch. That, admittedly, is an insane amount of high calorie food!0 -
lisafrancis888 wrote: »I'm from the UK and have been to Florida 5 times or so in the last ten years or so. Your restaurant portions are enormous. I have to say we are catching up so please don't take this the wrong way. Your child portions are adult portion sizes I think. Not sure if Florida is different as I guess many American people are also on holiday and let's face it on holiday we all pig out!
I watched a programme last night that said we in the UK eat as many processed meals as the rest of Europe combined which now I'm learning to eat healthier thanks to MFP is worrying as they nearly all contain more salts and sugars.
I think we all need to start to eat less for the sake of the next generation.
Although I fully agree that our portion sizes tend toward huge, please be aware that if you're in a tourist-y area, the sizes will be big even by our standards. I noted that when we had lunch at Downtown Disney last weekend with a friend. We were all in shock. (I actually only live about 30 miles from Disney.) Tourist traps want everyone want to have a blow-you-away experience, and gigantic food portions are part of that.
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lisafrancis888 wrote: »I'm from the UK and have been to Florida 5 times or so in the last ten years or so. Your restaurant portions are enormous. I have to say we are catching up so please don't take this the wrong way. Your child portions are adult portion sizes I think. Not sure if Florida is different as I guess many American people are also on holiday and let's face it on holiday we all pig out!
I watched a programme last night that said we in the UK eat as many processed meals as the rest of Europe combined which now I'm learning to eat healthier thanks to MFP is worrying as they nearly all contain more salts and sugars.
I think we all need to start to eat less for the sake of the next generation.
Although I fully agree that our portion sizes tend toward huge, please be aware that if you're in a tourist-y area, the sizes will be big even by our standards. I noted that when we had lunch at Downtown Disney last weekend with a friend. We were all in shock.
I thought that might be the case. Glad to know as I would love to travel to other parts of the USA in future. I was always a little embarrassed leaving so much on my plate. Funnily the large ice creams I could manage;)0 -
lisafrancis888 wrote: »lisafrancis888 wrote: »I'm from the UK and have been to Florida 5 times or so in the last ten years or so. Your restaurant portions are enormous. I have to say we are catching up so please don't take this the wrong way. Your child portions are adult portion sizes I think. Not sure if Florida is different as I guess many American people are also on holiday and let's face it on holiday we all pig out!
I watched a programme last night that said we in the UK eat as many processed meals as the rest of Europe combined which now I'm learning to eat healthier thanks to MFP is worrying as they nearly all contain more salts and sugars.
I think we all need to start to eat less for the sake of the next generation.
Although I fully agree that our portion sizes tend toward huge, please be aware that if you're in a tourist-y area, the sizes will be big even by our standards. I noted that when we had lunch at Downtown Disney last weekend with a friend. We were all in shock.
I thought that might be the case. Glad to know as I would love to travel to other parts of the USA in future. I was always a little embarrassed leaving so much on my plate. Funnily the large ice creams I could manage;)
Don't be embarrassed to ask to take home your uneaten portion, either. That's pretty routine and nobody will even blink.
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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.
I think it's more of a limited thing, instead of the whole menu. Just about every chain family restaurant has free refills on soft drinks. Red Lobster does AYCE shrimp promos, and Olive Garden does things like neverending pasta, plus their soup, salad and breadsticks is all unlimited, too.0 -
It's not only food portions, but also good choices. Fast food places and most restaurants serve lots of high calorie dense foods and beverages. Also the snacking is a big factor. Everywhere you look there are pre - packaged foods like chips, cookies, crackers, etc.,
She's right, and of the pre-packaged foods almost all of them have excitotoxins in them. Because of this, our brains are overstimulated and think that these foods are really good. If you've ever gone on a cleanse or ate whole foods for a while, then tried a piece of candy or even took a swig of fruit juice you'd know that it tastes almost repulsive.
Anyway, this over-stimulation is kinda like a drug in our brain that after enough consumption gives us cravings for this junk food and addictions can form. It's no wonder that America along with other nations are so large.
Problem is that yes, a lot of us are busy and don't have time to make homemade meals or snacks to take with us. That and organic food is soo expensive that it gets to be more of a hassle to eat the way we should than it's worth.
Good luck to us all, haha.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.
That. Sounds. Awesome.0 -
She's right, and of the pre-packaged foods almost all of them have excitotoxins in them. Because of this, our brains are overstimulated and think that these foods are really good. If you've ever gone on a cleanse or ate whole foods for a while, then tried a piece of candy or even took a swig of fruit juice you'd know that it tastes almost repulsive.
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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.
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.
That. Sounds. Awesome.
Well then, here you go.
http://visitnebraska.com/
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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.
I think it's more of a limited thing, instead of the whole menu. Just about every chain family restaurant has free refills on soft drinks. Red Lobster does AYCE shrimp promos, and Olive Garden does things like neverending pasta, plus their soup, salad and breadsticks is all unlimited, too.
Oh hmmm, I never even thought of that. It's weird, because I don't ever do those things - refills and the like. I don't even need to refill my drink. And I can EAT. I mean I am a fat*zz. Seriously. So I'm always surprised that other people can do it, apparently, or they wouldn't be offering it at those places.
I just don't know how people can tuck that in all at one time, even if it's just once in a while. Actually, ESPECIALLY if it's only once in a while, as the person's body isn't used to it. I'd throw up. I don't even generally need an appetizer with my dinner, much less endless soup and endless breadsticks. And OMG, MORE than just the one dish of pasta which is already pretty big? The one entree plate is plenty and I usually take some home.
I just honestly can't imagine how people do it. Again, I can seriously eat, I can scary-eat so I'm not pretending to be dainty or anything here.
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Obviously your ability to seriously (over)eat is no longer as scary as you seem to think!The one entree plate is plenty and I usually take some home.
I just honestly can't imagine how people do it. Again, I can seriously eat, I can scary-eat
There was a time when I didn't want to go to Olive Garden because their portions were so much SMALLER than a local restaurant called Anton's
<thankfully I no longer think the same way>0
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