Americans have it so much better than us in UK/Ireland

All those 100 cal packs of things are not good for you, yes some MFP'ers use them out of desperation (i.e. movie night with family) but the majority of us here recognize them for what they are - marketing ploys.

Not only are they processed in general but the "diet" foods all have additional added chemicals and sugar to make things low-cal or fat free, nasty!

Those Fat-Free Pringles that came out in the USA a few years ago never made it out of the US (I'm in Canada) b/c anal leakage just isn't a cute side effect of diet products.

Check out the threads for fun and filling snacks.

You do realize that 64% of the American population is overweight, right?

And yet most of our population is obese!!
haha

ha all our "low fat" choices taste like warmed over dog poop

reduced fat hummous plus piri piri flavour
john west salmon or tuna lunch bites.
tesco value salad cheese - this is my saviour because I love cheese and it's really low calorie
extra light philidelphia - use this as everything, it is my staple for creamy sauces and instead of butter!
chocolate oat milk - put this on my oatibix for my morning sweet fix.

DON'T buy kelloggs, always get the Tesco own brand version, contains much less sugar and calories.
shop the perimeter, and stay away from ready meals, but I do think Tesco light choices are ok for a quick bite, but do contain salt! I always buy olives, hummous, tinned crab, salad packs, prawns (get the best offer), salad cheese, jacket potatoes and onions. Buy meat from the delicatessen, not packaged. Tesco is great for their deli counters and fish counters.
Good luck!

I try to cook from home with the freshest produce and meat I can get. It's not good for you to eat a lot of those processed single serving snack foods. Yeah, I might eat some lite kettle corn as a snack in a desperate attempt to keep myself from eating something worse, but it's still not the best thing for me. Fruit, veggies, whole wheat pastas and grains, and dairy are things that you should be able to buy anywhere. Don't get caught up in all of the marketing hype.

We, as a nation, are not really the slimmest, if you haven't noticed.

Buy tons of produce and get creative in the kitchen! I live in America and NEVER consume anything that's "diet" or "low-fat, low-cholesterol" whatever because it's not safe and it's not good for your body.
Look up recipes on allrecipes.com or just Google it, and try out your own thing! it's cheaper and you will FEEL better and worry less about what you're NOT eating, because you can still eat great you just have to work a little at it!

Aldi has a great variety

As an American living in the UK, I can see both sides. The diet industry is the US is a huge business. They will slap 'low' this and 'half' that on just about everything. There is a fast food drive thru on every street corner, sometimes there's 2. I think if people would think 'healthy' more than lowfat or diet then you would see a lot more options.

For example using tortillas to make wraps instead of using bread. The calorie difference is notable. Whole grain cereal, muslix etc. in place of high sugar cereals. Sorbet in place of ice cream, the list goes on and on. Tesco does now offer their line of 'lighter choice' but if you look at the preservatives and additives it's not always a healthy alternative. There are alternatives that you can find to replace some of the high fat, high sodium foods you may enjoy. You just have to put a bit of effort it, just like losing weight, it doesn't just happen you gotta work for it.

.....I just feel like Americans have so much better food choices ...aimed at people who are on diet. Much more low-fat choices, low-cal choices, bagged portion size things, nicer snacks, non dairy ice creams, and what not!! All these crazy alternatives to stuff!!!

I don't get none of that in tesco or dunnes over here!!! Or maybe I'm just being blind?? the only "diet" item I buy is diet-freakin-coke and skimmed milk!

So any of u guys from UK/Ire find any products in Tesco/Dunnes which are worth looking at?? Which help you diet-wise? Thanks a million!

Low-fat, low-cal, prebagged snacks and whatnot are NOT REAL FOOD.

- signed an American who thinks low-fat/low-cal is half of why people are fat.

lol what? America has one of the biggest obesity problems in the world! Yes we have pre-portioned foods, but they're also all loaded with calories and salt. And all of our "diet" foods are loaded up on sodium to keep them "preserved." Trust me, it's not that great here :P

haha I did not mean it like that....

i do eat good most of the times. but for the times i feel like eating crap I'd have liked to have calorie controlled, portion sized junk :P if u know what I mean...

you could count out the serving, right? like if the cookies are 3 per serving, eat three? it's willpower, or a dietary change IMO.
ooh, -edit- honestly all of the alternative foods are just for people with allergies because we make such a stink about it. we are gluten free but ALSO we want alternative sugars but ALSO we want low fat BUT ALSO we want peanut butter chocolate cups but ALSO we want it pre-packaged with enough for us to have a set amount of calories but ALSO we want it under 150 calories. OH AND ALSO... the demands go on and on. they're really not that great.. if we didn't want fatty butter, we got margarine. and now its giving us cardiovascular disease and cancer (not JUST margarine, but its one of the many).
seriously, it's about moderation and portion control at home.

The do not have Hostess products that I was able to find in Ireland... you are blessed

I know what the OP means. Half the recipes on mfp include ingredients we can't get here.... Which I then google... And then I'm not jealous any more!

We have loads of weight watchers stuff, etc, just it's not the same.

I want PB2 too! Someone import it, please!

Most of thoes so called "Diet" choices are fake just as a country we are easy to try silly things to make us feel better without any real results and the US is no longer the "fattest" country in the world we are in the number 3 spot! I know its not saying much but it is a improvement and its 66.7% with Germany 0.2% behind us at 66.5%

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/091125/obesity-epidemic-fattest-countries