Extreme obesity and paper plates. Question for people in the USA
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Fatgonegirl wrote: »There are some extremely interesting posts on the thread.
I asked the question because I was genuinely interested to know the prevalence of disposable crockery and cutlery. From this unscientific, unrepresentative and not statistically significant snapshot, it does seem that the use of paper plates is more common in the USA than in the UK. Coming from a very damp small island, it did not occur to me that obtaining water for washing up could be a problem. So I have learnt something.
Full disclosure, I have some paper plates in my kitchen cupboard leftover from the BBQ season. They are likely to site there until next summer.
I don't know if I dare say - Another surprise watching My 600lb life is that judging from the nature and condition of their homes, many of the participants live in poverty. I suppose this is because they can not work due to their size and are in receipt of benefits. Nevertheless, they often (although not always) own very nice cars.
I'm guessing a car is provided by the show if there is no suitable vehicle owned.
I have never watched this show, but I am having a hard time imagining someone who weighs 600 lbs fitting inside a car, much less behind the wheel and able to drive it. Or is 600 lb life not meant literally? Are there a lot of contestants* below 400 lbs (which is about the point where my imagination can't picture someone being able to drive).
*Again, I haven't seen the show, so apologies if the participants aren't actually contesting for anything. Is it more like that nanny show whose exact title I can't remember, or Queer Eye, or those home makeover shows, where people are just swooping in to try fix some aspect of someone's life, in this case their weight, rather than people competing to see how much weight they can lose?
At my heaviest I was 387, and was still fully mobile and self sufficient and cared for my ex and grandparents and drove
good thing, no one else could lol
its not a competition of any kind- not like biggest loser. more like their personal story. how they gained the weight, then their surgery, the post surgery and how they do after. I haven't seen a lot of episodes, mostly earlier ones. the people range in weight from probably 500ish to 700ish? Many of them, particularly the larger ones, do not fit in the seats of the cars (or minivans)- they lay in the back of the vans, which is quite sad, and something I had never even considered before watching the show.4 -
We use paper plates and bowls occasionally.
Our kitchen sink had a nasty habit of clogging if you looked at it sideways. And it sometimes took a couple days to clear.
Add that to my disability, my husband’s disability, and my partner’s lack of “spoons” (metaphor for lack of mental energy when things have piled on too much) and paper plates are a Godsend.
So glad to have seen so many other commenters mention disability and other circumstances as valid reasons to use paper plates.9 -
yweight2020 wrote: »specifically with little children not to break real plates
My mother purchased unbreakable plates when my siblings, and I were very young. A couple of my sisters weren’t even born yet.
Unbreakable every day plates have been around a very long time. I’ll be 70 in 2 weeks. When I was about 5 or 6, I remember the salesman, who came to our house selling melmac dishes to my mother. The salesman stood on the serving platter to show how sturdy the dishes were. She had those plates until they downsized their home in the mid 70’s and bought Corel dishes. Corel can break, but I’ve only broken one so far, and there’s been lot of dropped dishes.
I’ve had Corel dishes ever since we got married, almost 46 years ago. My first set, I gave to my daughter when she moved out after college. I purchased a new set. I also have a full set of Lenox Christmas themed China, that gets used once a year on Christmas Day.
I do use paper plates for big gatherings, but that’s about it.
I have bad knees, and standing for long times is painful. When we remodeled the kitchen, I opted for more cupboard space, and we eliminated the dishwasher. I manage cooking from scratch and dish washing, but it’s mostly the two of us, so it’s usually only 10 minutes to clean up time.5 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »We use paper plates and bowls occasionally.
So glad to have seen so many other commenters mention disability and other circumstances as valid reasons to use paper plates.
I suppose it is not necessary to have "valid reasons". If you have considered the options and the impact of your choices that's sufficient.5 -
I buy plastic spoons for my kid to take to school in their lunch for yogurt, only because I am none too keen on my actual silverware being lost or accidentally thrown in the bin! Paper plates/bowls/etc are good for bigger gatherings or cookouts/BBQ's but I literally can't remember the last time I bought any.
random on dishwashing - the previous owners of our house were this super sweet little old couple who had lived there ~50 years. They never had a dishwasher and did all their dishes by hand. The kitchen countertops were formica (I am sure I'm spelling that wrong?) and there was a place on the counter beside the sink below the cupboard where they put plates that was actually worn down from where they would stack the plates and bowls in between washing and drying after every meal.0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Fatgonegirl wrote: »There are some extremely interesting posts on the thread.
I asked the question because I was genuinely interested to know the prevalence of disposable crockery and cutlery. From this unscientific, unrepresentative and not statistically significant snapshot, it does seem that the use of paper plates is more common in the USA than in the UK. Coming from a very damp small island, it did not occur to me that obtaining water for washing up could be a problem. So I have learnt something.
Full disclosure, I have some paper plates in my kitchen cupboard leftover from the BBQ season. They are likely to site there until next summer.
I don't know if I dare say - Another surprise watching My 600lb life is that judging from the nature and condition of their homes, many of the participants live in poverty. I suppose this is because they can not work due to their size and are in receipt of benefits. Nevertheless, they often (although not always) own very nice cars.
I'm guessing a car is provided by the show if there is no suitable vehicle owned.
I have never watched this show, but I am having a hard time imagining someone who weighs 600 lbs fitting inside a car, much less behind the wheel and able to drive it. Or is 600 lb life not meant literally? Are there a lot of contestants* below 400 lbs (which is about the point where my imagination can't picture someone being able to drive).
*Again, I haven't seen the show, so apologies if the participants aren't actually contesting for anything. Is it more like that nanny show whose exact title I can't remember, or Queer Eye, or those home makeover shows, where people are just swooping in to try fix some aspect of someone's life, in this case their weight, rather than people competing to see how much weight they can lose?
At my heaviest I was 387, and was still fully mobile and self sufficient and cared for my ex and grandparents and drove good thing, no one else could lol
its not a competition of any kind- not like biggest loser. more like their personal story. how they gained the weight, then their surgery, the post surgery and how they do after. I haven't seen a lot of episodes, mostly earlier ones. the people range in weight from probably 500ish to 700ish? Many of them, particularly the larger ones, do not fit in the seats of the cars (or minivans)- they lay in the back of the vans, which is quite sad, and something I had never even considered before watching the show.
Thanks.0 -
This is such an awesome thread.
It's a fairly benign and unimportant question in the whole scheme of things that has now morphed into Moral High Ground and has gone on for five pages so far.
Don't ever change, MFP.22 -
I’m not going to chime in on the environmental side or the moral high ground side (great reading though!), but the cost thing is interesting. In the UK water meters are fairly new (as in, last 10-20 yrs in most places) so we used to pay a flat rate for our water. As a kid we would never have had paper or plastic plates or utensils as that would have been expensive - parents would have baulked at paying for stuff like that when we had perfectly good plates at home.
So as someone who has very very rarely used paper plates - don’t they get soggy / struggle to hold a volume of food?? Can they cope with baked beans or a decent sized jacket spud for instance?3 -
So as someone who has very very rarely used paper plates - don’t they get soggy / struggle to hold a volume of food?? Can they cope with baked beans or a decent sized jacket spud for instance?
I grew up in boats and outdoors so we used disposable stuff a lot when I was young. These help:
https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-5493-Bamboo-Holders/dp/B001AT3KPW/ref=asc_df_B001AT3KPW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198090964233&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12487617596011253973&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033270&hvtargid=pla-318953024809&psc=18 -
I live in the center of the USA and honestly know so many people who use paper plates EVERY DAY. Most of them do use metal flatware though. I truly don't get it. Especially when they post photos of "fancy" meals they made - then served on a dang paper plate. It's a personal pet peeve, to be honest, even though I know it's really none of my concern.
We use proper plates and cloth napkins though, always. I buy paper plates maybe one time per year for a casual birthday dinner and it's just to put the cake on...usually small colorful ones. And that's only if we're going to be outdoors or at someone else's home and I don't want to put the extra work on them of washing small plates.
I don't really see a connection to obesity, just laziness and lack of concern for resources/wastefulness.13 -
cmriverside wrote: »This is such an awesome thread.
It's a fairly benign and unimportant question in the whole scheme of things that has now morphed into Moral High Ground and has gone on for five pages so far.
Don't ever change, MFP.
I almost broke my tablet hitting the like button.
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Fatgonegirl wrote: »There are some extremely interesting posts on the thread.
I asked the question because I was genuinely interested to know the prevalence of disposable crockery and cutlery. From this unscientific, unrepresentative and not statistically significant snapshot, it does seem that the use of paper plates is more common in the USA than in the UK. Coming from a very damp small island, it did not occur to me that obtaining water for washing up could be a problem. So I have learnt something.
Full disclosure, I have some paper plates in my kitchen cupboard leftover from the BBQ season. They are likely to site there until next summer.
I don't know if I dare say - Another surprise watching My 600lb life is that judging from the nature and condition of their homes, many of the participants live in poverty. I suppose this is because they can not work due to their size and are in receipt of benefits. Nevertheless, they often (although not always) own very nice cars.
I'm guessing a car is provided by the show if there is no suitable vehicle owned.
I have never watched this show, but I am having a hard time imagining someone who weighs 600 lbs fitting inside a car, much less behind the wheel and able to drive it. Or is 600 lb life not meant literally? Are there a lot of contestants* below 400 lbs (which is about the point where my imagination can't picture someone being able to drive).
600 lbs is indeed literal, some have been heavier. I don't think any participants have started the show below 500 lbs.
Not all can drive but many do fit into vehicles, usually minivans or pickups, but I've seen a few sedans too. Depends a lot on the distribution of the excess weight.2 -
claireychn074 wrote: »I’m not going to chime in on the environmental side or the moral high ground side (great reading though!), but the cost thing is interesting. In the UK water meters are fairly new (as in, last 10-20 yrs in most places) so we used to pay a flat rate for our water. As a kid we would never have had paper or plastic plates or utensils as that would have been expensive - parents would have baulked at paying for stuff like that when we had perfectly good plates at home.
So as someone who has very very rarely used paper plates - don’t they get soggy / struggle to hold a volume of food?? Can they cope with baked beans or a decent sized jacket spud for instance?
There are degrees of thickness so, yeah, some can hold heavier items and not have food p,opping onto the ground or something. A commercial comes to mind, I think it was for Hefty, that shows just that.
And since this is also a hill I'm apparently willing to die on, whoever asked if that was being a bit dramatic, it's not to be taken literally. Just something the young'uns say now to say it's a cause they'll fight for.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »So as someone who has very very rarely used paper plates - don’t they get soggy / struggle to hold a volume of food?? Can they cope with baked beans or a decent sized jacket spud for instance?
I grew up in boats and outdoors so we used disposable stuff a lot when I was young. These help:
https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-5493-Bamboo-Holders/dp/B001AT3KPW/ref=asc_df_B001AT3KPW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198090964233&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12487617596011253973&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033270&hvtargid=pla-318953024809&psc=1
i remember those!4 -
cmriverside wrote: »This is such an awesome thread.
It's a fairly benign and unimportant question in the whole scheme of things that has now morphed into Moral High Ground and has gone on for five pages so far.
Don't ever change, MFP.
i doubt it ever will LOL3 -
cmriverside wrote: »This is such an awesome thread.
It's a fairly benign and unimportant question in the whole scheme of things that has now morphed into Moral High Ground and has gone on for five pages so far.
Don't ever change, MFP.
Really...moral high ground? I didn't get that at all. Some, including myself, just mentioned how this impacts our environment. If that is "moral high ground" than I apologize.10 -
Fatgonegirl wrote: »There are some extremely interesting posts on the thread.
I asked the question because I was genuinely interested to know the prevalence of disposable crockery and cutlery. From this unscientific, unrepresentative and not statistically significant snapshot, it does seem that the use of paper plates is more common in the USA than in the UK. Coming from a very damp small island, it did not occur to me that obtaining water for washing up could be a problem. So I have learnt something.
Full disclosure, I have some paper plates in my kitchen cupboard leftover from the BBQ season. They are likely to site there until next summer.
I don't know if I dare say - Another surprise watching My 600lb life is that judging from the nature and condition of their homes, many of the participants live in poverty. I suppose this is because they can not work due to their size and are in receipt of benefits. Nevertheless, they often (although not always) own very nice cars.
I must be watching older seasons. They are almost always in minivans in the seasons I've seen, they aren't nice cars.
I do think the show provides a rental to use in Houston though, they have to be able to fit the camera in there and stuff, there are other reasons for them to provide a generously sized car.0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »Fatgonegirl wrote: »There are some extremely interesting posts on the thread.
I asked the question because I was genuinely interested to know the prevalence of disposable crockery and cutlery. From this unscientific, unrepresentative and not statistically significant snapshot, it does seem that the use of paper plates is more common in the USA than in the UK. Coming from a very damp small island, it did not occur to me that obtaining water for washing up could be a problem. So I have learnt something.
Full disclosure, I have some paper plates in my kitchen cupboard leftover from the BBQ season. They are likely to site there until next summer.
I don't know if I dare say - Another surprise watching My 600lb life is that judging from the nature and condition of their homes, many of the participants live in poverty. I suppose this is because they can not work due to their size and are in receipt of benefits. Nevertheless, they often (although not always) own very nice cars.
I'm guessing a car is provided by the show if there is no suitable vehicle owned.
I have never watched this show, but I am having a hard time imagining someone who weighs 600 lbs fitting inside a car, much less behind the wheel and able to drive it. Or is 600 lb life not meant literally? Are there a lot of contestants* below 400 lbs (which is about the point where my imagination can't picture someone being able to drive).
*Again, I haven't seen the show, so apologies if the participants aren't actually contesting for anything. Is it more like that nanny show whose exact title I can't remember, or Queer Eye, or those home makeover shows, where people are just swooping in to try fix some aspect of someone's life, in this case their weight, rather than people competing to see how much weight they can lose?
There's no traditional contest, although one could say they are competing with themselves to save their lives.
I generally refer to them as "patients" as they are all patients of the weight loss doctor Dr. Nowzaradan, better known as Dr. Now. The show chronicles a period of time, most often a year, in their weight loss journey.
They start at very close to and often above 600 pounds. Most of them are not mobile and have their food brought to them by - I'll say it - enablers.
Most of them don't drive. A vehicle does come in to the picture when the patient relocates to be near Dr. Now's practice. They are generally bigger vehicles so the patient can be prone (which is also often the position they are in most of the day.) The trip is generally a nightmare for them as since they are not very mobile it causes a lot of pain. And it is difficult to be a 600 pound person in a 200 pound person world.
As I said earlier, I love transformation stories. So the hook for me is watching these people living in hell on earth transform. Some don't though. They are deep in denial and victimhood. Sometimes there is drug use.
On all the shows I've watched, there was some sort of childhood abuse - emotional, physical, and/or sexual. I root for them and am delighted when they succeed and sad when they fail. Everyone goes through some sort of denial where they tell the doctor they are following the diet and eating 1200 calories per day, but the scale shows that they are not. Most of them break through this point and go on to succeed.
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And since this is also a hill I'm apparently willing to die on, whoever asked if that was being a bit dramatic, it's not to be taken literally. Just something the young'uns say now to say it's a cause they'll fight for.
Yes, it's just an expression, meaning this (the hill) may or may not be something I'm so invested in that I want to continue to fight ("die on") for it.
And it's not just a young 'un thing because I'm an oldie and it's one I've used a fair bit.
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Something I meant to say in an earlier post is that the 600 lb threshold isn't really very meaningful as an absolute anyway. 600 pounds is vastly different on a 5' female and a 6'4" male. All the participants are what Dr Now calls super morbidly obese.
This didn't really click for me until one episode with quite a short female participant whose weight certainly wasn't the highest number I've ever seen but the doctor told her she had the highest BMI of anyone on the show. It was over 100.0
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