Food in America

_HighVoltage_

_HighVoltage_

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The latest episode of Top Gear has reminded of something I've heard quite often.
It has been established that whenever somebody comes to America, he/she inevitably gains weight.
I know of a few people who have (one of my mates actually gained 40lbs in one year).
But there are also the oddballs, like me. I've been here for 3.5 years and my weight has remained basically the same (+/-5lbs).

So, is there any truth to those claims that food in America makes you fatter?

(I guess if you eat at McDonald's every day you will become fat, but what if you eat normal, home-cooked meals or even microwave dinners?)
 
If you eat a lot and don't move much, then you will get fatter. Fast food in the US is cheap and you get large portions but these large portions means you get a large number of calories. I know at McDonalds, you can get a few cheeseburgers for a few bucks. Combine those with a large drink and you're looking at around half the number of calories that the average person needs per day.
 
It's simple. If you take in more energy than your expend, some gets stored. If you expend more energy than you take in your body uses it's previously stored energy. America is a nation of energy packed food (usually this energy comes in the form of high calories) and low expenditure due to our convenience oriented lifestyle- sure we could walk somewhere, but that's slow compared to driving.
 
I got a better question for those that have lived on and/or visted both continents.

When in Europe what do you eat, how do you head to the market to get food etc?

When in the US, same question?
 
Oh and this makes me lol all the time:

Philip Chawner, 53, and his 57-year-old wife Audrey weigh 24st. Their daughter Emma, 19, weighs 17st, while her older sister Samantha, 21, weighs 18st.

The family from Blackburn claim ?22,508 a year in benefits, equivalent to the take-home pay from a ?30,000 salary.

The Chawners, haven't worked in 11 years, claim their weight is a hereditary condition and the money they receive is insufficient to live on.

Mr Chawner said: "What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It's not our fault we can't work. We deserve more."

The family claim to spend ?50 a week on food and consume 3,000 calories each a day. The recommended maximum intake is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.

"We have cereal for breakfast, bacon butties for lunch and microwave pies with mashed potato or chips for dinner," Mrs Chawner told Closer magazine.

"All that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive. We're fat because it's in our genes. Our whole family is overweight," she added.

Each week, Mr and Mrs Chawner, who have been married for 23 years, receive ?177 in income support and incapacity benefit. Mrs Chawner is paid an extra ?330-a-month disability allowance for epilepsy and asthma, both a result of being overweight.

Mr Chawner gets ?71 a month after developing Type 2 diabetes because of his size. He was on a waiting list for a gastric band last year, but a heart condition made the operation unsuitable. Their daughter Samantha receives ?84 in Jobseekers' Allowance each fortnight while Emma, who is training to be a hairdresser, gets ?58 every two weeks under a hardship fund for low-income students.

Emma, said: "I'm a student and don't have time to exercise" she said "We all want to lose weight to stop the abuse we get in the street, but we don't know how."
Click to expand...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...ay-22000-worth-of-benefits-is-not-enough.html

http://img8.imageshack.**/img8/31/fatfamily1367600cm.jpg

The parents weigh 330lbs, the older daughter weighs 250lbs, and the younger daughter weighs 240lbs. If you add their weights up they weigh almost exactly half of a tonne :lol:
 
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I still have no real explanation. McDonalds can't be the only problem - there are McDonalds restaurants all over the world.
Plus, for the past 2 months my diet has consisted mainly of microwave dinners, cheeseburgers, french fries and Coke. And I have not gained any weight.
Maybe people just don't know their limits?
I never eat more than one cheeseburger per meal and always get just small fries.

I've heard speculations that fast-food restaurants use chemicals that make you eat more and more, without feeling full. Do any of you believe that?
 
bartboy9891 said:
The parents weigh 330lbs, the older daughter weighs 250lbs, and the younger daughter weighs 240lbs. If you add their weights up they weigh almost exactly half of a tonne :lol:
Click to expand...

Jeez, what do they use for a family car? A blimp?

Every one of those quotes is :roll:able. I refuse to believe that weight is hereditary...and yes, there are healthy ways to eat in America. Just avoid anything that can be eaten from a box. Or, you know, you could always cook your own food. Fruits and vegetables grow here too, after all.
 
Being in my early twenties i know firsthand the shock of "What? Im not 17 anymore and suddenly gained 20 pounds when my metabolism shut down" Im on the forefront of the "not-rich-american-who-would-rather-drive-than-walk" front. (im not fat thankfully, 6'0 ~175 pounds). Suddenly a few months ago i saw my weight shoot up from 160 or so to 180 plus!

Needless to say i was horrified with the idea of becoming another fat person, so i set about my simple strategy:

  • Two lighter meals a day, one normal-sized meal
  • Juice and water instead of soda
  • As little fast food as possible
  • More vegetables and fruit

SHOCKING diet plan, right? My weight has been slowly inching downwards. Who would have thought eating less and cutting sugar would have done the trick without the need for a gym plan or nutritionist?
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
I still have no real explanation. McDonalds can't be the only problem - there are McDonalds restaurants all over the world.
Plus, for the past 2 months my diet has consisted mainly of microwave dinners, cheeseburgers, french fries and Coke. And I have not gained any weight.
Maybe people just don't know their limits?
I never eat more than one cheeseburger per meal and always get just small fries.

I've heard speculations that fast-food restaurants use chemicals that make you eat more and more, without feeling full. Do any of you believe that?
Click to expand...

Do you exercise at all? Most people in the US don't. People would love to blame the fast food chains for everything, but it's them who are buying and eating the food and never exercising.
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
I never eat more than one cheeseburger per meal and always get just small fries.
Click to expand...

Well that explains why you're a small fry. Red blooded americans with clogged arteries eat double cheeseburgers with large fries and large sodas.

I'm sure a huge part of it is just simply the amount that people eat. I used to be able to eat a bucket load of food, but now I just can't eat too much and when I do I feel terrible. Big fat fatties don't cut back on their food intake, they take pepto bismal and ignore the cause of their discomfort.
 
Emma, said: "I'm a student and don't have time to exercise" she said "We all want to lose weight to stop the abuse we get in the street, but we don't know how."
Click to expand...

WOW what BS. You're fat because you're lazy and refuse to do anything about it, lazy ass people. Yes your metabolism can be slower than other people but if the reason you come up with to not exercise is because you dont have time as a student, then you are a completely liar and who just wants a damn handout instead of trying or working hard.

Seriously people like this piss me off. I am a university student double majoring in Finance and Marketing currently on the dean's list. I also have a job on the weekends. And I also try to go out at night and live out a college "social scene." Yet I still have time to go to the gym or the tennis courts at least twice a week. I mean are you seriously going to tell me that you do not have an hour a day for just 4 days a week to jog or do some form of exercise activity? Complete BS.
 
bartboy9891 said:
Do you exercise at all? Most people in the US don't. People would love to blame the fast food chains for everything, but it's them who are buying and eating the food and never exercising.
Click to expand...

I don't exercise religiously, but I do go to the gym 2-3 times a week and I also enjoy swimming at least once a week.

And I have to agree - exercising doesn't take a whole lotta time. When I go to the gym, I usually stay just 30 min during which I do not waste my time talking to others, resting or checking my weight.
Lack of time is a lame excuse.

I have another question though - do you think the way people prepare meat makes a difference to their weight? From what I've seen, most americans eat their steaks medium-rare and some even order rare (there is blood in those!). I can't eat any of it. My steaks always have to be well-cooked and even a little burnt. Does that make a difference?
 
Ramseus said:
I'm sure a huge part of it is just simply the amount that people eat. I used to be able to eat a bucket load of food, but now I just can't eat too much and when I do I feel terrible. Big fat fatties don't cut back on their food intake, they take pepto bismal and ignore the cause of their discomfort.
Click to expand...

You said it better than I did. I know someone who did exactly that. Person refused to let any food "go to waste" eating sometimes 3x their normal portions...

Mr Chawner said: "What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It's not our fault we can't work. We deserve more."
Click to expand...

Oh bull shit. There are jobs for people who are to fucking fat. Hell look at most truckers they tend to be overweight due to the lack of exercise in their jobs.

"All that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive. We're fat because it's in our genes. Our whole family is overweight," she added.
Click to expand...

I can understand being "big" but not that fucking fat. And if being as fat as those heifers are is genetic, it's Darwin's way of saying "you should not be in the fucking gene pool" in the wild they'd have been meals for all of sub-Saharan Africa.

edit: I recently did a MAJOR cut back on my soda intake, and noticed that I stopped always feeling like I needed some food after only having a meal 20 minutes-1hour prior.

edit 2: Another way to lose weight, might I suggest amphetamines? "Cocaine is a hell of drug" You'd be amazed at the weight loss potential of it, added bonus, you'll get a lot of shit done as youll never sleep! :p
 
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p0w3r said:
Seriously people like this piss me off. I am a university student double majoring in Finance and Marketing currently on the dean's list. I also have a job on the weekends. And I also try to go out at night and live out a college "social scene." Yet I still have time to go to the gym or the tennis courts at least twice a week. I mean are you seriously going to tell me that you do not have an hour a day for just 4 days a week to jog or do some form of exercise activity? Complete BS.
Click to expand...

Of course she doesn't have the time, she's training to be a hairdresser afterall...
 
p0w3r said:
WOW what BS. You're fat because you're lazy and refuse to do anything about it, lazy ass people. Yes your metabolism can be slower than other people but if the reason you come up with to not exercise is because you dont have time as a student, then you are a completely liar and who just wants a damn handout instead of trying or working hard.

Seriously people like this piss me off. I am a university student double majoring in Finance and Marketing currently on the dean's list. I also have a job on the weekends. And I also try to go out at night and live out a college "social scene." Yet I still have time to go to the gym or the tennis courts at least twice a week. I mean are you seriously going to tell me that you do not have an hour a day for just 4 days a week to jog or do some form of exercise activity? Complete BS.
Click to expand...

I also found it funny that she's training to be a hairdresser and is using that as an excuse for not having time to exercise. :lol:

_HighVoltage_ said:
I don't exercise religiously, but I do go to the gym 2-3 times a week and I also enjoy swimming at least once a week.

And I have to agree - exercising doesn't take a whole lotta time. When I go to the gym, I usually stay just 30 min during which I do not waste my time talking to others, resting or checking my weight.
Lack of time is a lame excuse.

I have another question though - do you think the way people prepare meat makes a difference to their weight? From what I've seen, most americans eat their steaks medium-rare and some even order rare (there is blood in those!). I can't eat any of it. My steaks always have to be well-cooked and even a little burnt. Does that make a difference?
Click to expand...

Exercising a few times a week is probably more than most people would do. Even people around our ages are either too lazy or not motivated enough to not sit down for hours on end. I can completely understand that some people are too busy, but making some time to move around every other day shouldn't be impossible. And the leanness of the meat being cooked makes more of a difference than the way in which it's cooked as far as I can tell.
 
I've done quite a bit of research on the subject, it's a number of things:
1. Lack of exercise and general activity
2. Sitting jobs, lifestyles, cars (since 16 y/o).
3. Junk Food, Genetically modified vegetables and meats, corn syrup, sugar

It's pretty simple actually, i lost maybe 25kg in about a year, takes 14 days of not at all strong dieting and 3hrs/week at the gym, eventually you end up looking like Brad Pitt, except for a 6-pack.
 
It's people's lifestyles that's making most people obese. Not the country they live in.
It is true that your size is somewhat determined by your genes but dangerous obesity IMO is caused by the lifestyle you choose. Eating 3small meals each day and walking 1hour is enough for most people to stay in OK condition. And I think it's enough to avoid fast food no special diets required.

Sure the fatter you are the harder it is to start but once you get going it gets easier and easier. Fact.
Another fact is that when you're young and a student/unemployed you have more energy and more time compared to a 30-year-old employed person. Some big people are big because of their genes. Obese people are obese because of they are lazy. Well maby lazy is the wrong word. Lets just say they are used to a lifestyle of convenience.
 
From my experience, the two most important things to avoid, which Americans seem to enjoy quite a lot are soda(or pop) and chips.
They say that chips nowadays contains no trans fat, but it's still pretty bad for your weight.
 
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