Waistlines continue to grow in U.S.

[garya505 2]

Portion control is completely non-existant in the US.

Also, the cost of healthy food is a big deal. Compare the cost of a pound of [pick a vegetable of your choice here] to the cost of a Big Mac meal - it's not insignificant that fast food is cheap and easy to get hold of.

I disagree with that. You can make plenty of low-cost healthy meals. I can cook something very healthy for both of us for less than what I would pay for a big mac meal.

[hockeygal 0]

Portion control is completely non-existant in the US.

Also, the cost of healthy food is a big deal. Compare the cost of a pound of [pick a vegetable of your choice here] to the cost of a Big Mac meal - it's not insignificant that fast food is cheap and easy to get hold of.

I disagree with that. You can make plenty of low-cost healthy meals. I can cook something very healthy for both of us for less than what I would pay for a big mac meal.

I only know what things cost here. And here I can eat well for not a lot if I shop properly. I once read someone slam someone online for being rich and not understanding poverty by telling her to "go back to your salmon and field greens". Coincidentally, I had just had that very meal the night before, and I paid not much more than a big mac meal would have cost. I bought the salmon in bulk, and the greens in bulk, and neither cost much per portion. Granted, my portion of both was not very large, and here we get into portion size I guess.

And it was wild salmon too.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Portion control is completely non-existant in the US.

Also, the cost of healthy food is a big deal. Compare the cost of a pound of [pick a vegetable of your choice here] to the cost of a Big Mac meal - it's not insignificant that fast food is cheap and easy to get hold of.

I disagree with that. You can make plenty of low-cost healthy meals. I can cook something very healthy for both of us for less than what I would pay for a big mac meal.

I only know what things cost here. And here I can eat well for not a lot if I shop properly. I once read someone slam someone online for being rich and not understanding poverty by telling her to "go back to your salmon and field greens". Coincidentally, I had just had that very meal the night before, and I paid not much more than a big mac meal would have cost. I bought the salmon in bulk, and the greens in bulk, and neither cost much per portion. Granted, my portion of both was not very large, and here we get into portion size I guess.

And it was wild salmon too.

Beans and rice combined are suppose to make a complete protein and is very good for you...and dirt cheap. I think taste comes into play - our tastebuds are so tainted by the amount of sodium and sugar that is added into most processed food, we have to almost go through a withdrawal to get our taste back for more natural foods. I had pneumonia back in May and my appetite was non-existent. Once I was feeling better though, I actually had cravings for broccoli and carrots. I wish I could say I stayed the course, but I've made a few trips to places like Chili's for their burgers and fries, and now broccoli and carrots seem so bland. I also get these fierce (really fierce) cravings for ice cream and I hate it. If I don't have some, my stomach gets angry, but now I really try to cut back on the amount.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I bought frozen wild salmon (not as good as fresh, but) for $1 a piece the other day - same price as a mcdonalds burger.

[irishgirl73 0]

As someone pointed out in an earlier post...........portion sizes are non-existent and almost double what they were 10 years ago. Can anyone say over-indulgent?

I went to the movies a few weeks ago & asked for a small soda, I swear it was a freaking bucket of soda-If you need two hands to carry a soda-it's too big speaking as someone who can't afford food(because of phone bills) I am not a big fast-food person, but let me tell you that eggs are cheap, so is lettuce, some fruits & veggies..........there are cheap alternatives to McDonalds

I am not preching here peeps-I am not a health-nut-just sharing my opinion

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As someone pointed out in an earlier post...........portion sizes are non-existent and almost double what they were 10 years ago. Can anyone say over-indulgent?

Restaurants like Claim Jumpers pride themselves on gargantuan proportions. Have you seen their slice of chocolate cake?

[hockeygal 0]

I'm not a health nut either... dinner the other night was a big portion of butter chicken.. all for meeeeee! yum!

I preach only to my nephews, who have the worst eating habits in the world, and I only get to do it once a year when I see them, and they don't care anyhow. I don't think vegetables have ever passed their lips, unless it was a broccoli cheddar cream soup. When one of them was little, he only ate chicken mcnuggets, and my sister would drive them to his school for lunch so he wouldn't starve. I used to tell her to let him starve - he'd eat something when the hunger got to him!

Now that they are no longer very active teens, they are putting on weight. The 21 year old has no reason to be sporting a beer belly the size of his. In his case, I know it isn't genetics, it is taco bell and beer.

Edited August 29, 2006 by hockeygal

[garya505 2]

I'm not a health nut either... dinner the other night was a big portion of butter chicken.. all for meeeeee! yum!

I preach only to my nephews, who have the worst eating habits in the world, and I only get to do it once a year when I see them, and they don't care anyhow. I don't think vegetables have ever passed their lips, unless it was a broccoli cheddar cream soup. When one of them was little, he only ate chicken mcnuggets, and my sister would drive them to his school for lunch so he wouldn't starve. I used to tell her to let him starve - he'd eat something when the hunger got to him!

Now that they are no longer very active teens, they are putting on weight. The 21 year old has no reason to be sporting a beer belly the size of his. In his case, I know it isn't genetics, it is taco bell and beer.

"taco bell and beer"

[iceyspots 0]

I'm not a health nut either... dinner the other night was a big portion of butter chicken.. all for meeeeee! yum!

I preach only to my nephews, who have the worst eating habits in the world, and I only get to do it once a year when I see them, and they don't care anyhow. I don't think vegetables have ever passed their lips, unless it was a broccoli cheddar cream soup. When one of them was little, he only ate chicken mcnuggets, and my sister would drive them to his school for lunch so he wouldn't starve. I used to tell her to let him starve - he'd eat something when the hunger got to him!

Now that they are no longer very active teens, they are putting on weight. The 21 year old has no reason to be sporting a beer belly the size of his. In his case, I know it isn't genetics, it is taco bell and beer.

"taco bell and beer"

haha.. yuck I think it's so bad too that taco bell is now marketing for the Fourth meal !

[ChristinaM 0]

All I know is that the receipts from my healthy supermarket trips for a weeks worth of food would allow my husband and I to have a Big Mac Meal for dinner every day for two weeks, or pizza every night for thirteen days. And it's not like I'm shopping anywhere fancy here, just the regular supermarket.

You also have to take into account that not everyone can buy in bulk, which helps. We have limited freezer space and a fridge which only cools, well, half the fridge! We're not bread-line poor, but we don't have a lot of money. If you consider the genuinely poor, who in addition to being those least likely to have good appliances, are statistically more likely to be obese, how are they supposed to store 25 chicken breasts, or make a pot of chilli which isn't going to go bad before they can eat it all?

You can't blame it all on economics, but to deny that it's a very real factor is naive.

[dalegg 143]

As someone pointed out in an earlier post...........portion sizes are non-existent and almost double what they were 10 years ago. Can anyone say over-indulgent?

Restaurants like Claim Jumpers pride themselves on gargantuan proportions. Have you seen their slice of chocolate cake?

People adapt though. 18 months ago my wife- who had seen nothing but the portions that keep Southeast Asian people at the size we know and love them to be- would go in shock at the portions they serve in Restaurants here- even in the Vietnamese restaurants. Today, she not only finishes her portion, but "helps" me with mine.

Not only do I have to pay more for food, but now I have to buy her a whole new wardrobe.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

All I know is that the receipts from my healthy supermarket trips for a weeks worth of food would allow my husband and I to have a Big Mac Meal for dinner every day for two weeks, or pizza every night for thirteen days. And it's not like I'm shopping anywhere fancy here, just the regular supermarket.

You also have to take into account that not everyone can buy in bulk, which helps. We have limited freezer space and a fridge which only cools, well, half the fridge! We're not bread-line poor, but we don't have a lot of money. If you consider the genuinely poor, who in addition to being those least likely to have good appliances, are statistically more likely to be obese, how are they supposed to store 25 chicken breasts, or make a pot of chilli which isn't going to go bad before they can eat it all?

You can't blame it all on economics, but to deny that it's a very real factor is naive.

I agree, Christina.

[garya505 2]

America, the land of big waistlines and even bigger excuses!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As someone pointed out in an earlier post...........portion sizes are non-existent and almost double what they were 10 years ago. Can anyone say over-indulgent?

Restaurants like Claim Jumpers pride themselves on gargantuan proportions. Have you seen their slice of chocolate cake?

People adapt though. 18 months ago my wife- who had seen nothing but the portions that keep Southeast Asian people at the size we know and love them to be- would go in shock at the portions they serve in Restaurants here- even in the Vietnamese restaurants. Today, she not only finishes her portion, but "helps" me with mine.

Not only do I have to pay more for food, but now I have to buy her a whole new wardrobe.

The food we have here is so processed, removed of any real nutrional value, let alone fiber and it's no wonder she keeps eating more. I don't mean to sound conspiratorial here, but it sure makes sense from a business standpoint to make foods that keep the consumer hungry for more.

[hockeygal 0]

All I know is that the receipts from my healthy supermarket trips for a weeks worth of food would allow my husband and I to have a Big Mac Meal for dinner every day for two weeks, or pizza every night for thirteen days. And it's not like I'm shopping anywhere fancy here, just the regular supermarket.

You also have to take into account that not everyone can buy in bulk, which helps. We have limited freezer space and a fridge which only cools, well, half the fridge! We're not bread-line poor, but we don't have a lot of money. If you consider the genuinely poor, who in addition to being those least likely to have good appliances, are statistically more likely to be obese, how are they supposed to store 25 chicken breasts, or make a pot of chilli which isn't going to go bad before they can eat it all?

You can't blame it all on economics, but to deny that it's a very real factor is naive.

I agree, Christina.

I wouldn't argue that, I noted earlier that I have access to things at a lower cost. When I am visiting my boyfriend, I am stunned at the price of vegetables in the supermarket. I never buy vegetables and fruits in a supermarket -they are twice the cost of getting them at the fruit store. But of course, I can't find a fruit/veg store where he lives! And for the record, when I say "bulk" I mean a side of salmon I cut into a few pieces and put in the freezer (in a very old apartment fridge) and a big container of greens, instead of a little one. Not costco type bulk. I would have nowhere to put 24 chicken breasts.

Of course, other things, like beans and rice as Steven mentioned earlier, don't require fancy appliance storage at all, nor are they expensive.

Edited August 29, 2006 by hockeygal