How much weight have you put on since moving to America?

[Susita 175]

I don't really like american cheese or their lunch meat (those prepackaged ham, turkey breast lunch meat ect taste really bad, nothing like fresh prosciutto),

I guess you don't live near an Italian Pork store (as we call them here in NY). You'll find plenty of fresh prosciutto & cheeses and all kinds of other meats as well as imported goods. I have one around the corner from me, and I often have to be dragged out of there by the hubby.

[fragola86 1]

I guess you don't live near an Italian Pork store (as we call them here in NY). You'll find plenty of fresh prosciutto & cheeses and all kinds of other meats as well as imported goods. I have one around the corner from me, and I often have to be dragged out of there by the hubby.

I find prosciutto and fresh mozzarella at the supermarket, but prosciutto is like 6$ for 6 slices...I can eat those 6 slices in less than 5 minutes so it's not even worth it buying it.

[tokyobelle 2]

i gained about 20-30lbs. we don't really dine out much but the first few months we did. my husband cooks the 'American' food at home and he's so used to doing a huge portion. i was taught that i should finish my food growing up, so i feel bad if i don't finish the food lol. i cook Asian, mostly Filipino and Japanese food, my husband was enjoying it plus all the breads and cakes that i baked. add to that, mt father-in-law likes to cook steaks, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the occasions. i was used to walking a lot in Japan, monitoring teas before you buy food, and drinking tea after every meal. now i do yoga and some pilates and trying to control portions of our food. we tried eating more salads too.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

I lost weight the first year I lived here, I lost about 10 lbs. I am only 5'3" so 10 lbs. make a big difference.

I do not like american food that much either, and I hate anything that has chocolate, and where I live (midwest) like someone else said, everything tastes too sweet for me. Even bread is different, back home I was used to eating freshly baked bread, not every day but every time I ate bread it was fresh.

I guess I'd put on weight if I lived in Florida, I went to visit a friend and I loved the food there, so much variety and so many restaurants to enjoy. Where I live there is not much to choose from.

After 3 years I went back to my original weight and maybe gained an extra 5 lbs, so I am just trying to drop those extra pounds this year hopefully!

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

It's not the first time I've heard someone from another country say that they thought a lot of American foods tasted too sweet or salty. I think a lot of items have high fructose corn syrup added when it's completely unnecessary, things like tomato sauce and bread! Things which shouldn't be sweet in the first place. I am guilty of liking to salt my own food maybe a bit more than I should, but when I'm cooking for not just me, I only add a very minimal amount of salt so people can salt the food to their tastes. And when I make homemade tomato sauce, I NEVER use sugar! Tomato sauce isn't supposed to be sweet!

[honey_me 7]

You eat Pizza, bacon and jambalaya and weigh 85 pounds?! I have not been that skinny since I was 10!

Yes, and I eat a lot too. I remember the first few months here I ate 15 slices of pizza at a restaurant. I now average 8 slices and good that we only go there 2-3 times a year. Most of the time we cook our food though, no microwave food, no soda/alcohol and no other Asian food (for me). Also, I like chicken pot pie, quiche, bourbon chicken, Tx style bbq ribs, tacos, BLT (with avocado), anything peanut butter (pb&j, pb cookies, reeses or just plain pb) and basically, if I'm served anything made from chicken, pork or salt water fish(not tuna), I won't hesitate to try. If I like it I ask for the recipe and make my own.

[david'sgirl 134]

I actually weight less now than when I was in Italy. Here everything tastes too sweet or too salty to me, and fake. I don't really like american cheese or their lunch meat (those prepackaged ham, turkey breast lunch meat ect taste really bad, nothing like fresh prosciutto), all things that taste great in Italy, so my diet here includes for the most part veggies (they are expensive though compared to Italy and not quiet as tasty), grains, beans, some fish and meat, and pasta of course. At the end, all this helps keeping the kilos off. Love apple pie and waffles though, but those are things I only eat once in a while. People sometimes are surprised to see that I haven't become a whale since I got here, but it is really not that hard when you don't eat fast food or precooked meals. Way less food temptations here than in Italy (or Europe in general) in my opinion.

I'm not sure where you live but you you might have better luck trying a butchery and your local farmer's market or farmstand. We also have some specialty shops here with imported goods from Italy but this area has a lot of Italian immigrants so it could be different where you live.

[david'sgirl 134]

Yes, and I eat a lot too. I remember the first few months here I ate 15 slices of pizza at a restaurant. I now average 8 slices and good that we only go there 2-3 times a year. Most of the time we cook our food though, no microwave food, no soda/alcohol and no other Asian food (for me). Also, I like chicken pot pie, quiche, bourbon chicken, Tx style bbq ribs, tacos, BLT (with avocado), anything peanut butter (pb&j, pb cookies, reeses or just plain pb) and basically, if I'm served anything made from chicken, pork or salt water fish(not tuna), I won't hesitate to try. If I like it I ask for the recipe and make my own.

You lucky duck! Glad you found a few things you like. I don't care for peanut butter especially with chocolate but my mother in law loved reese's cups and ate a lot of them during her visits.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Do you mean spark people? If so, that program is awesome.... I would recommend that site to anyone... Free too!

Yes, Sparks People. It is indeed awesome! And it works - well, as long as you make use of the site . I loved the count as you go calorie counter that you could customize to your own menus.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Way less food temptations here than in Italy (or Europe in general) in my opinion.

My boss is Italian, and when her mother comes to stay she's up at 4 am every morning making food... pastas and sausages from scratch. My boss brings leftovers in to work, and oh my!

I certainly find that, apart from cheesecakes and pies, there just aren't the varieties of desserts here that there are in the UK. And the UK has awfully stodgy desserts! So delicious, but so chock full of butter and sugar and cream. I was missing some chocolate tiffin today, so I collected the ingredients for it... and felt pretty guilty as I was mixing syrup, sugar, butter and cocoa in a bowl. It's currently cooling in the fridge and I'm already thinking of bringing it into work to give to my coworkers, as I hate to think how many calories are in each slice!

So I agree; fewer food temptations in the US! It's just the portion sizes I have to watch out for.

[wee carrington 33]

It's not the first time I've heard someone from another country say that they thought a lot of American foods tasted too sweet or salty. I think a lot of items have high fructose corn syrup added when it's completely unnecessary, things like tomato sauce and bread! Things which shouldn't be sweet in the first place. I am guilty of liking to salt my own food maybe a bit more than I should, but when I'm cooking for not just me, I only add a very minimal amount of salt so people can salt the food to their tastes. And when I make homemade tomato sauce, I NEVER use sugar! Tomato sauce isn't supposed to be sweet!

I never realized this until I moved to the UK!! My taste buds were totally BLOWN OUT and I thought food here (in the UK) tasted super bland at first-- not so!

[Nica_In_Love 98]

I don't eat that much and I gained about 12 lbs since I came here. Like many have said, it's not that the food is great, it's the preservatives, sodium, and corn syrup, etc that is added to it. The portions are insane and I never even finish the whole thing. I try to cook at home most of the time, but even that doesn't seem to help with the weight. Meat quality isn't the best either, as somebody mentioned a couple pages before. We spent Christmas in Nicaragua and it was so great to taste that "natural" food again.

[fragola86 1]

I'm not sure where you live but you you might have better luck trying a butchery and your local farmer's market or farmstand. We also have some specialty shops here with imported goods from Italy but this area has a lot of Italian immigrants so it could be different where you live.

All the butcheries I have been to only sold meat, not things like prosciutto. Yes, I go to farmer's markets, they usually have good food there, too bad they are around only from May to October.

[fragola86 1]

My boss is Italian, and when her mother comes to stay she's up at 4 am every morning making food... pastas and sausages from scratch. My boss brings leftovers in to work, and oh my!

I certainly find that, apart from cheesecakes and pies, there just aren't the varieties of desserts here that there are in the UK. And the UK has awfully stodgy desserts! So delicious, but so chock full of butter and sugar and cream. I was missing some chocolate tiffin today, so I collected the ingredients for it... and felt pretty guilty as I was mixing syrup, sugar, butter and cocoa in a bowl. It's currently cooling in the fridge and I'm already thinking of bringing it into work to give to my coworkers, as I hate to think how many calories are in each slice!

So I agree; fewer food temptations in the US! It's just the portion sizes I have to watch out for.

I am not too bothered by the portion sizes since I always bring half of the food home.

I thought that American and British desserts were pretty much the same? I know I like Shepherd's Pie, but that's not a dessert Ah Uk, UK, would not mind to live there.

[Ellesse 11]

I thought that American and British desserts were pretty much the same? I know I like Shepherd's Pie, but that's not a dessert Ah Uk, UK, would not mind to live there.

Good grief, no! Some desserts are similar (like lemon meringue pie) but others aren't - I've seen all kinds of stuff over here that I've never seen before (such as elephant ears and funnel cake - at a local fair, no less), not to mention the American form of pudding, which has caused a number of misunderstandings with my husband his family! And come Christmas time, I noticed the differences as I didn't see Christmas cake or mince pies anywhere - ended up making mince pies myself as it was one thing I really missed. And, of course, I do miss my mum's chocolate cake as there's nothing like it!

Also agree about Hersheys - don't like it at all, and I had wondered whether I'd imagined that slightly nauseous flavour, so interested to read other posters' comments on that!

As for me - my weight is about stable, and I've been here since October. Do notice the sugar in lots of things (particularly bread (!!!) and peanut butter) and am conscious of not eating too much. We've both joined the gym as we spent a lot of time indoors online when we're apart and are now trying to counteract that!

L