It's good to indulge, but why do it with every meal?

Leezestarr313

Somebody posted this article over on facebook, and I thought it was pretty interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

I'm spending my time in this country with open eyes and the topic that Cav and I talk most about is food ...
I noticed that almost everything in the United States tastes a tad too sweet to me. All the cakes, ice creams etc look gorgeous, but when I put them in my mouth I cannot enjoy it because the sweetness is overpowering. When we go and have a sandwich somewhere I am overwhelmed with the pounds of ham, bacon, and cheese on everything, and all is topped with two slices of wheat bread that have been slathered with butter and grilled. Scrambled eggs are surrounded by a fatty puddle, everything is swimming in butter and fat. I almost never finish my meals, it tastes good, but sometimes I feel like my taste buds and stomach are being raped ...

Do you rate the quality of a restaurant by the size of the portions? Is food better to you when it is sweeter and fattier? Is that something American, am I being oversensitive?

Sorry for ranting. I am not criticising this country, I love being here and having all the opportunities. I just feel sorry for the reputation of food :P

JB23237

well when u go to a greasy spoon to eat food.....of course its gonna be fattening....not all places are like this....maybe youre not eating at the right establishments

peacefrompaul

Sweet and fatty, that's what we like.

Welcome to the United States, Lisa

Leezestarr313

JB23237 wrote:

well when u go to a greasy spoon to eat food.....of course its gonna be fattening....not all places are like this....maybe youre not eating at the right establishments

I get you, but I can tell you that I am not talking about greasy spoons. I'm talking about the local specialty sandwich shop where you get no sandwich with less than a pound of meat on it, with sandwiches so big that you cannot even eat them comfortably. Like I said, the taste combination is good, but it's just too much. I was happy when I saw pierogies on a menu, and ordered them, wisely with sour cream instead of gravy. Well, they came deep fried. I had two and was stuffed. What is happening to all the leftovers? Do you finish your doggie bags when you are home?

81

peacefrompaul wrote:

Sweet and fatty, that's what we like.

Welcome to the United States, Lisa

and big portions.

prepare to put on the american 20

Leezestarr313

peacefrompaul wrote:

Sweet and fatty, that's what we like.

Welcome to the United States, Lisa

It will come to haunt you soon enough when you haven't been to the doctor regularly for check-ups :wave:

Maybe I should open a food store and deli myself :think:

Leezestarr313

81 wrote:

peacefrompaul wrote:

Sweet and fatty, that's what we like.

Welcome to the United States, Lisa

and big portions.

prepare to put on the american 20

Me and the crosstrainer are alert!

peacefrompaul

81 wrote:

peacefrompaul wrote:

Sweet and fatty, that's what we like.

Welcome to the United States, Lisa

and big portions.

prepare to put on the american 20

bracing myself for 30

peacefrompaul

Leezestarr313 wrote:

JB23237 wrote:

well when u go to a greasy spoon to eat food.....of course its gonna be fattening....not all places are like this....maybe youre not eating at the right establishments

I get you, but I can tell you that I am not talking about greasy spoons. I'm talking about the local specialty sandwich shop where you get no sandwich with less than a pound of meat on it, with sandwiches so big that you cannot even eat them comfortably. Like I said, the taste combination is good, but it's just too much. I was happy when I saw pierogies on a menu, and ordered them, wisely with sour cream instead of gravy. Well, they came deep fried. I had two and was stuffed. What is happening to all the leftovers? Do you finish your doggie bags when you are home?

Doggie bags? Negative. I eat it all at the restaurant.

mikalina

Its a shame really, thats why this country has an issue with being overweight.... I think the United States is one of the fattest countries out there.

I'm glad you pointed that out, I would of never known this to be true but I guess we have way too much sugar and salt and fat in foods made for us in restaurants. That is why I try to eat at home as much as possible.

Welcome to the United States...

SPEEDY MCCREADY

mikalina wrote:

Its a shame really, thats why this country has an issue with being overweight.... I think the United States is one of the fattest countries out there.

I'm glad you pointed that out, I would of never known this to be true but I guess we have way too much sugar and salt and fat in foods made for us in restaurants. That is why I try to eat at home as much as possible.

Welcome to the United States...

When I vacationed in Disney last year, I was SHOCKED at the amount of OBESE people. People who outweighed me by 100lbs. People who couldnt walk 100ft without stopping for a break. 25 year olds who had to get around the parks on scooters, because they weighed 350lbs. People who were EASILY eating 2500 calories, for breakfast. Just because it says "All you can eat" doesnt really mean you HAVE to eat 20 pancakes and 10 waffles.

peacefrompaul

It's funny, we were just talking about this in Demography yesterday. Of course the Professor, who is Chinese, had to talk shit about us. :roll:

Suzi78

Hi Leeze :wave:

and welcome to the U.S!

I felt exactly like you when I first moved here 14 years ago. I had a really hard time initially just figuring out what was really healthy and what was not. Took me forever to do my grocery shopping because I would spend like 1 minute checking the nutrition facts on every product. I agree, the portions here are many times way bigger than in Europe and it's quite easy to get used to it and gradually expand your stomach and eat more and more. I think I gained about 10 lbs the first year. I also agree that food overall is sweeter here and have more flavor combinations which kind of numbs your taste buds (or rapes ) a little . I remember that I used to buy Kelloggs cornflakes with strawberries back in the days and one summer when I went back to Sweden I bought the same Kelloggs strawberry cereals over there and the berries tasted so sour to me. After comparing the nutrition facts I noticed that they had almost double the amount of sugar for the American market. Crazy, huh? They absolutely add more sugar and definitely more high fructose corn syrup in the food here!
Luckily I live in a city (L.A) where there are lots of healthy options when dining out, but yeah...you still have to be careful about portion control...but I never bring a doggy bag home, I give it to a homeless person instead. They need to fatten up too :P
These days I never eat any processed food. I eat mostly veggies, beans and fish and try not to eat out more than 4 times a week. Be careful with those sandwiches...they really pack on the lbs, haha.

RKCNDY

I pretty much have been 'eating clean' for the last year and a half. Not that I don't go out to eat, I still do. Just not as often. Since I have been doing that, I noticed that I have no desire to finish my entire meal, I can literally 'taste' the preservatives and additives they put in our food. gross. Currently, I have cut out so many of the preservatives and additives, if I over indulge, I literally will get sick (running to the bathroom sick).

('eating clean' means a lot of different things, for me it means eating as little processed foods as possible, and lots of organic, especially meat. Organic meat is heaven.)

When I order a sandwich or a burger, I say, "No sauce, no mayo" everything else like the tomato, lettuce etc is okay. I can actually taste my food! Salads, I will ask for dressing on the side.

I was never really a sweet fan. My culture isn't really into sweets either, so I typically purchase sweets from ethnic grocers, they use so much less sugar, and they have sweets that you cannot find in an American grocer...like mango cream cake.

Welcome to the land of gluttony!

i don't blame you for being disgusted at the way Americans eat, it really and truly is disgusting. All I can say, is to educate yourself, learn how to eat here...PM me for any tips or suggestions if you want, I'm glad to help.

PJ_Soul

peacefrompaul wrote:

It's funny, we were just talking about this in Demography yesterday. Of course the Professor, who is Chinese, had to talk shit about us. :roll:

Everyone loves to talk shit about Americans. :roll:

Not that I think you're talking shit Leeze. You're just commenting on the difference in food culture (Europeans always seem pretty taken aback by it, especially because food is so important there). But I am surrounded by American bashers. Canadians fucking love it because we basically have a tiny pecker complex. It gets really annoying.

PJ_Soul

RKCNDY wrote:

I pretty much have been 'eating clean' for the last year and a half. Not that I don't go out to eat, I still do. Just not as often. Since I have been doing that, I noticed that I have no desire to finish my entire meal, I can literally 'taste' the preservatives and additives they put in our food. gross. Currently, I have cut out so many of the preservatives and additives, if I over indulge, I literally will get sick (running to the bathroom sick).

('eating clean' means a lot of different things, for me it means eating as little processed foods as possible, and lots of organic, especially meat. Organic meat is heaven.)

When I order a sandwich or a burger, I say, "No sauce, no mayo" everything else like the tomato, lettuce etc is okay. I can actually taste my food! Salads, I will ask for dressing on the side.

I was never really a sweet fan. My culture isn't really into sweets either, so I typically purchase sweets from ethnic grocers, they use so much less sugar, and they have sweets that you cannot find in an American grocer...like mango cream cake.

Welcome to the land of gluttony!

i don't blame you for being disgusted at the way Americans eat, it really and truly is disgusting. All I can say, is to educate yourself, learn how to eat here...PM me for any tips or suggestions if you want, I'm glad to help.

I'm under the impression that it's a lot easier to eat healthy when dining out on the West Coast than, say, in the midwest or the South.

chadwick

we are in trouble in this country. young people are fat. middle aged people are fat. trouble is old people don't live very long into their senior years being all fat.

stop eating chips, stop drinking soft drinks, stop the bullshit.

raw veggies, fruits, & smaller portions of healthy foods & exercise & we'll be ok. many bullshit foods are addictive. this is crazy & scary. remove salt from your table. easy does it on the sugar. use honey & raw sugar just because it aint white. get raw honey if you can, and that is white.

i am fucked... i drink hot tea like a madman. white ass sugar is 15 calories per teaspoon but so is sugar in the raw. wtf? are you kidding me? i drink an easy gallon of hot tea daily. my tea kettle is steaming & whistling a lot. but i have had to cut back & now drinking half of my original hot tea intake just to cut back on my sugar usage. & i have found 'nectreese' which is made from monk fruit & has zero calories in it & it is 100% all natural made by the splenda company. it isn't the greatest stuff but it works well. monk fruit is actually a melon the monks in asia been cultivating something like 800 years.

RKCNDY

PJ_Soul wrote:

I'm under the impression that it's a lot easier to eat healthy when dining out on the West Coast than, say, in the midwest or the South.

I wouldn't say 'the west coast', in Missoula, when we went to see my MIL, we took her to dinner and the restaurant didn't have ANY salad on the menu. EVERYTHING was meat and potatoes, it was the same at pretty much every restaurant. I finally got a salad at the resort we stayed at for one night 35 miles out of town.

I would say it depends on the 'culture' of the city/town. In Missoula I could find salads, Butte, not at all. So, it's probably easier in a bigger metropolitan city than say a small town.

drinkbigredinstead

We are a wasteful nation, no doubt about that.

Lucky for us I love to cook and with planning it is possible. Yes I know everyone is busy, but if your really want to do something you will make the time. This is coming from a mom of two, who has some sort of practice or music lesson or some days both 7 days a week.

In fact I need to run downstairs to prep foils packs of shrimp and salmon for dinner tomorrow.

Leezestarr313

Well, I am aware and alert. We buy our meat at the local Amish market and we really rarely have any processed stuff. And we maybe eat out once a month. I am cooking and baking my own stuff. And yes, I am an avid reader of the ingredients list. I am trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, and it is amazing where you can find it! Once we were looking for pickled cucumbers, and in the whole aisle there was only one brand without it.

RKCNDY - I am just the same, I get diarrhea from some food here, and I guess it's the fat. Sorry if that is too much info :P I have always enjoyed food and I still do, but over here I have become a food snob. Which is sometimes annoying, but will help me stay healthy and live as long as I possibly can. We have a growing obesity problem in Germany too, but I think the extent over here is a little bigger, and it is due to the salt fat and sugar amounts, plus the size of the portions. It makes your head spin when you think of the health insurance availability :-?

Like I said, I don't want to pick on America. I just think it is sad. That article from my first post is really eye-opening in that regard...

chadwick

you're kickin ass real good if you're getting your meat from an Amish market. that is some awesome stuff. do they sell the eggs too? get the eggs if you can.