Are serving portions out o control?

SeaCat

Hey, my Halo is smoking
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Why are Americans becoming obese? Could it possibly be because of the portions we are being offered?

Yesterday I went to a local Fast Food Place. One of the better ones. My wife and I looked over the offerings and were amazed. The smallest burger offered was a Double Cheeseburger. This is enough for dinner not lunch.

I can't imagine how much people eat and how these large portions are pushed.

Last night there was a show that showed the "Best places to Pig Out." It was a list of places where you could eat until you were sick.

And people wonder why we're becoming obese?

Cat
 
SeaCat said:
Why are Americans becoming obese? Could it possibly be because of the portions we are being offered?

Yesterday I went to a local Fast Food Place. One of the better ones. My wife and I looked over the offerings and were amazed. The smallest burger offered was a Double Cheeseburger. This is enough for dinner not lunch.

I can't imagine how much people eat and how these large portions are pushed.

Last night there was a show that showed the "Best places to Pig Out." It was a list of places where you could eat until you were sick.

And people wonder why we're becoming obese?

Cat

The city wherein I live was recently called 'the most obese city in the US.' And there's pleanty of proof around me every day.

I work in an Italian restaurant, and we do serve immense portions. Granted, most of our guests take soemthing home with them, but with salad, appetizers, and desert, we definitely give you more than you can eat.

I once had a table of two men, both very overweight, and thanks to this nifty little chart we have in the back, was able to count how many calores they consummed.

One appetizer, two salads, two entries, two deserts . . .

8,000 calories between the two of them.
 
Well, not only is it uncontrolled portions but I also believe it to be low self esteem, lack of self control, lack of proper exercise, but most importantly......

Processed foods of modern society....

All that shit that "THEY" pack into those cartons of convenient foods that eventually ends up on our thighs...

We sit in front of the TV screens or in front of the monitor day in and day out...I know this cuz I am one...

But...if I do not work out at least 1 to 2 hours a day I fall into a deep funk...(and even then I still do)


blame portions...yes...but "BOTTOM" line...blame yourselves....
 
SeaCat said:
Why are Americans becoming obese? Could it possibly be because of the portions we are being offered?

Yesterday I went to a local Fast Food Place. One of the better ones. My wife and I looked over the offerings and were amazed. The smallest burger offered was a Double Cheeseburger. This is enough for dinner not lunch.

I can't imagine how much people eat and how these large portions are pushed.

Last night there was a show that showed the "Best places to Pig Out." It was a list of places where you could eat until you were sick.

And people wonder why we're becoming obese?

Cat

Your portions are nothing new! I have been to the States a few times from 1989 onwards and have always found the portions huge! We always ordered one and shared!
 
I've never been, but it doesn't sound that good. I guess stomachs just expand to allow it all in. I know that if i'm at home I eat more (my family insist on three meals a day) and after a week i'm fine with that, but at uni i have a meal a day and maybe a snack and that contents me.

I just don't think I could handle American portions.
 
SeaCat said:
Yesterday I went to a local Fast Food Place. One of the better ones. My wife and I looked over the offerings and were amazed. The smallest burger offered was a Double Cheeseburger. This is enough for dinner not lunch.
And you call yourself a man! :p Don't you watch the commercials? If the burger isn't stacked with three or four paddies, cheeze, bacon and some sort of fattening sauce, then it ain't manly. Ain't even American!

It's your patriotic duty, not to mention your job as a guy, to insist on huge amounts of meaty, fatty foods. Preferably with plenty of carbs on the side (like french fries) and something obscene for dessert like a fudge-covered mudpie brownie with extra whipped cream. Oh, and don't forget the 32 ounce diet coca-cola to wash it all down--or better yet, a lite beer.

:rolleyes: Next thing you'll be telllin' us that you ordered a salad!
 
Misty_Morning said:
Well, not only is it uncontrolled portions but I also believe it to be low self esteem, lack of self control, lack of proper exercise, but most importantly......

Processed foods of modern society....

All that shit that "THEY" pack into those cartons of convenient foods that eventually ends up on our thighs...

We sit in front of the TV screens or in front of the monitor day in and day out...I know this cuz I am one...

But...if I do not work out at least 1 to 2 hours a day I fall into a deep funk...(and even then I still do)


blame portions...yes...but "BOTTOM" line...blame yourselves....

You Misty have hit the nail on the head.

It is not the monster protions we are served, it is our inability or our unwillingness to leave the table without finishing as well as our lack of excercise.

Cat
 
SeaCat said:
You Misty have hit the nail on the head.

It is not the monster protions we are served, it is our inability or our unwillingness to leave the table without finishing as well as our lack of excercise.

Cat

Not to mention American business and advertising. Everything we make or do has to be 'more and bigger' than the competitors.
 
slyc_willie said:
Not to mention American business and advertising. Everything we make or do has to be 'more and bigger' than the competitors.
Speaking of bigger...can we have a bigger and better close-up of your AV? :devil:
 
SelenaKittyn said:
I doubt she'll make you the same offer...
Are bids already on the table? What's a close-up going for? :cool:
 
3113 said:
And you call yourself a man! :p Don't you watch the commercials? If the burger isn't stacked with three or four paddies, cheeze, bacon and some sort of fattening sauce, then it ain't manly. Ain't even American!

It's your patriotic duty, not to mention your job as a guy, to insist on huge amounts of meaty, fatty foods. Preferably with plenty of carbs on the side (like french fries) and something obscene for dessert like a fudge-covered mudpie brownie with extra whipped cream. Oh, and don't forget the 32 ounce diet coca-cola to wash it all down--or better yet, a lite beer.

:rolleyes: Next thing you'll be telllin' us that you ordered a salad!

So sorry to disapoint but most of the foods, even the beef are in smaller portions and are quite lean.

Yes some of my foods are deep fried, yet most of them are baked or grilled.

As for my ordering a Salad? You do not want to see the results of my eating a salad. :rolleyes:

Cat
 
slyc_willie said:
Not to mention American business and advertising. Everything we make or do has to be 'more and bigger' than the competitors.

That's what they keep telling me. Somehow I don't agree with them.

Cat
 
Ya know I was just thinking 'bout the last couple of times I went to Cozumel...one time I went with a male friend of mine and while we were there we always ordered one dinner and shared it between the two of us and we were satisfied...but more importantly...we didn't get any gruff from the staff that we were sharing a meal.

There have been so many numerous times here in the states that that would have been unacceptable. Dining establishments want each person to order their own oversized meal. They are only interested in profits.

I love food, dont get me wrong.....but we as a society have become lazy...not only in what we do...but how we "order" and how we are so willing to accept what is the current norm as put to us by fatassed advertising firms who are only interested in growing their profis at the expense of our growing waistlines.

Please....don't get me started......oh, wait a minute....too late.....
 
Misty_Morning said:
Ya know I was just thinking 'bout the last couple of times I went to Cozumel...one time I went with a male friend of mine and while we were there we always ordered one dinner and shared it between the two of us and we were satisfied...but more importantly...we didn't get any gruff from the staff that we were sharing a meal.

There have been so many numerous times here in the states that that would have been unacceptable. Dining establishments want each person to order their own oversized meal. They are only interested in profits.

I love food, dont get me wrong.....but we as a society have become lazy...not only in what we do...but how we "order" and how we are so willing to accept what is the current norm as put to us by fatassed advertising firms who are only interested in growing their profis at the expense of our growing waistlines.

Please....don't get me started......oh, wait a minute....too late.....

Bigger waistlines means bigger profits, definitely.

Working in the restaurant biz, I and my coworkers are constantly encouraged to sell that extra piece of cheesecake or that extra salad. It's all about getting the guest to buy more and more. Restaurants -- chains or otherwise -- put themselves in a position of trying to out-do the competition by offering more at the same price.

But they get that feedback from the guests. People always want more for their money, and many complain when they don't get it.

PS -- 3113, PM Selena if you want details
 
Misty_Morning said:
Ya know I was just thinking 'bout the last couple of times I went to Cozumel...one time I went with a male friend of mine and while we were there we always ordered one dinner and shared it between the two of us and we were satisfied...but more importantly...we didn't get any gruff from the staff that we were sharing a meal.

There have been so many numerous times here in the states that that would have been unacceptable. Dining establishments want each person to order their own oversized meal. They are only interested in profits.

I love food, dont get me wrong.....but we as a society have become lazy...not only in what we do...but how we "order" and how we are so willing to accept what is the current norm as put to us by fatassed advertising firms who are only interested in growing their profis at the expense of our growing waistlines.

Please....don't get me started......oh, wait a minute....too late.....

LOLOL

Beat you to it this time. :cool:

The last time my wife and I went to Checkers they were running a special. 2 for $4.00. The burgers were doubles and well advertised. Everyone was buying them. My wife and I ordered singles which actually cost more and when we ordered the young lady taking the order tried to convince us that we should get the doubles. (The singles turned out to be a special order.) They actuall gave us a hard time because we weren't willing to order the monster portions.

What this restaraunt needs to see is my recipe for a burger. Mix some Garlic, Onion and Chipotle Pepper into the beef before grilling. Top with Good Cheese, raw onion and a thin sliced Tomatoe. Now that's a damned burger.

Cat
 
At least the eating establishments are willing to give us boxes. When I was coming up, they were called "doggy bags," and you really were supposed to represent that the leftovers you put in them were for your dog.
 
Didn't really read all that much of the topic (just trying to get as much foruming in before bed as possib;e), but I'd say it's a combination of everything mentioned. Lack of exercise (people used to have to work a lot harder when they used to eat as much as they did 100+ years ago), people eat too much of the worng things, and I really don't think that fat replacements are good for humans. I think they add to the problem more than they help, and that we should go back to using real grease for frying, real butter for muffins and such, and real fat for fatty products.
 
TheeGoatPig said:
Didn't really read all that much of the topic (just trying to get as much foruming in before bed as possib;e), but I'd say it's a combination of everything mentioned. Lack of exercise (people used to have to work a lot harder when they used to eat as much as they did 100+ years ago), people eat too much of the worng things, and I really don't think that fat replacements are good for humans. I think they add to the problem more than they help, and that we should go back to using real grease for frying, real butter for muffins and such, and real fat for fatty products.

You have a valid point. Especially here in the states, we've tried so hard to 'improve' everything that we've loaded ourselves with so many preservatives and other poisons. They build up and may even effect genetics. We could be breeding a whole new generation of people born to be fat.

Add in our lackadaisical attitudes and constant desire for luxury, and that makes the situation evern worse.
 
"An American dinner plate is 11 inches; the diameter of a typical European dinner plate is 9 inches, which is a 2 inch difference in circumference, increasing the food surface approximately 50%."


That explains a lot for bigger American waists and increase in Type II Diabetes.
 
neonurotic said:
"An American dinner plate is 11 inches; the diameter of a typical European dinner plate is 9 inches, which is a 2 inch difference in circumference, increasing the food surface approximately 50%."


That explains a lot for bigger American waists and increase in Type II Diabetes.

*Dark LOL* Gluttony is one of the Seven Duddly Sensations . . . .
 
Sugar.

I read in the paper today, that the food we eat, from around mid-80's to now, contains between 50% and 150% more sugar than the food we ate 20 years ago, depending on your eating habits. Processed and prepacked food, soft drinks, some beers, flavored milk, flavored yoghurt, is as bad as candy. And man, do we gobble it up.
 
Liar said:
Sugar.

I read in the paper today, that the food we eat, from around mid-80's to now, contains between 50% and 150% more sugar than the food we ate 20 years ago, depending on your eating habits. Processed and prepacked food, soft drinks, some beers, flavored milk, flavored yoghurt, is as bad as candy. And man, do we gobble it up.

No shit. I bet even my Diet Coke has more crap in it than it did fifteen years ago.
 
Blame the portion size? That seems a bit disingenuous. How about blaming the gluttons who eat more than they need? Abdicating one's own responsibility for one's problems is a sure road to more and more problems......Carney
 
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