"That's why Americans are so fat."

[dixiehack]

The only way I will eat soup beans is if I'm a prisoner of war, and only then after all the rats and bugs are gone.

Sounds like mom, except two or three times a year she gets a weird craving to go back to her roots for a night.

 

[Cosmo]

I'm still heavier than I want to be (gosh darn beer, I can't quit you), but I tend to eat more on the appetizer side when I go out, because meals are just out of control. The difference between what you get here and what you get in Europe is startling. I enjoy the Euro portion sizes way more.

 

[FileNotFound]

On the other side of the portion-size issue: As an empty nester, it's very hard to find packages of fresh food, particularly vegetables, appropriate for two people at the grocery. Everything is "FAMILY SIZE!" And even the standard sizes are too much. We can't get through a standard bunch of asparagus or container of baby spinach before it goes bad no matter how much of it we eat.

 

[I Should Coco]

On the other side of the portion-size issue: As an empty nester, it's very hard to find packages of fresh food, particularly vegetables, appropriate for two people at the grocery. Everything is "FAMILY SIZE!" And even the standard sizes are too much. We can't get through a standard bunch of asparagus or container of baby spinach before it goes bad no matter how much of it we eat.

A word that surprisingly hasn't been mentioned on this thread yet: Costco.

Want to buy six enormous, sugar and white flour-filled blueberry muffins? Sorry, you're required to buy 12.

And don't forget the 30-pack of toilet paper rolls … you'll need those soon afterward.

 

[BTExpress]

On the other side of the portion-size issue: As an empty nester, it's very hard to find packages of fresh food, particularly vegetables, appropriate for two people at the grocery. Everything is "FAMILY SIZE!" And even the standard sizes are too much. We can't get through a standard bunch of asparagus or container of baby spinach before it goes bad no matter how much of it we eat.

I can't even find the normal 15.3 oz. box of cereal I eat. Every store only has the 23 oz. "FAMILY SIZE" version. Wonderful, except I eat between 1-2 ounces a day, and the stuff starts to go soft before I get to the end of a 23 oz. box.

 

[OscarMadison]

I always liked the corn syrup theory that its omnipresence was a conscious decision made in the 70s to appease all of our corn producers. The obesity epidemic is an unintended consequence. Several interesting articles about it.

Blame Nixon for the obesity epidemic

The deadly legacy of America's fields of gold

Thanks for the cites and welcome!

I would favor any explanation that looks at American food over that of exercise habits. Exercise obviously matters some, but your weight is much more about the calories you take in than the ones you do or don't burn off.

You can't outrun a bad diet.

To an extent, @goalmouth is right about eating your ancestral diet. Some of those foodways are utter shirte, though.

 

[goalmouth]

The sugar trade was politicized long before corn sweeteners appeared.

Sugar Act | Summary & Facts

 

[jr/shotglass]

For some reason, it amuses me that "That's why Americans are so fat" is right next to "The American Bathroom" in the new posts.

Because, you know, maybe we just don't crap enough.

 

[Driftwood]

On the other side of the portion-size issue: As an empty nester, it's very hard to find packages of fresh food, particularly vegetables, appropriate for two people at the grocery. Everything is "FAMILY SIZE!" And even the standard sizes are too much. We can't get through a standard bunch of asparagus or container of baby spinach before it goes bad no matter how much of it we eat.

My wife and I go through the same thing. We wind up throwing away much more than we should.
I am in the market for one of those vacuum sealer to put stuff in the freezer.

 

[Batman]

And don't forget the 30-pack of toilet paper rolls … you'll need those soon afterward.

Have you forgotten 2020? Toilet paper is one of those things you can never have too much of in reserve.
During the pandemic rush I was buying it where I could and stockpiling it. I've maintained a doomsday supply of 30-50 rolls ever since. We still have a 24-pack of Charmin Ultrasoft that's two years old. It ain't going bad.

 

[dixiehack]

The one break I caught in pandemic shopping was that I had just ordered a case of Charmin off Amazon in Feb. 2020. Never had to scrounge for shirt paper even at the worst of times.

 

[Songbird]

Sugar is the devil. Read "Sugar Blues" and you'll find out why. Learn about the Glycemic Index for foods.

White flour is the devil. It's empty calories and metabolizes like sugar. Plus, you'll eat smaller portions of whole grains, which metabolize slower so you're not hungry right after. If you eat a lot of empty carbs, try to follow them with grains or other slow burners, to "flatten the tail" of your rising blood sugar, which makes you hungry.

Eat the foods of your ancestors, before processing was a thing.

Don't eat a lot late at night.

Stop forking drinking so much gosh darn alcohol. And try not to substitute food when you do. Years ago I had dinner with a colleague, who described what she admitted was her awful diet. I guessed correctly that she was a recovering alcoholic.

Sanjay did a nice job with this.