Why don’t Americans give a f*** about what they eat?

[Anonymous]

Pp here. Okay, I am from Europe and I became overweight when I lived in the U.S. for 2+ years. But contrary to OP, I fully realize that it was due to my poor choices.

And mind you, I cooked from scratch 99 percent of what my family ate. Even though our diet was healthy, with lots of veggies and fruit, but pasta, potatoes and homemade desserts all add up, you know. Also, I overindulged on Starbucks caramel frapuccinos a bit too often.

(I started losing that weight only three years after returning to my home country - by creating a calorie deficit, going low carb and doing IF. Not because food in my country magically made me thinner.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes and 1 in 3 is pre-diabetic?

I’m an immigrant. After living in this country for 15 years I’m now a pre-diabetic. So I’m watching what I eat.

I’m constantly in owe that after documentaries, articles, shows about obesity and diabetes problems in this country the junk food is offered at EVERY corner everywhere you go.

Subway is not allowed to market their “bread” as bread in Europe because its a concoction of some chemicals and fillers. The same with Taco Bell meat.

Forget fast food restaurants. Most restaurants’s food here is low quality.

I’m in Nashville in upscale hotel and for breakfast they offer donuts, muffins, fake eggs and some strange tasting bacon.

My DC goes to a private school and she gets candy from teachers every day. Every event doesn’t go without cookies, cupcakes, cakes, etc. Every American toddler gets a daily dose of fish crackers, animal crackers and orang puffs. They love low quality past with powered cheese. Every kids party has pizza.

Where does it end? What the actual f***?

Why are we not flooding restaurants and stores with high quality food? Why don’t we scrutinise school lunches menus? Have you seen what our kids eat?

Why no one cares about this?

Why didn't you give a f*** for 15 years about what you ate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No one is denying that it exists in much of the country. But it should be acknowledged that obesity is not ubiquitous everywhere, and is avoidable.

This thread reminds me very much of a recent thread about obesity in which certain posters absolutely rejected any personal responsibility for bad health related to poor dietary choices.

Obviously, Americans are irresponsible and Italians are responsible. That’s why the latter are not obese and we are.

Please… it’s not about will of power. Any habit forming is about making it easy and convenient. If you read any books about forming habits or breakfast ng habits, science shows you won’t last about on will power, it’s about making it easy or difficult to take the action.

When I was growing up my dad was obese. My mom was not, none of my siblings or I were. He was obese despite the fact that we all had the same food options. He ate way too much, period. I’m sure if he’d read your recommended books he would have felt better about it somehow not being under his control, though.

Same with my mom. She just had no willpower. She had bag of snickers in her nightstand and she just loved to eat. The rest of us ate vegetables and real food and stayed away from junk. [b]I get fat just visiting her.[/i] I remember I would spend a month over college summers and would just gain weight because of all the unhealthy food.

Soooo ... your mom had no willpower?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m with you OP. It’s maddening! I do my best to watch what my family eats, but my kids are surrounded by junk at school and their friends. Don’t get me started on glyphosate. I’m Republican but would vote for any candidate who would more closely regulate the chemicals in our food supply.

My kid has gotten candy practically from every teacher. As a reward for good behaviour or work. Cookies during all special events.
What do they eat for lunch at school? Pizza and ice cream every Friday (not a quality one), corn dog, sloppy joe, mashed potatoes out of a box, canned green beans, etc. They sell chocolate milk at schools FFS! And then you seriously expect them to make good choices?

Why aren't you sending a healthy lunch to school with them? You act as if it is all predetermined and unavoidable that you will get fat, but really you just keep reiterating your own bad choices and unwillingness to educate yourself and take some responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

Your sloppy, hasty generalisations and exaggerations make you sound foolish, OP, not credible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc, OP. You don't sound as if logic and reasoning are strong points. I think THIS is your problem, not big bad America making you fat against your will.

Just out of curiosity, which country did you originally come from before the US?

I bet you aren't going to tell us which country, though. Maybe because you made that up too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that 1 in 10 Americans has diabetes and 1 in 3 is pre-diabetic?

I’m an immigrant. After living in this country for 15 years I’m now a pre-diabetic. So I’m watching what I eat.

I’m constantly in owe that after documentaries, articles, shows about obesity and diabetes problems in this country the junk food is offered at EVERY corner everywhere you go.

Subway is not allowed to market their “bread” as bread in Europe because its a concoction of some chemicals and fillers. The same with Taco Bell meat.

Forget fast food restaurants. Most restaurants’s food here is low quality.

I’m in Nashville in upscale hotel and for breakfast they offer donuts, muffins, fake eggs and some strange tasting bacon.

My DC goes to a private school and she gets candy from teachers every day. Every event doesn’t go without cookies, cupcakes, cakes, etc. Every American toddler gets a daily dose of fish crackers, animal crackers and orang puffs. They love low quality past with powered cheese. Every kids party has pizza.

Where does it end? What the actual f***?

Why are we not flooding restaurants and stores with high quality food? Why don’t we scrutinise school lunches menus? Have you seen what our kids eat?

Why no one cares about this?

Which country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

You know some people live in food deserts, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

You know some people live in food deserts, right?

DP. Of course some people live in food deserts, but certainly not the vast majority of the over 70% of overweight/obese people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

I went to university in America and it was super easy to find healthy options. In fact, there were many vegan and healthy restaurant options, OP, many of them. Also, I actually used to shop a lot in a convenience store near my apartment where there was an entire aisle filled with dried lentils and pulses, which we used to use for cooking super cheap, healthy meals. And fruits and vegetables were never hard to find: American grocery stores are huge and have so many options. There were even MORE healthy options there because the selections were just so broad. But I understood what kinds of food I should be buying and eating, and how to balance meals and cook, and I think that is where we differ, OP. I truly do not understand what you mean by '90% of choices are bad here'. This was not my experience at all in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

You know some people live in food deserts, right?

Yes, but OP is not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Are you kidding? Disney has really good restaurants. With healthy food. Their quick stops at the parks usually have fatty/greasy stuff, but even there you can buy fruit or cut up veggies. The Flying Fish (one of our favorite Disney restaurants) offers filet mignon with asparagus and sweet onion risotto. Scallops with grits and sweet corn. What’s wrong with that?

Are you kidding? I’ve been to at least half of Disney restaurants, the ones where you have to make reservations months in advance and I’m struggling to think of one that I could say had quality food.

If you have ever eaten in French or Italian restaurants you would never think of Disney food as quality.

Please explain how Italian and French restaurants will make filet with asparagus or scallops and sweet corn better. Or how they would be QUALITY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Americans are not very bright or lost some IQ digits due to bad diets, because they don’t acknowledge there is health crisis in the country and refuse to take responsibility for it.

Good luck yo your kids.

I think this is my favorite comment on the thread. Someone who refuses to take responsibility for their personal heath crisis accusing “Americans” of refusing to take responsibility for general health crises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clearly you care less about what you eat than the two thirds of Americans who AREN'T pre-diabetic.

I wasn’t pre diabetic until I moved to the states. That’s the point.

The point people keep making is that when you moved to the States, you made poor choices. Your poor choices were your own. Perhaps you weren't educated about nutrition and this is why you made poor choices. But the choices were your own, and nobody forced you to make them.

Because 90% of choices are bad here and it’s really hard and expensive to pursue good choices. Get it?

No, no it’s not. Drive yourself to the nearest grocery store, buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins, drive back home and cook them yourself. Do not go to Taco Bell or McDonald’s or Starbucks on the way home. Et voila.

You know some people live in food deserts, right?

DP. Of course some people live in food deserts, but certainly not the vast majority of the over 70% of overweight/obese people.

Obesity absolutely correlates with food deserts. I live in NYC, and the fattest populations here live in the poorest neighborhoods that are the least served by grocery stores. And I’ve seen some of the grocery stores they do have; it’s truly wretched. I wouldn’t eat the produce sold there, either.