Talking to husband about his all American diet

[Anonymous]

I grew up eating a variety of home cooked foods. My mother did'twork and loved to cook and experiment. Chicken cacciatore, strip steak and peppers, vegetarian couscous, pasta primavera, all variety of fish, chicken marsala, spaghetti and meatballs, etc. But we always had a salad, some veggies, etc. We rarely ate out, maybe 1x/mo would go to a pizza place. We occasionally had ice cream, more often fruit. I started cooking at a teenager and introduced stir fries, and some other asian inspired cuisine.

Both DH and I work f/t and our meals are so much more boring, but we try to serve a well rounded diet. I don't think there is any such thing as "all American" anymore, anyway.

[Anonymous]

The vitriol to OP's question is surprising, even by DCUM standards. I'm American and think there is much room for improvement with the typical diet here. That said, there is a ton of variation with the typical American diet. But when I think what typical is defined as, I would say it includes a weekly spaghetti night, 1-2 fast food meals, and lots of casseroles; however, this may vary depending on region and socioeconomic level quite a bit. Your husband's diet sounds like it's within the range of "normal" but on the unhealthy end of the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vitriol to OP's question is surprising, even by DCUM standards.

It was an oddly phrased original post, if she was not trying to deliberately insult.

Why not just say she was raised on more healthy home-cooked meals, and he was raised on primarily eating out (fast food or near-fast-food restaurants), with a lot of processed or heavy foods. So how to go about introducing healthy changes in a way he would be likely to respond well to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vitriol to OP's question is surprising, even by DCUM standards. I'm American and think there is much room for improvement with the typical diet here. That said, there is a ton of variation with the typical American diet. But when I think what typical is defined as, I would say it includes a weekly spaghetti night, 1-2 fast food meals, and lots of casseroles; however, this may vary depending on region and socioeconomic level quite a bit. Your husband's diet sounds like it's within the range of "normal" but on the unhealthy end of the spectrum.

Please. The OP, out of the gate, made this an "Indian culture is sooooo superior to American culture" thread. As if her husband's family is wholly representative of how ALL Americans eat and cook.

If she had said, "My husband's preferences and attitudes toward food--which seem to stem from childhood routines and habits--concerns me. He eats a lot of carb-heavy, canned, fast food instead of fresh foods cooked at home. How can I address this with him?" ...that would have inspired an entirely different body of responses.

[Anonymous]

The op was rude, asking how we are not all dead here and calling his diet all American and implying that fruits, salads and wheat bread is Indian.

She could have just said that her husband was raised in a house where eating out was a daily thing and how to change that. I know Indians, Chinese, Brits, etc. That were raised eating out all the time,

[Anonymous]

PP here finishing my post...I know people from all countries (esp upper middle class since they can afford it) that eat out all the time because it's how they were raised and they typically consume more salt, oil, etc than those who eat in. Not to menation spend more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ashburn...an Indian Mecca. Over the years I've been invited to countless Diwali parties and to neighbors house for dinner cooked from scratch. I've always left so full of carbs and grease. If I ate that food in a daily basis, if have a man sized gut. I love the food, but But OMG, I don't need diabetes!

Except if you're going to parties and special dinners your hosts are serving you special occasion food. No one eats those things on a daily basis in any culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ashburn...an Indian Mecca. Over the years I've been invited to countless Diwali parties and to neighbors house for dinner cooked from scratch. I've always left so full of carbs and grease. If I ate that food in a daily basis, if have a man sized gut. I love the food, but But OMG, I don't need diabetes!

Except if you're going to parties and special dinners your hosts are serving you special occasion food. No one eats those things on a daily basis in any culture.

And Americans don't eat vast quantities of red sauce Italian and Olive Garden for dinner, with an appetizer of McDonald's after school.

[Anonymous]

This is the same OP that constantly posts obnoxious "us vs. them" posts regarding Indians and Americans, right? It's getting tiresome.

[Anonymous]

I'm Indian too and you sound insufferable -- like the typical Indian who believes ALL Indian things are superior to ALL other cultures. Sure Indian food is theoretically healthy -- lots of vegetables. Now think about how much ghee the average household is dousing those vegetables in before cooking them to death; and I'm not talking the special desi party foods -- I'm talking regular Tues. night dinner.

And if Indian food is soooo superior, please explain to me the pot bellies that are so common in the culture. Have you been to a desi party and seen the bellies hanging out -- I mean it's super attractive to see a 40 yr old woman with a belly hanging over the sari, to say nothing of the men with guts. If Indian food is so superior, why is that an issue?

[Anonymous]

I agree that the typical American diet is appalling.

OP, we cook from scratch for our family every day too. Mostly stuff based on cookbooks originally, and now we buy just real foods and then cook with "use what we have" mentality. Unfortunately I don't know how to cook much Indian/Asian food.. would love to learn because we think it's delicious. You have a big advantage!

[Anonymous]

New poster here. As an Asian immigrant myself, I actually find it much easier to eat healthier here. There's so much more fresh produce to choose from and at more decent prices. There's also less of a street food culture which ironically is healthier because we cant just walk around and order food so easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Indian too and you sound insufferable -- like the typical Indian who believes ALL Indian things are superior to ALL other cultures. Sure Indian food is theoretically healthy -- lots of vegetables. Now think about how much ghee the average household is dousing those vegetables in before cooking them to death; and I'm not talking the special desi party foods -- I'm talking regular Tues. night dinner.

And if Indian food is soooo superior, please explain to me the pot bellies that are so common in the culture. Have you been to a desi party and seen the bellies hanging out -- I mean it's super attractive to see a 40 yr old woman with a belly hanging over the sari, to say nothing of the men with guts. If Indian food is so superior, why is that an issue?

LOL. Most people in this country regardless of their ethnicity and race are obese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Indian too and you sound insufferable -- like the typical Indian who believes ALL Indian things are superior to ALL other cultures. Sure Indian food is theoretically healthy -- lots of vegetables. Now think about how much ghee the average household is dousing those vegetables in before cooking them to death; and I'm not talking the special desi party foods -- I'm talking regular Tues. night dinner.

And if Indian food is soooo superior, please explain to me the pot bellies that are so common in the culture. Have you been to a desi party and seen the bellies hanging out -- I mean it's super attractive to see a 40 yr old woman with a belly hanging over the sari, to say nothing of the men with guts. If Indian food is so superior, why is that an issue?

LOL. Most people in this country regardless of their ethnicity and race are obese.

+1. I also didn't see where the OP claimed that Indian food is so superior. Did I miss it? I thought she was just giving examples of how she grew up, the types of things she ate, etc. And I actually agreed with it (although we aren't Indian or Asian or anything) - it really does seem a lot better than what most people eat in the US.

I guess I interpreted her as saying that American diets are really bad, not that Indian diets are necessarily very good. And surely nobody could argue with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ashburn...an Indian Mecca. Over the years I've been invited to countless Diwali parties and to neighbors house for dinner cooked from scratch. I've always left so full of carbs and grease. If I ate that food in a daily basis, if have a man sized gut. I love the food, but But OMG, I don't need diabetes!

Except if you're going to parties and special dinners your hosts are serving you special occasion food. No one eats those things on a daily basis in any culture.

You missed it. In addition to Diwali, I go for a regular dinner as well. Same. Super greasy, very carb heavy, and all of the vegetables in a thick heavy sauce. This is not one Indian family, but quite a few.

Don't get me wrong, I love fried bread, but could not tolerate it on the regular and remain a size 6. All of the Indian women I know (with a few exceptions) have pot bellies.