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Old 04-05-2017, 06:51 AM   #161
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Mostly we eat home cooked food, chicken, pork, fish, always with rice, always with MSG. The chickens are tiny compared with the U.S., even the breast meat, small as it is, is delicious. The meat, pork, chicken is served always cooked with the bone in. The spices and flavors are amazing. Even so I find i am satisfied eating less, and I am less hungry in between.

<snip>
Some come to SE Asia if you want to loose weight? Well, ten years ago nobody I talked to here had ever tasted a pizza or had a burger. Fast forward to today, there are burger and pizza places all over the place, packed with young locals. If you were to ask me what the favorite food of young people here is today when they can afford it, I would probably guess, pizza and coke.

Even my wife's family, who had never eaten either before want to go to get a pizza, soft drink or burger and fries.
I found that when visiting India. I'd have a lovely, spicy breakfast and really wouldn't be hungry till lunch. I stayed vegetarian, too, after getting some advice to that effect- just reduces the number of unfamiliar bacteria your body might encounter. I've got a lot of Indian spices here at home- DH used to make Indian food from scratch till he got sick- and plan to take it up again. Even now my diet is mostly fruits and vegetables with a little meat- just not as nicely spiced as Indian food.

Coworkers who visited the offices in India said that the locals ordered in Pizza Hut and KFC for them. They never did that for me- probably because I enjoyed the local food so much!
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Old 04-05-2017, 06:52 AM   #162
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We rarely eat fast food, but are guilty of getting pizza from Costco maybe 3 times a year.

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Oh OK, yeah, that makes sense. We've been going to higher-end places, where they drizzle colored sauce on the plate to make the plate look fuller (I guess).

I ordered a crab cake with "fresh young green beans and fingerling potato." The modest-sized crab cake was served on a small plate with a sort of frizzle of wilted lettuce and - one - tiny potato, smaller than my thumbnail, cut in four pieces. It was laughable. I couldn't find the green beans, so the waitress pointed them out. There were 3 of them hiding in the wilted lettuce. Each bean was about 3/4" long. Oh- the charge for this "plate" was $31.00.
Then, I wonder how we do not get fat. When I order lamb in a restaurant, they give me 4 ribs. At home, when I do lamb, I eat a rack of 8 ribs by myself because my wife does not eat lamb. BMI of less than 24 here. My wife's is 22 or something. She eats a lot less than I do.

We or rather I eat more than what they serve at higher restaurants, a lot more, And we do not eat at these restaurants that often, so why don't we gain weight? What saves us is that we do not eat fast food, I guess.
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Old 04-05-2017, 07:29 AM   #163
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So what happened 30 years ago that made people change their choices so drastically?
Doesn't take much. The difference of 100 calories per day will cause a ten pound weight gain every year!

That's a extra coke, beer, handful of nuts or chips.
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Old 04-05-2017, 07:31 AM   #164
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Doesn't take much. The difference of 100 calories per day will cause a ten pound weight gain every year!

That's a extra coke, beer, handful of nuts or chips.
You mean one of the above items, not all of them, right?

Recently, I was looking at the label of a soda bottle. It said "80 calories per serving". So, what's a serving? I looked for it. It said 8 oz.
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Old 04-05-2017, 07:39 AM   #165
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You mean one of the above items, not all of them, right?

Recently, I was looking at the label of a soda bottle. It said "80 calories per serving". So, what's a serving? I looked for it. It said 8 oz.
Yes they're each ~100 calories. Obviously just an average.

If someone ate all four they should expect to pack on 40 pounds every year!
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Old 04-05-2017, 07:49 AM   #166
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One should go eat often at the restaurant described by Amethyst above.

They not only serve a bitty portion, they also charge a lot so you are broke and cannot stop by a drive-through on the way home.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:12 AM   #167
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One should go eat often at the restaurant described by Amethyst above.

They not only serve a bitty portion, they also charge a lot so you are broke and cannot stop by a drive-through on the way home.
LOL! I think drive-throughs are a huge downfall for people who struggle with weight. I've been watching "My 600-lb. Life" and for someone who's extremely overweight but still able to drive they're perfect. No one has to see your entire body and you can pretend you're taking that giant sack of sandwiches and fries home to a large group. No need to get out of the car and walk, either.

I'm not big on restaurant eating. Mine has gone up somewhat since DH died as I take advantage of more socialization opportunities, but I avoid pub food (will eat dinner beforehand and just have wine) and on road trips I go to Subway and pick something with lean meat and lots of veggies, or even grab something at the salad bar of the grocery store.

Someone asked about which places have giant servings- two that come to mind are PF Chang's and Cheesecake Factory. How the heck can you have room for dessert, which is also gigantic? One thing I loved in India was that the buffets typically had small, exquisite desserts. When I took the guys on my team to the lunch buffet at my hotel they'd get 3 or 4 each, but I liked being able to have a small serving of just one.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:23 AM   #168
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I am looking forward to my upcoming 6-week trip through Europe. Will I come back skinnier or heavier? I do plan to do a bit of cooking as we stay in Airbnb homes with a kitchen, but would not want to do too much of that to take time from sightseeing.

When we took a cruise recently, I was proud to come back with the same weight. I like to eat, and the food on Celebrity ships, while not Michelin-starred quality (not that I would know), is the same quality if not far better than many restaurants. It took a lot of discipline to not overeat, and we walked a lot when the ship came into ports.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:38 AM   #169
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I
I just imagine how frustrating it must be for a physician to see an obese person time after time, give then advice and direction for eating properly, only to have them back next time at the same weight. And then have to work them through and treat them, for all the illnesses, complaints, and discomfort that comes from it.
Big food companies are very good at hitting our biological buttons, the ones that will power is most ineffective against.
Check out this book from your library:

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

Emphasis mine.

Quote:
brain’s so-called pleasure centers light up when the subjects are dosed with solutions of sugar or fat. He then describes how consultants and food scientists calibrate products — “optimize” them, in industry-speak — to maximize cravings.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:47 AM   #170
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Have you also noticed how snack food is everywhere? It used to be only in grocery stores. Now it is in gas stations, department stores, hardware stores.... places where food is not sold. And of course vending machines popping up everywhere. It is cheap and profitable. In contrast, how place places can you find fresh fruit and vegetables to snack on?

Perhaps another factor is that we have too many snack/bad food choices, and folks feel they must consume every choice. It is like going to a buffet that has a large variety of options. Many lose their discipline and feel if they do not eat something of everything they are missing out.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:47 AM   #171
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Oh OK, yeah, that makes sense. We've been going to higher-end places, where they drizzle colored sauce on the plate to make the plate look fuller (I guess).

I ordered a crab cake with "fresh young green beans and fingerling potato." The modest-sized crab cake was served on a small plate with a sort of frizzle of wilted lettuce and - one - tiny potato, smaller than my thumbnail, cut in four pieces. It was laughable. I couldn't find the green beans, so the waitress pointed them out. There were 3 of them hiding in the wilted lettuce. Each bean was about 3/4" long. Oh- the charge for this "plate" was $31.00.
Medium and lower priced restaurants often serve large portions. That's one way they compete.

I remember going to an US Italian place near a hotel last year. DH was smart and ordered the cioppino - risky choice, but it was very good. I ordered some sautéed chicken and veggies over pasta. Well, there must have been a pound of pasta in that bowl! Fortunately the chicken and veggies were on top, so I could eat them off the top. I just couldn't believe it.
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Old 04-05-2017, 08:59 AM   #172
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So what happened 30 years ago that made people change their choices so drastically?
Doesn't take much. The difference of 100 calories per day will cause a ten pound weight gain every year!

That's a extra coke, beer, handful of nuts or chips.
My question to Brett who was complaining about poor choices people make, was that somehow people were making OK choices 30 years ago because obesity wasn't a serious problem (although cardiovascular disease apparently was), but suddenly the US population started making poor choices?

I think you have to decide there were some external pressures acting on the US population.

Honestly, I don't think you can attribute it to folks suddenly having an extra beer or chips. Why weren't they having that extra beer or chips before?
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:22 AM   #173
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Honestly, I don't think you can attribute it to folks suddenly having an extra beer or chips. Why weren't they having that extra beer or chips before?
One driving force here is marketing. Food ads exaggerate and glamorize every aspect of the foods they push, from the size, texture, and colors of the food to all the emotional and social ramifications of its preparation, presentation, and consumption. Everyone and everything in the process is presented as fresh, clean, and happy, including the animals slaughtered to provide that burger or chicken breast. Food is associated with happy families, physical well-being, social acceptance, perceived wealth, sex, you name it. The way ads push things, a bag of chips or can of soda can change your life!
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:24 AM   #174
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Agree with most of what has been said. Sounds like most of the posters here are pretty good at making the right eating and other life choices and consequently we are not obese. So let's turn the discussion around a bit, does the obesity epidemic provide any advantages to those of us who are not obese? Only partly tongue-in-cheek.

Perhaps better annuity pricing? Better chance of attracting good looking mate? Easier to get jobs? Maybe easier to feel smug and superior? Must be others? If one views life as a competition(not saying you should) not being obese is a big advantage.

On the other hand we all pay more because of the health costs associated with obesity. Just another point of view.
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:29 AM   #175
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Agree with most of what has been said. Sounds like most of the posters here are pretty good at making the right eating and other life choices and consequently we are not obese. So let's turn the discussion around a bit, does the obesity epidemic provide any advantages to those of us who are not obese? Only partly tongue-in-cheek.

Perhaps better annuity pricing? Better chance of attracting good looking mate? Easier to get jobs? Maybe easier to feel smug and superior? Must be others? If one views life as a competition(not saying you should) not being obese is a big advantage.

On the other hand we all pay more because of the health costs associated with obesity. Just another point of view.
People who buy annuities tend to be people that think they're going to live a long time, and people who are already older. This is already a known fact - self-selected population - and they tend to be right on average. So, I don't think you're going to see better annuity pricing.
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:33 AM   #176
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I'm sure arguments can be made both ways...the obese person who dies of a heart attack at 50 would likely use less health care than a healthy weight person who lives to 88 but nickel and dimes the system for their last 6 years.
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:35 AM   #177
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People who buy annuities tend to be people that think they're going to live a long time, and people who are already older. This is already a known fact - self-selected population - and they tend to be right on average. So, I don't think you're going to see better annuity pricing.
Probably right about annuities. Any other Advantages?
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:38 AM   #178
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Is it practical to measure our calories accurately enough that we could, for example, reduce our caloric consumption by 100 calories a day?

I think the idea that most human beings can measure and control their caloric consumption to within 100 calories a day is a myth. My 2¢.
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:41 AM   #179
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Is food a smaller percentage of the budget today than it was, say, 50 years ago? I suspect it is - much less, and even lesser compared to 100 years ago. In a lot of other countries, food takes a higher % of the budget than in the US and therefore is less plentiful. I suspect this is a combination of higher US incomes, and food getting somewhat cheaper in the US due to our incredible (best in the world) distribution system.

We got richer, overall, so we could afford a lot more food, and the food got relatively cheaper.
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Old 04-05-2017, 09:42 AM   #180
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Hard to say. Some types of diseases like lung cancer or brain cancer kill so quickly that the treatments do not last long, even though expensive. On the other hand chronic diseases can last a long time, and cause complications when a person comes down with something else. Not all obese people die of heart attack or a stroke.

I happened to stumble across a blog of an obese woman who struggled for a long time before death at 60. It was scary. She said her obesity and diabetes were caused by other medical problems she had that were under-treated, and that she knew about good nutrition but was limited by her finances. She could be right, but it was a scary story. She was seeing 4 or 5 specialists at a time, including a shrink. Nobody was able to help her. As I said, it was scary when she suffered for a hernia for a long time, and no surgeon dared touch her.
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