Foodie Crap

[kyburg]

MSN (always a reputable source for stuff, yah right) noted another take on the weight-reduction thingie. Actually, more of a good approach to a maintenance diet - French Women Don't Get Fat.

The key? Portion control. Rabid, obsessive (to any American mind), portion control. Go figure.

Anytime I went to Switzerland, I lost five pounds - over two weeks. It was a guarantee. And I ate like a little piggy - all the butter, chocolate, sausage I could stand. Potatoes fried in butter. Lost weight. Of course, I was probably getting more exercise, but I didn't eat as much - the only large meal was lunch. Bread and butter with coffee for breakfast. A little something for dinner.

Portion control.

The core of both WW and ADA.

Gee. Ya think?

Comments

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Portion control has always made good sense, but for some of us, it's easier said than done.

[sputnik.livejournal.com]

Yep. It's my mantra these days.

[eyelid.livejournal.com]

That woman could use a little fat, if you ask me. She's like an anorexic poster child.

[evilshell.livejournal.com]

Yes - and no. Metabolism that works correctly would help, along with not having fat genes.

As for fat French women, I've seen more than my share of them. The woman who wrote the book? Anorexic looking, to my eyes.

Then again, here, we don't have the big lunch small dinner. Most restaurants don't cater to vegetarians, particularly those at chemical factories, like where I work. Vegetarian here usually means fish or occasionally chicken, and who cares if that's beef broth - no beef, right? (gah, can you tell that annoys me?) And then there's the issue of spending 20 CHF a day for lunch. So I have a small lunch and a normal dinner, nothing after - and guess what - still fat.

When I would travel to Europe, I'd always lose weight. But I also walked the majority of the day, which helps signifigantly.

Portion control is sensible, most definitely. But it isn't the magic cure. (then again, there is no magic cure...unfortunately!)

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't start me on the cost of eating over there. I remember. BOY.

A ham steak the size of the palm of my hand. $5. Essentially.

We ate a ton of cervelat and pasta. Oh, and potatoes and bread, too. I used to haunt the farmer's markets looking for something green, and it usually ended up being brussell sprouts.

I remember. *sigh* And being there, and being overweight? You stick out more than the sore thumb, and you get treated like you were also mentally deficient as well. I remember THAT too.

[bigbigtruck.livejournal.com]

Your artwork is in the mail! I set them up - one horizontally, one vertically - so that you can fit them to the bottom of a card or letter sheet and fill the blank space with a greeting, since I remember you saying you planned to use them for cards or something.

Should be to you on Wednesday or Thursday. :)

[pseudicide.livejournal.com]

Sigh, so simple though! It was amazing how americans would come through the falls and always complain that the meals weren't big enough, and yet it was a tourist restaurant so they were larger than normal, as we were catering to americans.

And when I moved to oz I again thought 'wow, these portions are tiny', comparitively to what I was used to gettting, but they weren't, they were just enough, and still, now, sometimes too much for me.

As it is, the reactions of aussies when they go to the US is one of utter disbelief at the protion sizes.

OT:

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

That has got to be the funniest icon I've seen in a while!

[penguido.livejournal.com]

I'm from here and I don't understand why the portions need to be so big. From a farming stnadpoint, we've done some really messed up things to our country and our economy by pushing farmers to grow wheat and potatoes and sugar and then dropping the prices so low we have to subsidize them. This mass-market approach to farming is a big part of why junk food is so cheap - the ingrediants are. It's not terribly more expensive to grow asparagus than it is to grow wheat, but how cheap is bread?

This is why before I thought about my portion sizes, I grew large, and now that I am on WW and am learning what a portion is, I am diminishing. The odd thing is that I'm less hungry now that I've adjusted to the size of the meals that I'm eating.

[foogod.livejournal.com]

Of course portion control is effectively impossible for anybody who eats out anywhere at all in the US, anyway. The restaurant industry has firmly seen to that. I like to eat, and I eat a lot. I'm able to pack away a lot more than many of my friends (even though I probably shouldn't, but hey). Even I find the portions at most US restaurants to be bordering on obscene. The worst part? You have no option. It's either get nothing at all, or get enough to feed a reasonable person for three days. No in-between. Half the appetizers are too big for one person to eat as a full-blown meal.

What really got me was a little bit back when I realized that I really don't order salads very often, and tried to figure out why. Part of it, of course, is that I'd always grown up thinking of salads as a side-dish, not an entree, so when I thought about what to have for lunch or dinner, I just didn't think of them. But then I realized the other reason: Most of the places I went, if I ordered one of their entree salads, I didn't actually get a salad. Instead, I got a S A L A D, a full-on platter piled high with at least twice or three times as much food as if I'd ordered a burger or something else. I can't eat all that (really, literally, I can't half the time even if I try, and I can eat a lot)! I'd take some home as leftovers, but, well, cut up lettuce just doesn't keep well, and I probably wouldn't eat it anyway. Sigh. I hate wasting food, too.

"What's that? You want a smaller salad? We don't have those, silly! Why would anybody want less food?"

So much for that particular adventure in trying to eat healthy..

Re: OT:

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

TEH KOOT. Yup!

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Aussies were some of the biggest people I ever saw. And frankly, the portioning was just what I expected it to be (see me toss half the burger) -

However, some places here in the States specialize in over the top portioning - Claim Jumper being the first one that comes to mind. Sheesh - I ate for a week on the leftovers!

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Measuring cups ARE your friend. Honestly.

I say it and say it - all Jenny Craig does is put real food in itty bitty cans. Go to WW and have them teach you how to do it - and save a bundle.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Heh. I ask for the take home carton at the beginning of meals like that. I do.

I even take extra plates and push half off. I am. So rude.

(You know, I tried to eat the big salad once. Felt like I'd swallowed a ball of twine. Ain't doing that again....)

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Can't wait.

OH. And you want teh stoopid for the day? I found your copy of last year's cookbook binder - I'm going to add this year's cookies to it and send it off. *facepalms* I could have sworn I sent it off last January. Uh. Oops.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

You know, I'd be surprised if she's over 5' tall - I'm looking, but I'm pretty sure she's okay.

Me, I've been waaaay under - and she doesn't look it. She ain't got tits, and I know all about that.

[pseudicide.livejournal.com]

Sydney/NSW is a lot more european than aqueensland from all i've heard as well. You don't get the same thing here. Though fast food is always too much, no matter what country i'm in.

[penguido.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've broken out my cups and I use them for anything other than steamed veggies. I even have a little scale.

I don't view it as obsessing, but teaching myself how to eat right. Once I know what a proper amount is supposed to look like, it won't be such a big deal. But when you look at a fast food meal, which in some cases is enough calories for a person for a day, it's easy to see why we lose track of real food sizes.

The ability to cook for myself is one of the reasons that I picked WW. I wouldn't want to do a program where I had to buy little fake foods.

I found the cutest little bowls that are pre-sized - ceramic bowls, and they have labels for 1/2 cup, 1 cup, so on, so you can just choose the bowl, fill it up, and know what you're eating. Microwaveable too. I'm getting some for Vin for the holidays since he has a hard time with sizes too.

you know...

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

I don't know why it is so difficult for people to grasp the simple rule of weight loss. Eat less and exercise more.

That's always worked for me. I think the "exercise" word scares people.

For me,that can mean simply parking further away from the place I want to be and walking, taking steps instead of elevators, stuff like that.

Granted, I'm not in the best shape, but I do know why and a little SELF control along with the rest of stuff works for me.

I think that Americans as a whole lately, from what I can tell, don't want to take responsiblity for their actions, and that can even include those who want to lose weight. For MOST of us, it's a matter of choice, not genetics, and all it takes is for us to say "okay, I can do this, I'm responsible for my self. I can lose the weight."

But that's just me. :)

[evilshell.livejournal.com]

It is just obscenely expensive here to eat...unbelieveably so. But cross over into Germany? Dirt cheap. Pizza with a veggie topping - 4 Euros (CH price - 18 - 25CHF). Grocery store prices are about 25% cheaper in Germany, plus we get the tax back.

Green veg is easier to find here now, particularly in the summer and fall months, thankfully! I'd not have anything green if brussel sprouts were the only available choice :)

Yep, being overweight in Switzerland is hell. And then you have the people who fit the stereotype and prove the stereotype's point :-/ (There is a large, angry fat woman who rides around in a scooter and yells at people the moment they get in her way, or she thinks they do.)