I know why Americans are fat

[AMJ]

But cleanup can be even easier with eggs. You can hard boil a dozen eggs in one pot for 10 minutes, remove eggs, dump water and air dry pot. No dishes!

 

 

You are forgetting the peeling.  My kids love hard-cooked eggs, but I really hate all of the peeling and cleaning up.  We still hard-cook eggs and they are one of my grab-to-eat-NOW foods, but there is more time involved than eating cereal out of the box (which I haven't done since my college days).

[AMJ]

Agree with OP. To eat well, cook well, put thought/planning into the body fueling process, I need time and space to think. I need to be relaxed, be on top of my commitments, and ideally have time somewhere near the dinner hour to bring it all together. There are a couple of months a year where I have my youngest doing both soccer and running and older sister doing ballet, school musicals, and band performances and pretty much all of that either starts or ends at the dinner prep time of day (not to mention carting around disabled dd to all of this and caring for her needs). Last year's schedule was particularly bad--I had days that had 8 hours of short driving trips from 1:30pm-9:30 at night. There is no space in my brain, no calmness, to be able to think rationally about how to prepare and serve a healthful meal that everyone will eat. I'm not even in my house with one spare minute to put food together. This is not an everyday situation, but there are a few exceedingly busy times of the year where it is very hard to have a healthy eating plan and stick to it. It's definitely a choice we make--we'e got 5 more years of kids at home, we love their activities, and we do our best to make it all work.

 

Exactly.

 

This is a VERY common (and frequent) situation for quite a lot of families.  And it starts to spiral downward quite suddenly.

[SereneHome]

When people start saying that it's easier to eat frozen corn dogs than peel some hard boiled eggs, I think we have a huge problem and we need to change our mentality.

 

My DS2 asked me last week if I like to cook.  I had to stop and think for a bit.  I neither like nor dislike the actual cooking.  I do dislike the planning,  shopping, unloading, unpacking, thinking of what to cook, remembering to take things out of the freezer, etc etc etc.   I think that is why a lot of people don't cook more, bc the whole process can be very daunting.

 

I asked him in return if he is tried of eating the things that I cook. He said "no".

 

I don't know how much time is considered "not too long", but I usually cook almost every night and make something that takes less than 30 minutes.

 

One thing I do that helps with starving kids - I lay out their plates and put veggies on it while I am making meat/side dish.  So, they get their fill with carrots and spinach and tomatoes and peppers all while running around bc it's finger food to them.   Or will grab an apple or banana. 

[TX Native]

I am so trying not to critique, but I can't get over peeling boiled eggs being too much work, except when they are old or overcooked and the peeling sticks to the egg. I can't get over washing one pot of boiling water for 12 eggs being more work than washing 6 cereal bowls and spoons.

 

I also can't get over buying prewashed/ready to eat veggies and a container of nuts being more difficult to prep and taking more time to buy at the store than anything that comes in a box. I can't see where seasoning frozen chicken breasts or fish before placing in the oven to bake is that much more difficult than popping a box of frozen corn dogs in the oven. I think all that comes down to retraining where those items are in the store and changing our mindset of what really is harder. I think comfortable is easier, and that's probably what seems labor intensive about it. Again, I do buy and eat the convenience processed stuff, but I could not justify never eating healthy because it is so difficult when the processing plant already washes and chops the veggies for me and Costco even cooks the chicken, all I have to do is pull the meat off the bones.

[Guest]

I am so trying not to critique, but I can't get over peeling boiled eggs being too much work, except when they are old or overcooked and the peeling sticks to the egg. I can't get over washing one pot of boiling water for 12 eggs being more work than washing 6 cereal bowls and spoons.

 

I also can't get over buying prewashed/ready to eat veggies and a container of nuts being more difficult to prep and taking more time to buy at the store than anything that comes in a box. I can't see where seasoning frozen chicken breasts or fish before placing in the oven to bake is that much more difficult than popping a box of frozen corn dogs in the oven. I think all that comes down to retraining where those items are in the store and changing our mindset of what really is harder. I think comfortable is easier, and that's probably what seems labor intensive about it. Again, I do buy and eat the convenience processed stuff, but I could not justify never eating healthy because it is so difficult when the processing plant already washes and chops the veggies for me and Costco even cooks the chicken, all I have to do is pull the meat off the bones.

Some of it is definitely mindset. Hardboiled eggs, cheddar, cottage cheese, salami, cuties, carrots, and sugar snap peas ARE our convenience foods. The kids love peanuts too. Now this doesn't mean we don't have a weekly pizza night after dance and piano day on Wednesday night but we definitely default to home meals for money and nutrition. It does take time and mental energy though, and I remember when it used to be so much easier on my body to be this busy. Now it feels like I'm always making choices, but nutrition is an area that I try to prioritize first.

 

When in a season of total nuttiness I aim, on my better days, to have crockpot meals four days a week, two days of leftovers, and pizza night. If I constantly have a soup or casserole of some sort on simmer/warm in the crockpot it takes 80% of my brain and gives it back to me. I have energy in the morning for food prep that I just don't have after noon. Even something as simple as a lentil veggie soup like I did last night with a quick batch of dumplings added in (dirt cheap and almost no time, about twenty minutes) means we have solid, nutritious food that doesn't have me standing in the kitchen when I'm exhausted.

 

The downside is it does take planning and preparation to have the fridge stocked and ten or fifteen minutes (max) to toss everything in the pot, but thankfully for us it has been doable. I love my little kitchen slaves like the crockpots, roaster, and rice machine that operate on timers and nice and slow so I don't have to cram it in when I'm already totally wiped out for the day.

 

Cleanup is another topic entirely though :o. We try to keep that minimal by using single pot or plate things and only making one dinner item that takes a pan (the rest being fresh fruit and veggies or adding in some buttered bread or crackers). Still, it's kind of the remaining bane of my existence when I'm busy!

[Pegasus]

 I, for one, am under strict instructions to watch my fats because of hypertension, so nuts are an infrequent treat and NOT a go-to pick-me-up snack for me.

 

 

Look into the research for yourself.  I went from a blood pressure of 160/98 to a current 114/67 by switching to a low carb high fat diet. (recommend www.dietdoctor.com as a starting point)

[AMJ]

True about aging and slower metabolism. It is one reason that I am a big believer in weight-bearing exercise for all women. (Men too, of course, but men often think of lifting weights when they want to be fit; women less often.) Having a favorable muscle-to-fat ratio keeps your metabolism higher than otherwise. Weight-bearing exercise also helps women not lose bone density as menopause rears its ugly head.

 

 

It is also a great way to vent one's frustrations in a physical way.  Keeping part one's mind on proper form and breathing throughout the exercise allows one a little detachment and a margin of safety, while any frustration, upset, or piqueishness one feels can add additional oomph to the exercise.

 

Weight-bearing exercise builds and maintains muscle.  Muscle requires more calories to maintain, and so more muscle helps boost one's metabolism.

 

Muscle is also denser than fat.  Once you start exercising seriously you might not see the scale move downward as fast as you would like, but your clothes will start fitting looser.  This is because you are building muscle WHILE you are burning off fat--some of the fat weight you have burned off is replaced with muscle weight.  Personal trainers take various body measurements of their clients and tell their clients not to mind the scale; instead they repeat the body measurements every several weeks and compare the new measurements to the old to see the progress made.

 

I, personally, am waiting a few more weeks before I ask for a repeat of the measures, but already (4 weeks after starting personal training) some of my pants are too loose for me to wear, some shirts that were a little too tight are fitting right again, and I am switching to some older undies that are one size smaller.  I have noticeable results this quickly because I'm exercising every day AND I have improved my eating substantially.

 

 

Also, keep in mind:  You must eat enough to support a higher metabolism as well as exercise to convince your body you need the higher metabolism.  Even with exercising if you drop your calorie intake too low your body will lower your metabolism--or start to burn other tissues, like muscle, for fuel (check out metabolic acidosis)--to try to survive starvation.  Eat enough, but not too much and not too junky, while getting in good exercise (weight-bearing, also called "strength training", AND cardio) and you CAN rev up your metabolism.

[AMJ]

Instant Pot.  Dump and go.  I am refining my dump and go techniques.  

 

I just started back to work full time.  I have to come up with something EASY or I won't cook at all.

 

The boys and DH are helping out right now too, but I want as many dump and go meals as I can get on my calendar.

 

I don't mind some jarred sauces if the sauce is too difficult or time consuming, but I try to come up with easy sauces to make myself.   Canned coconut milk with curry, salt, pepper, powered ginger, dry onion flakes, and powdered or jarred garlic, and some chicken......bam!  I have a rice maker so that helps.  I can ask a child to put that in or dump myself.  

 

But a jar or two of Trader Joe's sauces works too.

 

I have a kid make a salad or I put a tray of frozen veggies and olive oil and salt in the toaster oven.

 

If I can't put together dinner in 10 min. or less when I am super busy, I won't do it.  But it takes 10 min. to go through the drive through, so I need a 10 min. meal.

 

Here is what I am working on:

 

Make DOUBLE meals and freeze half.  OR, have a leftover night or two during the week.  

 

 

For me I'm finding that due to the vagaries of life doing leftover nights each week works out better than trying to cook ahead and freeze meals.  This, of course, is MOST of the time.  Having some quick thaw meals in the freezer (that don't suffer substantially from being thrown in a pot frozen and put on a burner) for unexpected events (such as ME getting sick) is handy.  However, if I plan on using x meal on such-and-such night and start it slow-thawing in advance 80% of the time something comes up to completely derail that plan and now I have to scramble to figure out when we can eat it before it goes bad.  As a result I have embraced "Leftover Night", and we have that several times a week!

[AMJ]

I think it is certainly part of the problem. It does take mentally energy to plan and cook meals. Mental energy most of us don't have, especially w/ multiple kids, activities and roles. I think if you are a proficient cook(no matter how you define that) it will be easier for you, when you already know how to do something you have to devote less thought and energy to doing it. 

 

 

Somewhat.  I AM a proficient cook (not just for home--I worked in food service for years when I was younger), and have learned many time-saving techniques and practices over the years (things Mom never taught me, mostly because she never learned them, either).  

 

Before my diagnosis I already found cooking to be a hard enough task mentally.  I dealt with certain family members' dislikes, preferences, sensitivities, schedules, and having dinner with ILs (sometimes they cook and sometimes I cook).  The busy schedules alone (especially mine) drove me to distraction a lot, and despite meal-planning and careful shopping I ended up throwing away a lot of perishables because upsets to the plan led to food going bad before I could get it prepped and eaten.

 

Now, post-diagnosis, I still have all of that but I also have the absolute, firm requirement to NOT eat the foods and meals I turned to so frequently before when desperately short on time, AND I have serious daily exercise consuming an hour or more of my already packed days.  Dealing with food simply takes more time and concentration right when I have less time and opportunities to concentrate.

 

 

That said, already being practiced in proper cleaning, cutting, and storing of food, already knowing several good ways to apply heat and end up with something tasty, I am far ahead of where I would be if I were learning this stuff from scratch.  If I had not worked in some kitchens and learned basic techniques I'd still be dicing veggies with a paring knife and cooking foods far too long.  If I were not already proficient enough in the kitchen I would be spending a LOT of money buying food from the fresh fitness food shop 1/2 a mile away.

 

Learning HOW to cook can save you time in the long run and is well worth the time and effort.  For those who don't know much about food prep it is yet another time-consuming and mentally-tasking item to try to shoehorn into an already over-full schedule.  But each skill learned and practiced will provide another tool to use down the road in trying to eat well.

[AMJ]

I definitely believe there are differences in either body types or bacteria involved in the gut (or both) accounting for these differences (and similar differences among similar aged people at any age group).  I expect science to find out more now that they are researching such things.

 

But there's still the "individual" change as one ages (for the majority of us).  That's mainly what I was trying to get at.  We can look at what's happening to "us" now (as we age) and blame it on food choices, but it's not solely food choices we need to be looking at.  It's that and more.

 

 

Very true.  I had a beautifully high metabolism until my late 20's and never had to worry about gaining weight -- I had to work to not lose too much.  Then hypothyroidism set in and all of that changed.  I found out LATER that thyroid problems run in my family.  I found out LATER my kid sister had teen-onset of thyroid problems and my Dad had late-age onset.

 

I was suddenly thrust from being a skinny thing who could always trust a craving (if I craved a food it meant I was low in something that food had) to putting on 20 lbs in a couple short months, being so tired I could barely function, and never being able to trust a craving again (I craved carbs because my body was trying to combat the overwhelming fatigue).  Weight as an issue has been just one battle in the war I have waged in the decades since.  If I focus on trying to manage my weight I lose the battle and the war.  FOR ME I have found that I must look to the underlying causes (note the plural) and address those, or I have no hope of gaining any ground on weight management.

[AMJ]

Hmm....  When it is busy super time for us, I make a menu plan in my quiet time (usually while waiting at the practice) I cook what I can during the day and then when we get home, I warm it up if needed and finish cooking.    It isn't quick but it is faster than normal meals.    I make the kids wait. I'm mean I know. They need baths so they hit the door, put their  stuff up and get in the bath.  I finish dinner.  We can't eat out due to food issues so we have to do home cooked meals usually all from scratch with little to no already prepared food.  So I have been forced to make home cooked meals work.  It can be done. I just have to plan and organize and make it a priority every day like brushing teeth.  To get a meal on the table in a hurry requires sometimes the night before prep, am prep, afternoon prep and then finish when we get home prep. :scared:  A lot starts at grocery shopping...... I come home and prepare the meat (cut up chicken for nuggets, marinate meat, portion out hamburger meat for meals, make patties, get veggies ready, put ingredients together for meals so they are easy to grab and go......

 

Meals take time...... you either stand in the kitchen and do it one meal at time (30 mins to an hour) or divide it up and do bits along and along....

 

Meal making really does kinda suck most days  :svengo:   How  in the crap our grandmothers found time to cook 47 side dishes , a couple of pies, several cakes, and biscuits breakfast, lunch, and dinner every freaking day, I'll never know.

 

Very well said!  The bolded is the mental shift I am forcing my brain to adopt.  Cooking and all of the related food prep, planning, purchasing, etc. tasks must migrate from my "project" and "playtime" lists to the "daily and weekly must-do" list.  Basically, instead of being a way for me to play when I have some spare time creative cooking has become a lot more necessary, an immediate and on-going need that must be filled.

[AMJ]

Look into the research for yourself.  I went from a blood pressure of 160/98 to a current 114/67 by switching to a low carb high fat diet. (recommend www.dietdoctor.com as a starting point)

 

 

I have already looked into it, and have tried a low carb/high fat diet in the past.  It is one of the things that actually contributed to me developing hypertension.

 

Not everyone is the same.  There are different causes behind conditions, and dealing with a condition requires identifying and addressing the root causes.  I am going to follow my doctor's recommendations because he, too, has done his research and has based his recommendations for me on my particular case.  He and I can check and reassess at stages further down the line to see how things are working out and if anything needs adjusting.

[Pegasus]

I have already looked into it,

 

Not everyone is the same. 

 

Absolutely agree and wish you all the best in finding what works for you!  Just wanted to point out my experience because it goes against much of the common recommendations out there.

 

[Guest]

You are forgetting the peeling. My kids love hard-cooked eggs, but I really hate all of the peeling and cleaning up. We still hard-cook eggs and they are one of my grab-to-eat-NOW foods, but there is more time involved than eating cereal out of the box (which I haven't done since my college days).

Have you tried the egg in the juice glass with water technique? And give the consumer of the egg the job of peeling?

[creekland]

The one nice thing about living on a farm is the gym fields are right outside and there's always something that can be done - no monthly fee or travel time required.   :coolgleamA:

 

We got 2 1/2 hours in this morning.

[Guest]

Have you tried the egg in the juice glass with water technique? And give the consumer of the egg the job of peeling?

I have not heard of this. What is this you speak of?

[AMJ]

Have you tried the egg in the juice glass with water technique? And give the consumer of the egg the job of peeling?

 

 

I had never heard of such a trick.  I googled it--must go boil some eggs so I can try it!   :leaving:

 

Oh, and CrazyRussianHacker's video also came up in the list -- he does something similar with a dozen eggs in a pan, great for when you need to peel multiples.

 

Okay, I'm off to try it.

[Guest]

I have not heard of this. What is this you speak of?

'Tis a magic trick to wow the audience. Remember to make them beg you to have the job, then its theirs forever.

[AMJ]

I had never heard of such a trick.  I googled it--must go boil some eggs so I can try it!   :leaving:

 

Oh, and CrazyRussianHacker's video also came up in the list -- he does something similar with a dozen eggs in a pan, great for when you need to peel multiples.

 

Okay, I'm off to try it.

 

 

Okay, moderate success.  I suspect the eggs I have on hand have very stubborn membranes.  I have not had one hard-cooked egg peel nicely no matter what I do, so I will likely not buy this particular brand again when I want to hard-cook them.  Stubborn membranes stick and I have found no way to keep them from doing so.  I have had better luck with other brands.

 

That said, sticking a hard-cooked egg in a glass, adding a little water, and capping the glass with a lid or a hand DID speed up the process a bit.  Because I only had larger glasses and my hands it was a rather sloppy process, so I'm glad I did it at the sink.  On my next shopping run I might look over the jelly jars with lids.  We will likely need some for science labs this year, so I could reserve one for peeling eggs.

 

My kids will also be more willing to peel their own eggs, I suspect, since this way is certainly more entertaining that standing peeling bit by bit under a drizzle of water.

[Guest]

Or you could just make them do it enough that they get used to it? Even my five year old peels his own eggs, all the kids do two or three a day. It's just a matter of practice and, well, liking eggs. That's one of the few foods I'll let them take as many of as they want, along with carrots, snap peas, and cottage cheese.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well I'm assuming the eggs represent an example, but how many eggs do people really eat?  LOL  I don't want eggs every single night for dinner.  Boring.

 

My local grocery stores sell pealed hard boiled eggs. 

[kiana]

Okay, moderate success.  I suspect the eggs I have on hand have very stubborn membranes.  I have not had one hard-cooked egg peel nicely no matter what I do, so I will likely not buy this particular brand again when I want to hard-cook them.  Stubborn membranes stick and I have found no way to keep them from doing so.  I have had better luck with other brands.

 

That said, sticking a hard-cooked egg in a glass, adding a little water, and capping the glass with a lid or a hand DID speed up the process a bit.  Because I only had larger glasses and my hands it was a rather sloppy process, so I'm glad I did it at the sink.  On my next shopping run I might look over the jelly jars with lids.  We will likely need some for science labs this year, so I could reserve one for peeling eggs.

 

My kids will also be more willing to peel their own eggs, I suspect, since this way is certainly more entertaining that standing peeling bit by bit under a drizzle of water.

 

Are you buying very fresh eggs? The eggs from my mother's farm need to be aged for a week before boiling or it's going to be very challenging to peel them. 

[Guest]

Well I'm assuming the eggs represent an example, but how many eggs do people really eat? LOL I don't want eggs every single night for dinner. Boring.

 

My local grocery stores sell pealed hard boiled eggs.

We eat 12-16 a day?

 

Each kid eats at least two eggs daily. Including the baby. It's cheap protein and excellent nutrition, and we have no egg allergies. They're a staple and so much better for the kids than lunch meat, sausage, or something starchy.

 

That's not unusual among my friends - most of us go through a dozen or so per day depending on the number of kids. We are actually a bit light on egg consumption compared to some of them because the kids are still little. Teens can put away 3-4 a piece easily, along with the other breakfast or snack items. All the power to them I say :)

[ktgrok]

As far as speed and convenience, if I'm making frozen corn dogs I'm microwaving them. Dinner for two kids in 2 minutes or less. Corn dog and an apple and I'm done. That, versus boiling and then cooling and then peeling hard boiled eggs ... yes, the eggs take longer. If you just walked in from dance class and bed is in 10 minutes, the corn dog is faster, sorry. 

 

Now, left over cold chicken on a plate is fast too, but requires having the leftovers. It requires some planning. Etc. There is a reason convenience foods are called convenience foods. Something that you can store for months, but heat up in less than 5 minutes, IS convenient. That's why people buy it. 

 

I try not to do that, but I won't pretend that a dinner of anything else is faster. Unless, again, I've planned ahead and have a rotisserie chicken or what not. 

[AMJ]

Are you buying very fresh eggs? The eggs from my mother's farm need to be aged for a week before boiling or it's going to be very challenging to peel them. 

 

 

These eggs had been in my fridge for at least 3 weeks.

 

 

On the topic of losing weight:  I tried something new today: sunchokes.  I now heartily recommend that people stay far away from sunchokes unless they are looking for an effective purge.

 

I also recommend that you don't "try something new" food-wise if you still have errands to run.  Grocery shopping became a new adventure today.

[SproutMamaK]

Following the rabbit trail and adding my "helpful hint" to the pile-on; I add a generous splash of vinegar to the water when I boil my eggs. It makes them SO much easier to peel, no more chunks of egg stuck to the shell.

[JadeOrchidSong]

I actually think you are on to something with this. There are other areas of the world where mealtimes are slower and centered a good deal on the experience of sharing food and companionship with one another. Some of these areas don't have the weight problems the US has. Please don't ask me for references, though. This is something I've heard so often it's just entered my general knowledge base. I don't think it would be hard for anyone to do an internet search if you want to though.

 

Culturally, the US places value on being busy. If we actually thought it was worthwhile to plan a healthy meal and consume it together, we would consider that when we are doing that, we are busy - we are busy nurturing our bodies and our families. Busyness doesn't have to take the form of speeding around. It's okay to tell the children, the neighbors, the coaches, and most importantly, ourselves, that there isn't time for a crazy soccer schedule, for example, because we need to eat well and that level of busyness doesn't allow for it. To say that we can't go somewhere because we are busy with our family and that busyness consists of cooking a good meal and spending time together eating it. Families really don't have to go in twenty different directions at one time, they really don't.

Amen to this!

When I visited my hometown in China, family and friends would invite us to meals at restaurants. They would book a room in restaurants with couches. We would spend hours eating and visiting. I was amazed that almost all my 15 coworkers showed up for a reunion lunch at a one day short notice. Eating well and chatting is highly valued.

My boys, dh, and I do karate 6:30-7:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I kind of resent that we have to hurry to finish dinner before we leave the house. Dh can't eat with us those two evenings because he goes directly to karate class from work. Money's the boys have Boy Scout at 6:30, so another rush rush dinner. Wednesdays and Fridays are good days when we can eat dinner together at leisure. I do spend lots of time cooking. I make Chinese dumplings, ie, potstickers, from scratch with half white flour and half freshly ground flour every other week and hand pulled noodles sometimes, too. These dishes are time consuming, but are so yummy and healthy!

I have been putting together a meal list. They are all quite time consuming and I am tired now.

[Laura Corin]

Amen to this!

When I visited my hometown in China, family and friends would invite us to meals at restaurants. They would book a room in restaurants with couches. We would spend hours eating and visiting. I was amazed that almost all my 15 coworkers showed up for a reunion lunch at a one day short notice. Eating well and chatting is highly valued.

 

 

And snacking is less common (or was when I lived in China).  I remember sitting in the waiting room at a four-hour TKD class.  None of the other adults snacked at all: they drank the tea that they had brought with them.  At half time, the children came out and had a snack and a drink, but the adults didn't eat at all.

[creekland]

Buffets have to be part of it.  We went to a pizza buffet for supper last night (request of soon-to-be-leaving-for-college, thin as a twig, 20 year old son) and there were very few (if any) middle aged or older folks without extra pounds.

 

It's common at a buffet to want to "get your money's worth."  If one goes to such places on a regular basis... it has to be tough to maintain weight.  Such places are extremely common around where we live, for any meal and not all are pizza.  There are many options.

 

When we visit family, it's common for some of these to be our destination eating spots ("something for everyone there") - right after we got all our exercise from walking to the car from the game table.  It's no surprise to me that I put on roughly 1 lb per day when visiting family. 

 

Hubby and I avoid buffets when we're on our own. We only go to them when others pick the eating spot.  It's not the sole solution for losing weight by any means, but I suspect it stops or slows the gain.

[kiana]

Buffets have to be part of it.  We went to a pizza buffet for supper last night (request of soon-to-be-leaving-for-college, thin as a twig, 20 year old son) and there were very few (if any) middle aged or older folks without extra pounds.

 

It's common at a buffet to want to "get your money's worth."  If one goes to such places on a regular basis... it has to be tough to maintain weight.  Such places are extremely common around where we live, for any meal and not all are pizza.  There are many options.

 

When we visit family, it's common for some of these to be our destination eating spots ("something for everyone there") - right after we got all our exercise from walking to the car from the game table.  It's no surprise to me that I put on roughly 1 lb per day when visiting family. 

 

Hubby and I avoid buffets when we're on our own. We only go to them when others pick the eating spot.  It's not the sole solution for losing weight by any means, but I suspect it stops or slows the gain.

 

I think the culture of the "food trough restaurant" and getting your money's worth being realized as getting the maximum calories for the minimum price, really is a big part of it. I include most fast food restaurants in this as well. In places where there's more emphasis on enjoying something small but exquisite, it tends not to be as much of a problem. 

 

Please note that I do understand that if you're living on a shoestring budget and at the grocery, it is a totally valid way to shop.

 

The problem is that once you're off that shoestring and still in that mindset, it really, really packs on the pounds. And if you've been brutally poor and gotten though it, and survived, and made it to a reasonable income, and so raise your kids without being brutally poor but still with that mindset, we get the familial tendency to obesity that is so easily observed at many of these places. 

[JadeOrchidSong]

And snacking is less common (or was when I lived in China). I remember sitting in the waiting room at a four-hour TKD class. None of the other adults snacked at all: they drank the tea that they had brought with them. At half time, the children came out and had a snack and a drink, but the adults didn't eat at all.

And ice cream and cookies are for children only. Adult eating ice cream and cookies was pretty unheard of when I left China in 2000. Cakes are for very special occasions like birthdays. Pies are almost non-existent unfortunately. No one had an oven and we bought bread and special treats at bakeries. Fruit intake satisfies the sweet caving.

Yes, I only learned about adult snack when I came here in 2000. We had 2.5 to 3 hour long week day evening Bible study or prayer meetings and did not have any snack. Here suddenly almost every meeting has snack.

Our homeschool co-op has snack sign up and we bring salty and sweet snacks, which makes sense, because the co-op runs from 9:00 to 12:15 and some moms have to go earlier to set up and some have to stay longer to clean up. Moms go there and have the breakfast type of snacks.

[JadeOrchidSong]

We visited Japan in May, Kyoto and Tokyo. Restaurant serving size is uniformly very small. If you want more you have to order another dish and the price adds up quickly. The price is comparable to US.

[Murphy101]

I don't even own a microwave and it's still quicker to eat prepackaged stuff. It just is and people denying it is just nonsense. It's not about changing mindset. No amount of positive thinking is going to change work or school schedules and budgets.

 

I happen to like boiled eggs, but boiling, cooling, peeling, eating is at least 20-30 minutes.

 

Whereas a bowl of cereal from filling the bowl to done eating is what? 10 minutes?

 

I also rather resent the notion someone else posed that if people were just a better cook it wouldn't be like that. What bull. I happen to be an excellent cook. Good food takes time. It takes extra time to prep, extra funds to buy, extra time to cook, extra time to clean up. It also takes having the budget to be able to afford screwing up a meal. Try something new and it comes out inedible to half the table and you don't have money to "just eat something else" vs hey we have some spare chicken in the freezer, let's try this new dish I spent time searching for in the Internet and bought ingredients to try.

 

It just does. And if you don't have that time or that energy or that money - then it just doesn't happen.

 

Thankfully most of the time I can make the time and dredge up the energy. But diverting resources to finding that time and energy means I'm not making more money. In fact, possibly making less in many ways.

 

Hence the reason poverty range people tend to have a greater obesity risk. It's not because they are lazy or stupid.

[Murphy101]

Now I agree about the snack every time we turn around.

 

Because one, I can't afford to constantly be called upon to take a turn to bring snacks all the dang time.

 

Because two, yes the kid and the adults can go a couple hours without a sugar hit and water is all anyone needs.

 

I refuse to do it. It drives me batty.

[Samm]

I don't know why whole nations are fat.  All I know is that it's easy to let calories creep up on (in?) you when eating is cheap, and snacking as a default activity is everywhere.  I don't let it interfere with our lives anymore, and I'm not even "done" with the process yet.  All I've actually done is get the sugar level down.  The kids know that if they can eat at most one sugar thing per day (like an ice-cream sandwich, granola bar, pop tart, frozen chocolate custard) and that the sugar-thing is never allowed to be liquid (Coke, gatorade, fruit punch).  Knowing this, they always opt for the actual tasty dessert (like a real ice-cream sundae vs a granola bar) and not want to "waste" their allotment on a drink or something sweet that doesn't look like a seriously tempting dessert.  And they know they are not allowed to supersize any sweets.  No KingSize Snickers Bar, or the like.  Just a normal looking sweet once every day or two, and everyone here feels alright about it.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Samm

[frogger]

 

 

I simply can't afford to eat out much with my family. I would have to get a job to pay for just that. Not this summer but the summer before we were traveling long distance and all our food was packed under everything since we were planning on being at our destination to unpack and eat. We ended up eating at Taco Bell. My daughter didn't want to come in and ate a banana that we had out. The boys all left the place slightly hungry but I wouldn't buy more because I wouldn't after spending $70+ .

 

 

If frozen food is not in the house though you would be surprised what is nutritional and filling that takes virtually no prep. My family on nights when we don't have real meals fends for themselves. The mantra is plant and protein. Apples with peanut butter or cheese. A sandwich with protein and some lonely veggie in the drawer that needs eaten. If there are no veggies cause its shopping time I might break out a frozen veggie. Or we make quesadillas with salsa. I guess you would call that my go to unhealthy convenience food. Cheap tortillas.

[Lizzie in Ma]

It is super hard for me, rare to find paleo, low carb stuff on the road.  I often end up eating cucumber slices and cheese with black olives for many a meal.

[KungFuPanda]

I dunno. When I'm super busy I feed them a bag of salad with some grilled chicken on it or some soup and a sandwich. When I have time on my hands I'm making lasagna and baking pies.

[KungFuPanda]

I simply can't afford to eat out much with my family. I would have to get a job to pay for just that. Not this summer but the summer before we were traveling long distance and all our food was packed under everything since we were planning on being at our destination to unpack and eat. We ended up eating at Taco Bell. My daughter didn't want to come in and ate a banana that we had out. The boys all left the place slightly hungry but I wouldn't buy more because I wouldn't after spending $70+ .

 

 

If frozen food is not in the house though you would be surprised what is nutritional and filling that takes virtually no prep. My family on nights when we don't have real meals fends for themselves. The mantra is plant and protein. Apples with peanut butter or cheese. A sandwich with protein and some lonely veggie in the drawer that needs eaten. If there are no veggies cause its shopping time I might break out a frozen veggie. Or we make quesadillas with salsa. I guess you would call that my go to unhealthy convenience food. Cheap tortillas.

Wait, how many people are you feeding? $70 dollars at Taco Bell is a LOT of food.

[Murphy101]

Wait, how many people are you feeding? $70 dollars at Taco Bell is a LOT of food.

Yes but it's very not filling food too. Each of my boys would easily order $10-12 of food there and still be hungry.

 

It's ine of the reasons than if we are going to eat out, it's rarely fast food. We can go to an Italian or steak resturant for the same pice and have everyone feel full.

 

ETA and if it matters, all my kids are tall twigs.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Murphy101

[Bluegoat]

I think that busyness is a big factor in a poor diet, and it's very intertwined with all kinds of different factors.

 

But what I think it often comes down to is a culture that doesn't value food much, or which doesn't have much of a food culture at all.  I don't mind living of of raw veg, hardboiled eggs, and whatever now and then, but that isn't a food culture.  And I don't think food culture has to mean a huge menu variety or exotic dishes.

 

It just means placing real value on all the aspects of food consumption - good tasting well grown or made ingredients, time and thought spent on the cooking, the socializing around sitting and eating together.

 

If we have a food culture like that, we will at least a good portion of the time be cooking good meals, eating them in a healthy way paying attention to the food and not gobbling, eating at regular times, and so on.  The lifestyle choices that would involve would likely impact other things like stress, rushing around, and even sleep.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We eat 12-16 a day?

 

Each kid eats at least two eggs daily. Including the baby. It's cheap protein and excellent nutrition, and we have no egg allergies. They're a staple and so much better for the kids than lunch meat, sausage, or something starchy.

 

That's not unusual among my friends - most of us go through a dozen or so per day depending on the number of kids. We are actually a bit light on egg consumption compared to some of them because the kids are still little. Teens can put away 3-4 a piece easily, along with the other breakfast or snack items. All the power to them I say :)

 

I eat them for breakfast if I eat breakfast.  i don't tend to eat them otherwise.  Nothing wrong with them...just not that I want to eat them every single day and not for dinner.  I guess I'm a creature of habit!

 

I think if I were busier we'd end up eating out a lot.  That's not so great, but I think that's what we'd end up doing.

 

 

 

 

[Cecropia]

I agree about snacks.  Why do my kids need a whole brown lunch bag of JUNK after every soccer game?  If you want to give my kid a banana, awesome.  But, I beg, as a culture, can we PLEASE stop giving them large red gatorades, chips, and cookies?  [...]

Every activity has to have some food of some kind.  Grapes, bananas, apple slices...I could care less.  But it never is that...it's always goldfish, or candy, or whatever.  

 

I was the designated mom to provide snacks to cub scouts one week (my son must have been a wolf scout that year).  I also had the activity, which was "keeping earth healthy" or something, so I wanted to tie in recycling with the snack.  I provided cups of natural applesauce, spoons, boxes of raisins, juice boxes.  The kids were supposed to separate their trash and put it in designated bags (foil, plastic, paper etc).

 

Needless to say that it was a total disaster.  Raisins being thrown around, applesauce either untouched or smeared everywhere, kids complaining etc.  Most of the trash couldn't be separated because the food wasn't eaten.  I think my kids were the only ones who sat there and ate all of the snack, and they were happy to have it.  The scout leader was a really sweet lady, and I'll never forget her earnestly exclaiming to me after it was over, "Your boys eat fruit?!  That's so great!!!"  And that's when I knew that you're expected (by kids AND parents) to provide pure junk food at these things... the kids won't settle for less.  You can bring grapes, bananas, apples... it will either sit there untouched or become part of a food war...

[BooksandBoys]

I was the designated mom to provide snacks to cub scouts one week (my son must have been a wolf scout that year). I also had the activity, which was "keeping earth healthy" or something, so I wanted to tie in recycling with the snack. I provided cups of natural applesauce, spoons, boxes of raisins, juice boxes. The kids were supposed to separate their trash and put it in designated bags (foil, plastic, paper etc).

 

Needless to say that it was a total disaster. Raisins being thrown around, applesauce either untouched or smeared everywhere, kids complaining etc. Most of the trash couldn't be separated because the food wasn't eaten. I think my kids were the only ones who sat there and ate all of the snack, and they were happy to have it. The scout leader was a really sweet lady, and I'll never forget her earnestly exclaiming to me after it was over, "Your boys eat fruit?! That's so great!!!" And that's when I knew that you're expected (by kids AND parents) to provide pure junk food at these things... the kids won't settle for less. You can bring grapes, bananas, apples... it will either sit there untouched or become part of a food war...

I've recently moved across the country. I knew I was living in a healthy-eating area of the country, but it's really been brought to the forefront after moving. I constantly get comments from teachers, neighbors, etc., about how "healthy" my kids' food is. Meanwhile, I've been struggling to pack lunches/snacks that are healthy enough (in my opinion), but here, my "not healthy"meals are "crazy healthy." It's so weird to me to see kids eating orange cheese puffs and red Gatorade instead of apple slices and water. To that end, my kids are enjoying the occasional baggie of pretzels to go with their carrots.

[Guest]

I eat them for breakfast if I eat breakfast. i don't tend to eat them otherwise. Nothing wrong with them...just not that I want to eat them every single day and not for dinner. I guess I'm a creature of habit!

 

I think if I were busier we'd end up eating out a lot. That's not so great, but I think that's what we'd end up doing.

We fell into that a lot last year because of too many evenings out, which is why I love this topic. It takes time, energy, and effort to avoid the drive through for me, but it kills both budget and waistline.

 

We should do a spinoff extolling the virtues of being less busy. I think in this culture we become so frantic and activity focused that we sacrifice quality of life for doing more, with the best of intentions no less!

[regentrude]

I think that busyness is a big factor in a poor diet, and it's very intertwined with all kinds of different factors.

 

But what I think it often comes down to is a culture that doesn't value food much, or which doesn't have much of a food culture at all.  I don't mind living of of raw veg, hardboiled eggs, and whatever now and then, but that isn't a food culture.  And I don't think food culture has to mean a huge menu variety or exotic dishes.

 

It just means placing real value on all the aspects of food consumption - good tasting well grown or made ingredients, time and thought spent on the cooking, the socializing around sitting and eating together.

 

If we have a food culture like that, we will at least a good portion of the time be cooking good meals, eating them in a healthy way paying attention to the food and not gobbling, eating at regular times, and so on.  The lifestyle choices that would involve would likely impact other things like stress, rushing around, and even sleep.

 

Amen.

We have often talked about this with other immigrants that food in this country often seems to be about consuming very quickly large portions of unhealthy tasteless stuff - while simultaneously feeling guilty about eating and food.

So unhealthy attitudes.

 

Food is so important and can bring so much joy. It is sad we choose not to make it a priority and treat it with the respect and love it deserves.

Edited August 31, 2016 by regentrude

[KungFuPanda]

There are too many balls to keep them all in the air perfectly. I have this food thing down. I do. I cook healthy meals and we can spend an hour or two at the table eating and chatting. I exercise regularly too. I can do this because I'm dropping other balls all over the place. Home maintenance . . . dropped. Home decorating . . . dropped. Landscaping . . . whatever. Clean car . . . Nope. Clean basement . . . nope. Something's got to give and for a lot of people it's meal prep and not karate.

[Soror]

I think that busyness is a big factor in a poor diet, and it's very intertwined with all kinds of different factors.

 

But what I think it often comes down to is a culture that doesn't value food much, or which doesn't have much of a food culture at all.  I don't mind living of of raw veg, hardboiled eggs, and whatever now and then, but that isn't a food culture.  And I don't think food culture has to mean a huge menu variety or exotic dishes.

 

It just means placing real value on all the aspects of food consumption - good tasting well grown or made ingredients, time and thought spent on the cooking, the socializing around sitting and eating together.

 

If we have a food culture like that, we will at least a good portion of the time be cooking good meals, eating them in a healthy way paying attention to the food and not gobbling, eating at regular times, and so on.  The lifestyle choices that would involve would likely impact other things like stress, rushing around, and even sleep.

I think this is well said.

 

All this work to figure out how to make food and eat in less time is really missing the point of the problem. 

[Guest]

I think this is well said.

 

All this work to figure out how to make food and eat in less time is really missing the point of the problem.

Agreed!! Literally, every parent I know is stressed out and over committed. The pressure to join everything is huge!! People talk about how Grandma cooked but Grandma didn't spend literally 4 hours in the car after picking kids up from school.

[The Girls' Mom]

We used to eat fairly well.  I pre-planned, cooked healthy meals, made things from scratch.  We ate dinner at the table every night.

 

Then life happened.  One kid after another got a job with varying hours.  Three of us are in college/dual enrollment.  I work part-time.  We aren't all home at the same time any more. Dinner is eaten on the go, or on the couch.  I don't have the mental energy to plan meals, carefully shop, and then cook/clean up.  When I do cook, half of it goes uneaten.  It is easier for the working kids to grab dinner on their way home, or warm up something frozen when they get here.  My poor husband has lived off of frozen burritos lately.  We've quickly gotten into the convenience food spiral.  And the unhealthy food makes us crave more unhealthy food.  (Ice cream consumption has skyrocketed!) The stress of school and worrying about dh's health makes me craves ALL THE SWEETS.  

As a result, I have rather quickly gained back every pound of the 35 that I lost two years ago.  I'm mad about it.  I'm trying to cook more and buy healthier choices.  (But I still managed to buy ice cream this week, sigh) But it is hard both mentally and time-wise.  I've been on both sides of the coin, and it is harder to eat healthy.  It is hard to remember to plan ahead if we aren't going to be home.  It is hard to plan around food allergies, intolerances and aversions.  Burgers and fries from Wendy's are so EASY.  But, I'm going to have to choose between walking without pain and no diabetes, or easy burgers.