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When she got here in mid-January, she was 5'4" and around 100 lbs. Now she has gained at least 10 lbs, and maybe more. She looks great to me, but her folks are very concerned about how round she looks. I cook fairly healthy food, and I never supply soda or chips or much of any sweets. My dd and I are both overweight, though not obese. Anyway, the girl was saying the other day that she's always hungry here, even after a meal, and she is shocked by how little we eat. I'm thinking I'd better learn to cook some Korean food, even though she seems to like my cooking--maybe we'd all be better for it. Oh, and in Korea, they eat every 2 hours or so, and though her parents do struggle with their weight, I don't think it's as much as we do. Kim Chee anyone?
Americans eat too large of a portion and don't walk anywhere. If you visit other countries you'd be surprised what a normal restaurant portion looks like.
If you yourself are overweight, chances are very high that your cooking isn't as healthy as you think. And if she is still hungry after eating, that is even more evidence that what you are preparing is lacking in nutrients. Have you tried reading a book on general nutrition?
I've worked with some Brits that had the same thing happen. They'd come here all slim and trim and leave chunky. Not sure what it is, but we seem to have a lot working against us here including crazy portion sizes, cheap super sizing, sugar drinks, too much convenience, and not the most balanced meals.
If you yourself are overweight, chances are very high that your cooking isn't as healthy as you think. And if she is still hungry after eating, that is even more evidence that what you are preparing is lacking in nutrients. Have you tried reading a book on general nutrition?
That's what I was thinking. I don't think anyone could get overweight on the diet I eat. If you're overweight the cooking can't be that healthy. As far as the British, they are just about as fat as we are.
Americans eat too large of a portion and don't walk anywhere. If you visit other countries you'd be surprised what a normal restaurant portion looks like.
Sure, but as I said, she is shocked by how small our portions are. Also, I have been all over the world and have seen portion sizes first hand. While it's true that feeding trough type restaurants aren't common anywhere but here, I've seen some truly phenomenal plate sizes in other countries. Turkey stands out in my mind--oh, I went to a Turkish family style place one night (not for tourists) and got Iskender kabobs--to die for! They were absolutely delicious and the portion size would put us to shame and they were so good we ate the whole thing and rolled out of there. In Asia, we certainly got enough to eat. In Italy, it's a shock to order a plate of pasta and get an appetizer sized portion--we're used to getting a big plate of spaghetti here. But the reason they do that is so you'll order another plate of some kind of meat--their meals are in courses. I have seen many overweight people in every country of the world, but I haven't seen very many people who are so fat they practically can't walk, like you see here. Also, in Vietnam, which had the slimmest people we saw, most of the overweight people were those who owned snack stands, or quite a few in Dalat, a city famous for its sweets. In fact, I believe that the reason so few VN have weight problems is because they don't eat many sweets--they consider them only good enough for children.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OngletNYC
If you yourself are overweight, chances are very high that your cooking isn't as healthy as you think. And if she is still hungry after eating, that is even more evidence that what you are preparing is lacking in nutrients. Have you tried reading a book on general nutrition?
Yes, I have. I think we def need to incorporate more veggies, but I guess what I meant was that we don't eat many processed foods or sweets. I cook pretty much everything from scratch, even make my own bread. Our diet is higher carbs I think than it should be b/c I like to bake, but hers in Korea is also, and she is crazy for white potatoes and corn--foods that I think of as being practically pure sugar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rd2007
I've worked with some Brits that had the same thing happen. They'd come here all slim and trim and leave chunky. Not sure what it is, but we seem to have a lot working against us here including crazy portion sizes, cheap super sizing, sugar drinks, too much convenience, and not the most balanced meals.
Sure and we do very little of that. But, when my student went to NYC with some other exchange students, all had gained at least 10 lbs but I have no idea how they are eating.
I honestly think it is because American food - even fresh vegetables and fruits, completely unprocessed - is less nutritious than food in other parts of the world. It is engineered, genetically-modified, flavor-less. Produce is gargantuan and taste-less, or in the case of fruits, overly sweet (I understood fruits are engineered to develop very high levels of sugar to suit the American sweet tooth). Likewise, meat is estrogen-infused, un-natural, weird.
So if you were to eat ONLY the theoretically very good stuff, you'd still not be getting the nutrients other people get in other parts of the world, by eating the same amount of food. Plus you'd be getting all kinds of other junk too.
Let alone that in most American households, people don't eat ONLY the theoretically good stuff, but also lots of processed foods.
It's a losing battle, really.
I heard someone from Switzerland once say that it is a miracle that not ALL Americans are obese. The fact that there are still somehow so many Americans that are thin is mind boggling and a testimony to how much the human body can endure (if you have the right genes, of course).
PS: Believe your student when she says she is hungry even after eating a meal. I, myself, no matter how much I eat, never feel truly full or satisfied. The food tastes vapid and hollow and you always feel like you'd rather have something extra. When i go back to my home-country to visit, I realize every time how real food tastes like, but most Americans wouldn't know. A few years ago, I had a basic "goulash" in Hungary, at a not-at-all fancy restaurant. When I ordered I though it was going to be boring because it was just some chicken in some sauce and dumplings. When I started eating, I thought I was going to reach culinary orgasm. I had never tasted anything so amazing in my whole life. There is no way under the sun that a dish like that could be prepared with basic American ingredients.
Last edited by syracusa; 03-27-2011 at 10:38 AM..
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