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What Did You Have For Dinner??

Campbell

Banned
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Location
East Tennessee
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60 years ago 80%-90% of all the food consumed in this country was prepared and cooked at home. Much of it was grown there too. Now a relatively few people farm and 80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall. Big corporations produce or oversee others who produce nearly everything we eat. They have a couple of major goals. Make the food taste better and go to the lowest bottom line cost.

Do you think there is any connection from that to obesity being declared a disease in America?
 
60 years ago 80%-90% of all the food consumed in this country was prepared and cooked at home. Much of it was grown there too. Now a relatively few people farm and 80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall. Big corporations produce or oversee others who produce nearly everything we eat. They have a couple of major goals. Make the food taste better and go to the lowest bottom line cost.

Do you think there is any connection from that to obesity being declared a disease in America?

Probably not as much of a link as their is to the creation of personal computers and game systems........
 
60 years ago 80%-90% of all the food consumed in this country was prepared and cooked at home. Much of it was grown there too. Now a relatively few people farm and 80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall. Big corporations produce or oversee others who produce nearly everything we eat. They have a couple of major goals. Make the food taste better and go to the lowest bottom line cost.

Do you think there is any connection from that to obesity being declared a disease in America?

Two points:

1. I find your '80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall' somewhat specious, do you have support. It seems odd that only 10-20% of the food consumed in this country is sold at grocery stores notwithstanding home gardeners and such...

2. If true it shoots a hole in the 'lower brackets doing worse' meme as they apparently are doing just fine if they can afford to eat out rather than purchase/grow their food unless your argument is restaurant food is cheaper...
 
60 years ago 80%-90% of all the food consumed in this country was prepared and cooked at home. Much of it was grown there too. Now a relatively few people farm and 80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall. Big corporations produce or oversee others who produce nearly everything we eat. They have a couple of major goals. Make the food taste better and go to the lowest bottom line cost.

Do you think there is any connection from that to obesity being declared a disease in America?

I feel it's a combination of factors, including the processed foods (no matter if restaurant purchased or nuke at home) and the sedentary lifestyle so many have adopted.

Though there are a limited (and unusual) medical conditions that cause the inability to lose weight, the majority is a combination of the above, plus the idea that so many do not take responsibility for themselves, after all, if it's a disease, how can they possibly fight that? *this post contains some sarcasm*
 
No. I think the cause of obesity is that humanity has existed in a state of feast or famine for tens of thousands of years, resulting in an instinct to eat everything in sight during times of plenty. Additionally, it takes almost no caloric expenditure to get the readily available food.

To sum, we're housecats with a windowsill and an auto-feeder. There's no weakness in that; we're just wired that way. It also doesn't mean we're powerless to do something about it. I'm typing this while riding an exercise bike, for example.
 
I had smoked brisket, Elgin jalapeno sausage, green bean casserole, maple baked beans, ...followed by a nice zucchini bread and a cocktail.




yes, there's a connection... we moved away from an agrarian society, but we didn't drop the eating habits thereof.
folks eat a ton of calories, and then proceed to sit on their ass all day and not burn them off.

the workers on those evil corporate farms do the hard work for you
 
I had smoked brisket, Elgin jalapeno sausage, green bean casserole, maple baked beans, ...followed by a nice zucchini bread and a cocktail.




yes, there's a connection... we moved away from an agrarian society, but we didn't drop the eating habits thereof.
folks eat a ton of calories, and then proceed to sit on their ass all day and not burn them off.

the workers on those evil corporate farms do the hard work for you

I had brisket too with a nice moonshine cocktail oh and I totally agree with you.
 
Two points:

1. I find your '80%-90% of food consumed is either in a restaurant or passed through a 30" opening in a restaurant wall' somewhat specious, do you have support. It seems odd that only 10-20% of the food consumed in this country is sold at grocery stores notwithstanding home gardeners and such...

2. If true it shoots a hole in the 'lower brackets doing worse' meme as they apparently are doing just fine if they can afford to eat out rather than purchase/grow their food unless your argument is restaurant food is cheaper...

Six times as many moms work now than did in 1960-70. If you think they are gonna show up at home and spend an hour and a half cooking instead of stopping on the way home at a pizza or chicken place you need to get off the gangway and come aboard.
 
Chicken fried steak w/gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans. I question your assesment of 80-90% of folks not preparing meals at home. That may be true if both must work full-time, but if you eat restaurant prepared meals that often it seems a bit self defeating, as the expense of eating out (or even carry-out) makes that economically suspect unless both have very high paying jobs. We eat out less than twice per week and that usually involves a Subway sandwich each or a "family size" order of fried chicken and small sides.

The cost of fully prepared foods, more than the nutritional difference, makes that basically mandatory for us. Relatively small amounts of meat, poultry or fish can be added to macaroni and cheese, rice, tortillas, pasta or potatoes and a can of vegetables to make a decent and filling meal for two. Frozen grocery store pizza can be had for $1.25 per serving (10-11 oz. Totinos party pizza) and buying frozen fish filets (in the large bag) is also fairly cheap.

The reason for the rise in obesity is simply folks consuming more calories than they use in the course of the day, the excess is naturally stored as fat. Where a meal is prepared makes more difference in its cost than in its caloric content.
 
Chicken fried steak w/gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans. I question your assesment of 80-90% of folks not preparing meals at home. That may be true if both must work full-time, but if you eat restaurant prepared meals that often it seems a bit self defeating, as the expense of eating out (or even carry-out) makes that economically suspect unless both have very high paying jobs. We eat out less than twice per week and that usually involves a Subway sandwich each or a "family size" order of fried chicken and small sides.

The cost of fully prepared foods, more than the nutritional difference, makes that basically mandatory for us. Relatively small amounts of meat, poultry or fish can be added to macaroni and cheese, rice, tortillas, pasta or potatoes and a can of vegetables to make a decent and filling meal for two. Frozen grocery store pizza can be had for $1.25 per serving (10-11 oz. Totinos party pizza) and buying frozen fish filets (in the large bag) is also fairly cheap.

The reason for the rise in obesity is simply folks consuming more calories than they use in the course of the day, the excess is naturally stored as fat. Where a meal is prepared makes more difference in its cost than in its caloric content.

In the mid 1950's a typical McDonalds sign would display 1, 2, or 3 million hamburgers sold. The second time Burger King was sold the chain owned 250 stores. No Wendy's, Arby's etc. Like I said, come on board:

5-failed-mcdonalds-menu-items-6.jpg


20090202-mcd-exterior1.jpg
 
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Steak with squash simmered in onions and garlic chives. Everything but the steak was home grown. No pesticides, suicides or chemical fertilizers. No dessert. Two beers. I could go on and expound on the virtues of dried horse poop for a garden, but the fat folks would mainly be interested in eating the horses to start with. Being fat isn't a disease, but since we're redefining everything, why not include fat, mean, ugly, homicidal and all the rest as diseases too?
 
Steak with squash simmered in onions and garlic chives. Everything but the steak was home grown. No pesticides, suicides or chemical fertilizers. No dessert. Two beers. I could go on and expound on the virtues of dried horse poop for a garden, but the fat folks would mainly be interested in eating the horses to start with. Being fat isn't a disease, but since we're redefining everything, why not include fat, mean, ugly, homicidal and all the rest as diseases too?

Hell....I didn't declare it a disease. I'm 6' 1", weigh 188 pounds. My wife is 5' 5" and weighs 120. All anybody has to do to lose weight is back away from the feed trough once or twice a day.
 
Hell....I didn't declare it a disease. I'm 6' 1", weigh 188 pounds. My wife is 5' 5" and weighs 120. All anybody has to do to lose weight is back away from the feed trough once or twice a day.

it does take a bit more work than that, to be fair. i lost most of my weight by 2008, and i just got back from a pretty decent workout in order to keep it off. i do this almost every day.
quitting smoking was far easier, in my opinion. i was a nonsmoker instantly. the food lifestyle change will require daily work for the rest of my life. is it worth it, though? yes.
 
it does take a bit more work than that, to be fair. i lost most of my weight by 2008, and i just got back from a pretty decent workout in order to keep it off. i do this almost every day.
quitting smoking was far easier, in my opinion. i was a nonsmoker instantly. the food lifestyle change will require daily work for the rest of my life. is it worth it, though? yes.

Actually if an individual loses that initial weight and exercises for an hour a day the secret is still backing away from the trough.
 
Actually if an individual loses that initial weight and exercises for an hour a day the secret is still backing away from the trough.

i'd say that the secrets are :

write down everything you eat
write down every exercise that you do
choose healthy options whenever possible
occasionally have a slip meal, but exercise enough to cover it, and budget other meals
keep moving. take the stairs, park the car far away from the door, and walk.

it's not as simple as "backing away from the trough," and that particular way of putting it is counterproductive.
 
Americans eat too much sugar and salt. Maybe Mayor bloomberg went about his mission the wrong way ....but I watched him being laughed at and jeered by some really really fat people and I thought....how ironic.

Reducing sugar and salt would have a dramatic impact on our health care system.

Americans eat too much ....most foreigners are alarmed at the portion size of the average American meal. The french for example eat fatty food but smaller portions.
Americans are lazy and do not get daily exercise. It's simple ...45 minute ...5 days a week of rigorous exercise (depending on your age and health) .....all year round.

In the end ...this falls on deaf ears because as many Americans are patiently waiting for that magic pill they can take ...live the lazy lifestyle and be healthy.
The fact is ...Obesity is more related to where you live ...people in the south red states ...across just about every income level ...I find to be fat to obesed.

One of the trick they use in those states is to re-label the terms ....what they call a few pounds in the south ...I consider obesed!!
 
Hell....I didn't declare it a disease. I'm 6' 1", weigh 188 pounds. My wife is 5' 5" and weighs 120. All anybody has to do to lose weight is back away from the feed trough once or twice a day.

Yeah its really not that simple
 
I had tomato salad, bread and yogurt last night. ;)

I think many of the obesity problems are related to additives, preservatives and especially hormones that are fed to animals. Those hormones not only grow the animals but also the ones that eat those animals. :peace
 
i'd say that the secrets are :

write down everything you eat
write down every exercise that you do
choose healthy options whenever possible
occasionally have a slip meal, but exercise enough to cover it, and budget other meals
keep moving. take the stairs, park the car far away from the door, and walk.

it's not as simple as "backing away from the trough," and that particular way of putting it is counterproductive.

It's an old country phrase. I was born in 1934 on a west TN dirt farm. At that time dirt farmers were the middle class in this country. My grandfather had a family of black sharecroppers living in a shack on his place. They got 1/3 for doing the work.

My son's wife ballooned to more than 250 pounds after her third child was born. If you are parking a car at a restaurant or mall and can't find a parking place near the entrance she wants to keep looking till one becomes available. She says it hurts her feet to walk. I'll bet it does. She eats more than I do at every meal.
 
For dinner tonight I had a can of minestrone soup and a lettuce and tomato and cheese sandwich that I made myself.
I have not eaten red meat ( mammals) since I was 20 years old and I am now sixty one.
I weigh the same as I did in my senior year in high school ( 148) and I feel great.
I am by no means a vegan. I regularly eat chicken and fish including almost any sea food ( never fried). I rarely eat out and I prepare all my own food.
I believe that the bane of the American diet is animal fat and preserved meats.
I also eat a lot of vegetables and about a pound of fruit everyday, mostly melons; honey dew, cantaloupe and water melon with grapes and berries sweetened with white sugar.
I eat a lot of sugar and I love ice cream. I quit smoking at fifty and quit caffeine at fifty five.
I'm not saying that I have any magic formula , but it works well for me. I am almost never sick and I have no chronic ailments beyond some mild arthritis in my hands.
 
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For dinner tonight I had a can of minestrone soup and a lettuce and tomato and cheese sandwich that I made myself.
I have not eaten red meat ( mammals) since I was 20 years old and I am now sixty one.
I weigh the same as I did in my senior year in high school ( 148) and I feel great.
I am by no means a vegan. I regularly eat chicken and fish including almost any sea food ( never fried). I rarely eat out and I prepare all my own food.
I believe that the bane of the American diet is animal fat and preserved meats.
I also eat a lot of vegetables and about a pound of fruit everyday, mostly melons; honey dew, cantaloupe and water melon with grapes and berries sweetened with white sugar.
I eat a lot of sugar and I love ice cream. I quit smoking at fifty and quit caffeine at fifty five.
I'm not saying that I have any magic formula , but it works well for me. I am almost never sick and I have no chronic ailments beyond some mild arthritis in my hands.

I agree with everything you say and my eating habits are similar. I'm almost 79(Sept) and smoked for 35 years but quit in 1983. I do have an occasional steak and used to eat red meat often but when I quit running three times a week, about 2001 I reduced the red meat substantially. Like you I love fruit, berries and melon. That is like desert to me. I'm 6'1" and weigh 188.
 
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Larb Gai (Thai Chicken Salad)

I use all fresh ingredients and eat it on a bed of sauteed spinach :)

Larb.jpg
 
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