Chewin’ the Fat (Why Americans are so fat)

MSNBC ^ | September 18, 2003 | Gersh Kuntzman

[HairOfTheDog]

I am just trying to needle you a little bit.....when I realized that I was pissing you off I took it a little further.

Well, Stop That! That pisses me off!

[najida]

Good grief - that's got to be tough to deal with. I guess that I'm lucky that Mom had the basics down. I can't say she followed the exact same food pyramid we are supposed to use today, but there were always a couple of servings of fruit every day and a couple of servings of vegetables every day. And, the sweets were limited.

We grew most of what we ate: picked it, butchered it, canned it, froze it..that is why I do what I do... The yard is still full of fruit trees, grape vines, blueberry bushes and an asparagus bed that my father planted. We ate everything! Portions were limited and sweets were rare (but they were true treats!)

And we worked REALLY hard (my brother's laugh at Rap songs singing about a hard life...ya ain't had it hard until you have cut okra at 6am)

[Rodney King]

What's worse is going to a buffet restaurant. I have seen disgustingly huge people load their plates over and over again.

What's funny is watching them go for the diet sodas while they do that, as if it is part of a diet.

[91B]

Ugh-school food is terrible with regards to proper nutrition (everything's fried) and we have de-emphasized PE in the curriculum. Add that to the fact that kids are playing outside less than previously and we shouldn't be surprised at how fat we are getting.

[meyer]

Where some risks are extraordinary, they pay more. where they are about the same cost as everyone else, they don't. That is how insurance works.

Actually, this generally isn't true with health insurance, at least to the extent that it is provided by the employer. Perhaps that should (or maybe it should not) be the case, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Where I work, everyone gets the same health benefit options regardless of risk.

[Rodney King]

What's worse is going to a buffet restaurant. I have seen disgustingly huge people load their plates over and over again.

What's frustrating is that every time you go you are overpaying because they price the meal under the assumption that you are going to stuff your face.

[Fledermaus]

Forget the white flour and sugar...it's the beer man!! lol

[Rodney King]

What they ought to do is weigh you in when you come in and when you check-out, and then charge you by the pound for the difference.

[meyer]

What's worse is going to a buffet restaurant. I have seen disgustingly huge people load their plates over and over again.

While I wouldn't classify myself as "disgustingly huge", I am one to get my money's worth at the Buffet.

[Sloth]

LOL, that'd lead to lots of folks coming in with their bladders & colons bursting at the seams.

[najida]

What's worse is going to a buffet restaurant. I have seen disgustingly huge people load their plates over and over again. I don't refer to them as all-you-can-eat joints any more. They're troughs, pure and simple.

There was a study done about how much more people at in this type of situation. Something like twice as much food was consumed than in a service type of restaurant.

Bottom line, we will eat as much food as we can when offered it.

[Rodney King]

Hmm, I didn't think of that. They would have to somehow take volume measuremnts of the toilets.

[meyer]

What they ought to do is weigh you in when you come in and when you check-out, and then charge you by the pound for the difference.

Not a bad idea, though I'd probably pay for my meal with change since its heavier. :)

[HairOfTheDog]

The employer negotiates a rate with the medical depending on whether they will hire smokers. Other risk factors could easily be taken into account if it became fashionable.

[Nachum]

Beer is high in carbs too.

[meyer]

LOL, that'd lead to lots of folks coming in with their bladders & colons bursting at the seams.

Now That's a visual I didn't need. Probably would serve to prevent others from eating as much, though. Ewwwww!!!

[SamAdams76]

I don't refer to them as all-you-can-eat joints any more. They're troughs, pure and simple.

Getting off the subject a little, I sat next to a guy who operated one of these "all-you-can-eat" buffet restaurants on a plane recently. Just making conversation, I joked that he must shudder everytime a fat person walks into his joint because of all the money he will lose. He told me in all seriousness that the profit margin is so high on his business that he hasn't lost money on a single diner yet.

Think about it. Put all the food in the middle of the dining room and let the diners serve themselves. This saves a lot of manpower right there. A couple of waitstaff to pour the drinks and bus the tables and that's about it.

A typical all-you-can-eat buffet charges about $11.95 a person, give a take a dollar or two. Even if you were Michael Moore or Rosie O'Donnell, you'd have trouble eating $11.95 worth of food. I mean, it's not like they are serving lobster and caviar here. It's all mostly cheap fare produced in mass quantities back in the kitchen.

I haven't been in one of those joints since I began my program. Those days are OVER!

Speaking of over, look at the time. I've got to be up at 5AM for my morning walk. Later.

[meyer]

The employer negotiates a rate with the medical depending on whether they will hire smokers. Other risk factors could easily be taken into account if it became fashionable.

Perhaps its a local thing, but smoking status isn't discussed around here at hiring time - at least not yet. It may well become 'fashionable' to take risk factors into account in the future when assessing relative risk, and I wouldn't argue with that as long as the risk factors are ones over which people actually have control. The big jackpot for lawyer types, of course, will be the legal determination of what things people can control.

[HairOfTheDog]

Huh must be local.... it is frequent to see 'no smokers' in employment ads here... With national insurance companies.... if their rates are local, that would tick me off a bit!

[meyer]

We grew most of what we ate: picked it, butchered it, canned it, froze it..that is why I do what I do... The yard is still full of fruit trees, grape vines, blueberry bushes and an asparagus bed that my father planted. We ate everything! Portions were limited and sweets were rare (but they were true treats!)

While we didn't grow all our food, we always had an abundant garden when I grew up. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, beans, raddishes, carrots, and leaf lettuce - quite a variety. We tried potatoes a couple of times as well as corn, but those crops weren't as successful in the suburban garden. Right now, its enough for me just to keep the grass growing. :)