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You think all you can eat buffets are a normal, regular thing.
You think yellowish white is a normal food color for everything.
You think fried is a normal way to eat things.
You think soda is fine on a regular basis.
You think "diet" soda is better for you than regular soda, because it has "no calories".
You think there is nothing wrong with testing the capacity of a food dish.
You think "diets" are the way to go to help you lose weight.
Water is not a very regularly drank item.
Green is not a very common color on your plates.
Neither is any color for that matter.
Food goes in your mouth so fast I would be surprised if you even tasted it.
Okay, Let's Step Back
I know everything I just presented before you is a complete hyperbole but unfortunately, I am not that far off. What sparked this? Matt and I went out for lunch at a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet before we went to see a movie. I was suffering from a really crappy cold with an extremely sore throat and knew there wasn't too much I was going to be able to swallow and I knew I wanted a large quantity of nice, hot, brothy soup. We don't go to this place often due to previous (albeit lessor) situations similar to this but I wanted cheap sushi and soup (both things I could easily swallow).
How I Ate:Once there we got our simple ice waters and filled up a nice plate of sushi and sat down to share. Mind you, I understand sushi is not the healthiest thing for you, but it is pretty good considering we mostly has vegetable rolls, and simple fish sushis and because it is not something we eat every day. Matt and I filled up a plate each and sat munching away, chatting and taking our sweet time; there was no haste in our eating; we chatted, and enjoyed our food, drinking water along the way. Next I had a lot of wanton soup (light on the wantons, LOTS of hot broth) and finished off with a bit of hearty food: green beans, mushrooms, chicken, fish. This may seem like a lot of food, and for us it was a bit more than usual, but it was very veggie intensive and most of the foods we had were small (almost sample sized) portions. We selected foods carefully, we didn't force ourselves to eat things that we didn't like, we ate slowly and drank a lot of water along the way.
What I Witnessed:
Sitting around I saw and heard some really awful things. It made me realize how f***ed we are as a country and why we are so huge. I actually physically lost my appetite and we ended up leaving. I've narrowed it down to universally what I think the top 4 things that are wrong with the American way of eating.
- Speed: people were eating faster than I could ever imagine. I would sit down with my little plate and munch away while watching them shovel, cram, and stuff a full mountainous plate of horrible choices down their throats before I was even partially done with mine. They are eating faster than their taste buds can enjoy it, and overstuffing themselves.
- Please America: the food isn't going anywhere: SLOW DOWN!
- Drinks: I only drink water, unsweetened tea, and my own fruit/veggie/protein smoothies (ok, and booze: but sparingly). People were downing soda like it was going out of style. From the way they were drinking you could tell they were thirsty, but sadly soda will never be able to quench their thirst. If you aren't drinking water you are wasting your calories and not getting any return on them.
- Please America: stop drinking THOUSANDS of empty, sugary, calories. Stay hydrated and drink water. And STOP drinking "diet soda", just because it has "zero calories" doesn't mean it is any better for you, in fact, it is actually worse!
- Choices: My mom always said to look at my plate like art and like the food pyramid. The food pyramid because you want a nice representation of all the food groups, art because you want many different colors. Different food groups help you sustain a nice balanced diet and a large array of colors on your plate generally is a good indication of a good nutrient, vitamin, and mineral spectra.
- Please America: start adding fruits &/or vegetables to all of your meals. You are OBVIOUSLY getting plenty of the meats, "grains" (pretty basic white starch, unfortunately), and fats/sugars, start adding the IMPORTANT stuff to every single meal.
- Quantity: Two things here: WHY do you need to PILE your plate up to the max? It is a buffet! You can go back if you are still hungry! Take many little trips it helps you digest, gets a nice walk in, and helps you slow down your eating. Also, you should NOT eat (especially at the speed most people eat at) until you are totally stuffed! The brain is not as up to speed as the body and you have actually overeaten by the time your brain tells you that you are full.
- Please America: stop eating so much, you are not going to starve and you are probably already full enough.
I know this post may have bothered some people, but how do you feel about how most people eat? What are some things you do that you know you should stop/start doing? What do you think the #1 problem with the average American's eating is?
