Quote:
Originally Posted by faifai
I think people need to focus on fixing their own eating habits first, then go after all the restaurants and stuff. If you order a plate of food the size of a basketball and then proceed to eat it, that's not the restaurant's fault, it's yours for not controlling how much you eat. Nobody's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to down as much meatloaf and mashed potatoes as you can possibly fit into your stomach. You can set aside however much you want for a later meal, ask them to give you a half-entree, whatever.
People need to re-examine their own eating habits, then learn how to make the fast food/sit-down restaurant industry work for them.
Of course, I do agree that restaurants should offer more choices. But it's up to you to make that choice. You can't go to McDonald's every day for seven years and order the Quarter Pounder combo and Supersized Coke and fries and then blame McDonald's for your weight gain--there ARE choices you can make to have a somewhat healthier meal. Eat less food, order the kids meal (I eat kids meals if I go to fast food places and feel like having the whole "meal" aspect, it's the perfect amount of food for an adult my size).
But the first choice should be opting to go somewhere that DOES fit the bill for what you'd like to eat.
Or, you know, actually preparing your own food.
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I am all for personal responsibility. I agree completely that a healthy lifestyle has to begin with the individual making an effort. However, I don't think that a lot of people understand some of the issues.
During my lifetime (I am 35) I have seen portions grow to obscene sizes. So I am able to notice a difference. The problem is that their are kids now who think that those enormous sizes are normal. Kids that eat those Oscar Meyer boxed cracker lunches and Capri Sun and think that its normal and healthy. As a kid, we went outside to play. We didn't have X-Box or any video games. We ran, we jumped, we exerted ourselves. Kids today are inundated with television and video choices. In addition to this, there are a lot of latch-key kids who are left to make their own choices about what they eat and what they do. I was one myself and let me tell you, when left to my own devices, I didn't always make the right choice about eating.
Yes, the parents should be educating the kids about a healthy lifestyle, but they may not have the skills to do that. Not to mention that a lot of parents may not make it a priority. There are a lot of not so great parents out there. Its unfortunate, but its a fact. So everything we as a society do to help makes a difference.
My parents have always been conscious of their health. They have eaten right, no smoking, just the occasional glass of wine and exercised all of their lives, so I have that as an example. So many people don't have the benefit of that. A lot of people just don't have positive examples, so they really don't know what is being responsible. For example, they are probably the people that will order a salad, thinking it is a healthy choice, but not realize that the grated cheese or fatty dressing does them in.
You are so right about preparing your own food. America has lost touch with the art of cooking. I mean cooking an entire meal from scratch with fresh ingredients. I cringe when I think of all of the preservatives and processed crap that I have put in my body throughout my life. I lived overseas for 4 years and embraced a new way of life. I basically cooked everything, gave up fast food and no starbucks. Don't get me wrong about Starbucks, you can still find healthier choices and I still LOVE them, but for awhile I was ordering grande white chocolate mochas with whip waaaaay too often. Ever since I came back to the US, I have struggled with the temptation of the instant food fix and am currently working on getting in better shape.
Americans are making food/cooking an afterthought. We cram way too much into our schedules and then depend on the instant fix of processed or fast food.
Soooo, now that my post has become a novel...... I guess my point is that we need a multi-pronged approach. Education/information needs to come at us from every angle. Schools, restaurants, PSAs, or whatever it takes. I guess that now leads us to determining whose info is legit, but that's a bridge to cross when we come to it.
