Do americans realize how outrageous their portion size is?

[Anonymous]

I don't mean just in the McDonalds or restaurants. It seems like everything is made for giant people. Like the bottles in a store, the cereal boxes,... Also their plates and glasses are from sizes I had never seen before. It made me feel like a dwarf :P Like where I live a standard soda glass is 20cl (6.7oz?) where areas it seems in the US the smallest I could get was 12oz. It seems like you need to get fat otherwise you'll have to throw away a lot of food. Opinions?

[Realistic07]

Hey i spend my money on an amazing steak full beef Angus with a side of onion mash potatos home made from scratch and corn that i grow; now that's a plate. Screw Mc Donalds i take the steak. It's delicious and the steak is about the same size as my face and i eat it in two portions one for diner and the other portion i recook and make a breakfast of steak tucked in to a three egg omelet served with toast. As for our drinking habits read the serving sizes on the bottle it's only about a quarter of the 12 oz's recommended to drink in one siting. That being said the bottle is bigger because our corporations in america take advantage of the fact that people like to indulge so they make it bigger for profit and so the consumer becomes more addicted or habit formed to the product. It's terrible, but many don't care enough to do anything because we have been accustomed to the corporate scams. For me though i take an amazing home cooked meal with a decent sized portion not to big not to small and enjoy that rather than anything else.

[kheserthorpe]

I find it shocking sometimes, and hell I'm in Canada, you'd think it would be the same but its not.

Part of it comes from the fact that food is staggeringly cheap in north america, over all. Europe and Japan for a variety of reasons keep food higher quality and MUCH more expensive.

When you eat out in north america, you are paying to sit somewhere and have someone cook for you. The food is thrown in free, so they throw in lots to justify the price.

[dipta]

I think even here in Japan (at least recently) the regular size of a soda can is 330ml, like in everywhere?
There are smaller cans, but those are usually of coffee, fruit juice or energy drinks.

As for meals size and McDonald's, can't really argue you there. The portions size is insanely big in some restaurants. But like Dionysos also said, it's American people with their beef steak size and Asian people with their hot tub of noodles!

[Julesandfools365]

I never really realized that.. Probably because I live in America and have nothing to compare our portions to. I'm a twig and I don't get fat no matter what I eat but I find it annoying how the media is always telling us to "embrace our curves" to make fat people feel better about themselves, when they really should be doing something to put a stop to obesity.

[Anonymous]

Our portion sizes aren't big... everyone else's are just small. :D

Just for the record, you can get smaller than 12 oz of pop (soda) in the U. S. There are 8 fl oz cans that come in a six pack.

www.i-mockery.com/.../...ing-ghost-mini-sodas1.jpg

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The problem is that these tend to be close to the same price per can as the 12 oz... so, people will just go with the 12 oz since they can get more for the same price. As for portion size of food. Yeah, it's bigger than other countries, but the problem with other countries culture vs American culture is that a lot of other cultures find it rude if you don't eat everything on your plate. So, when these citizens of these cultures come to America and see the large portions they are overwhelmed because they feel like they have to eat it all. In America, it is perfectly acceptable and sometimes encouraged to eat what you can and then get a doggy bag and eat it for left-overs the next day. I very rarely go to a restaurant and eat every thing I ordered at the restaurant. I almost always get a doggy bag and save it for late.

Cereal boxes... the question I have isn't about the cereal boxes. . . it's about the serving size. What does the serving size say on the side of the box. You don't have to get a bigger bowl to eat the cereal. Use the same bowl as you always do... eat the same small amount as you always do. The only difference is it will take you more days to finish an American cereal box vs finishing a cereal box in your own country. Portion size for that is entirely up to you.

[Dionysos]

You're right. Everything in America is embarrassingly large, including our butts. :-( We do have smaller sized drinks, but the 12oz is standard. The right solution is to cut down the number of sodas you have, and drink water.

Enjoy the giant coffee mugs though. You don't have to fill em up all the way.

Interesting note: If you go to a Vietnamese Pho soup place, make SURE you order a small. You can take a bath in the small bowl they'll bring out. The large is like a friggin hot tub of soup. Somehow they manage to consume the things though. I have no idea how because Europeans are bigger than most Vietnamese. Honestly it looks like a violation of the law of conservation of mass that they can finish the large ones. Even my fat American self can't finish one and a tiny Asian dude just slurps it down.

As you can tell, this is a subject that's puzzled me for a while. :-)

[TheoryOfAvarice]

Portions are bigger but our meals are generally shorter.

Also for the most part we don't throw away our food unless it's gone bad... we save it as leftovers. When I was in Spain you weren't allowed to take home the food you couldn't finish at a restaurant which still amazes me, to just throw away what's left... it's so wasteful and backwards.

[dipta]

I'm not a Spaniard, but in Europe we don't have the habit of taking home the leftovers - that's why the portions are one or two-sized. If you aren't hungry, then you don't eat out. It's a bit like that.

[Execu]

Cereal boxes are kinda bs, the box being bigger doesn't mean the portion has to be.

200ml bottles? Thats pretty damn tiny.

This sounds more like you're from Asian/Mexico or something. Everyone in Mexico was so bloody short to me, I see exchange students here who are also insanely short... We just be giants in NA yo.

[Argus14]

We rarely throw away the food. For instance if I go to a restaurant I take home whatever I don't eat and eat it later. Also, just because our plates are bigger doesn't mean we fill them to the brim.

Oh c'mon give me a break with the cereal box thing. It's not like we eat an entire box in one sitting. Just like you, we pour a bit into the bowl depending on how much we want and eat it.

[Argus14]

I should add that value is a big thing over here. We want to get the most for what we spend. So going back to the restaurant. If had to choose between two restaurants that charged the same for the same dish I'm gonna pick the one with larger portions because it has better value.

[Levin]

Well, their whole culture is orientated towards 'bigger is better'. Eating all day makes you dull and stupid. Our far ancestors probably survived on far fewer calories, far less than the modern daily recommended allowance, and this is why they weren't spiritually disconnected, and could still walk by the time they were 50.

[Argus14]

Eating all day? Walk by the time your 50?

Dude, do you really think that we just sit on our asses and stuff food in our mouths 24/7 until we're too fat to move around? Have you even been here? Also while our ancestors may have survived on less calories than us we live longer and healthier lives. So I'm pretty sure that's a win for the modern era.

[Levin]

that's not to do with superior internal health. But better healthcare (papering over the cracks), better treatment of trauma, pathogens, infections etc.

Dude, we do that in England, and we're still healthier than the average American. The UK is the most unhealthiest place in Europe. We do exactly what Americans do. This isn't a judgement from a place of superiority.

[CommieDearest]

6.7oz of soda? What is that like pregaming for a big gulp or something? That portion size is outrageous!

[Asker]

You know that there is nearly 30% of daily recommended sugar in 6.7oz.

[CommieDearest]

Nah. First of all. We don't math in America. Secondly, I drink diet.

[Tractorbeam]

Maybe Americans have been getting fat.
A healthy BMI is around 22.
In 1960, the average BMI in the USA for people age 20 - 75 was 25 (still barely acceptable, so only 50% were overweight )
Now the average BMI is 28. Anything over 30 is obese.

[SomeOtherGuy]

No, they actually don't.
Not until you travel abroad and see it for yourself will you realize it, and only will you see it if the place doesn't cater to Americans.

[MaskofInsanity]

The problem isn't just diet, its inactivity. I do agree though, they got some massive stuff over there lol.

[Tokana]

Yep, its funny when an American company took over Tim Hortons they changed all the cup sizes and made them all a size bigger.

[Execu]

Didn't even know they took over timmys 0. o

[rocelot]

Didn't that fail and where forced to change it back. Or at least their large became the extra large and brought back the small.

[Honest-Matt]

I thought they just reshaped them to fit uniformly into cup holders and the volume never changed.

[Tokana]

Execu.. Wendys bought out Timmies.
rocelot.. No it didn't fail you ask for a medium and they give you the old Large size cups (14 Oz)
Honest-Matt.. the volume changed.

[musicbrain5]

I honestly don't even know how anyone can drink that fucking giant extra large. Even the large.

[Tokana]

Its looks so cartoonish.

[Anonymous]

That's why healthy Americans are taller and stronger than people from most other countries. It's a good thing for Americans that aren't lazy.

[TheLastGirlScout]

No they aren't. I love it when people just make up facts to support their ideas :)

[kheserthorpe]

Northern Europe is taller on average than the U. S.

[Opinion Owner]

Most countries implies exactly that. Most. I know the Netherlands as well as other countries have incredibly tall people. With that being said, the shoulder width of an American male is larger than that of any other country. American football players are the worlds best combination of speed, strength, and size. Much attributed to hard work and the diet. In the past, prior to it becoming "cool" in the us to be a weak, sensitive, arrogant lazy prick who pretends to be so cultured, Americans were known as very strong, hard working, tough people. Now many of you morons will tell me I'm what's wrong with America, but the fact of the matter is, when most Americans had views like mine, and took pride in being tough and hardworking, we were in a much better state than we are now. But feel free to continue smoking your weed, relying on others, and complaining about how evil people like me are.

[Anonymous]

6.7oz? Seriously?

How do you even LIVE without dying of dehydration?

[TheLastGirlScout]

it's called water... it falls from the sky and doesn't have shitloads of sugar or calories in - it's lovely!

[Opinion Owner]

Water? Disgusting. Fish fuck in it!

[Anonymous]

Umm more then one person cares and yes I noticed. Americans are typically greedy fat and ignorant. You are correct mam and I am ashamed of my greedy fat country.

[Anonymous]

It's because America is the best country in the world.

[cavmanier]

Hahaha maybe you're right

[UlsterScot]

No.. Why we are 30% obese.

[NovemberJoseph]

I'm bulking so it's all good :p

[Anonymous]

I don't think they do.

[Opinion Owner]

To me, they never understood that it's about quality, not quantity. They'd rather spend their dollars on 10 cheese burgers from Mc Donalds than a decent fillet steak cooked to perfection in clean kitchen.

[carnix]

They like being obese.. lol..