I guess it depends on where you live if there are different foods available. I'm in NY and you can find any cuisine you want here.

I think this is true of a lot if ethnic foods. I am of Italian descent (half anyway) and was raised in an ethnic Italian family. I know good Italian food when I taste it. My fiancé (not of any Italian descent) loves this particular Italian restaurant near him and I don't really care for it and told him it was "Italian-American food" and not true Italian food. I tried to explain, but he didn't quite get it until I took him to a more authentic restaurant. The dishes were tastier and not loaded with excess

I AM LAUGHING OUT LOUD RIGHT NOW!!! If you came to New Orleans, I believe, you would be mortified!! Our food is BAAAAADDDD!! Most meals anywhere are over 1,000 calories and most restuarants don't provide the nutrition information. I fell into this trap for years and packed on a 100 pounds. I had no idea what a NORMAL PORTION looked like. I am shocked to find that I was eating what 3 "NORMAL" sized people would eat in one sitting. :D It definitely makes it harder to portion control when so many delicious options are around in abundance. I wish there was a 100% healthy food drive through somewhere.... No bad choices available.

Pl tell me name of authentic Italian Restaurant.

This post really bothers me. You never see alcoholics who quit drinking putting down people who still drink. The same for smokers. The only group that goes after its own when they finally figure it out (yeah right, for now) is fat people. Once a fat person loses weight, they often start mouthing off about other fatties and how they eat. The poster here even goes to far as to say we think normal sized people are special because we're used to seeing fat people all of the time. Well, dear, that's complete BS. Even as our country gets fatter, we still revere thinness. Our actresses aren't getting fatter because that's not what we idealize or wish to see on TV.

If you've lost your weight, good for you. I sure hope it lasts. But don't start preaching about the fat people you left behind. You WERE fat too! Have some empathy, for goodness sakes. And if people remark on your physical appearance in a positive way, just be happy. You could be like 95% of people and gain the weight back. So just enjoy it while you can and wish other fat people luck on their journey. Save the frutration and judging for something else. Geesh.

I'm so annoyed with this site. I joined thinking I'd find support and good advice. I notice there is lots of fat bashing. Disgusting.

I think you are misunderstanding the post. She's not attacking fat americans, she is bringing up how America as a whole is unhealthy. From the convenience of junk food to the fillers we put into our food. As another poster mentioned, we have drive-through banks and in some cities, walking places can be a challenge due to them not being pedestrian/bike friendly (my Canadian city of a million people is having massive issues with this right now and are scrambling to build bike paths and pedestrian friendly routes). It is true that the portion sizes we are served are CRAZY big when going to most chain restaurants. In other countries, this is generally not the case. Again, it brings back to fat America and not fat Americans. However, as a tourist who has spent about 2 years driving all over the USA, it is true that there is a very high percentage of obese/overweight individuals in the USA. I know this is true of other countries as well, but personally I have not seen as many in concentrated areas as I have when driving through the southern states. But I do lump Canada/America into the same category (hence why I said "we" a lot even though I don't live in the USA since our culture is virtually the same)

Also, I don't really see fat bashing going on here. I see people who have realized just how unhealthy they were, and how unhealthy their habits were. Of course someone is going to mention that it is not okay to have an emotional attachment to food and it is not okay to eat your heart out every single day. But that is usually what people need to hear when asking for advise on what to do to help lose weight.

Theox She probably was but I can understand how bigger portion sizes are difficult. I was brought up to always finish what was on my plate and mostly servings here are normal sized portions.

I think this thread gives voice to the frustration that it so easy to become overweight in America today, and so very hard to maintain a normal weight (or lose weight to achieve a normal weight). Portion sizes, a non-exercise friendly culture, drive-thru windows, suburban sprawl that necessitates driving everywhere to get errands done, etc... I don't think the frustration is aimed at heavy people, just at how easily we can slip into obesity in our current culture.

Nobody here is fat bashing!!! America is a mess. The food industry is a mess. It's an unfair system because it sets most people up for failure. Your view on weight loss is pretty pessimistic. I prefer to be optimistic about it. If people had the tools they needed to be successful, more would be!!! People gain weight back because they either don't have access to the information they need, or the tools they need, to be successful! No judgement from me! Of course I was fat. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't recognized I had a problem. Being here has changed my life in so many ways.

The frustration we feel is not directed at people. It's directed at a food system that has made it so easy to eat yourself into a health crisis. There are foods that simply should not be on the shelves! Food production has gone from the work of farmers to the work of chemists. It's unexcusable!

Edit:
I didn't fully see this until I spent time living in Japan. I see the Western creep happening there too and I worry for them too. The food culture there is so different, and being overweight is so much more rare. Having to walk to the supermarket, shop daily for fresh foods, and the lack of availability of chemical frankenfoods made it SO easy to lost/maintain weight there. I'm not finding it quite so easy in America.

RE: Corn syrup in formula.

Yes, very much true - my son had severe acid reflux and Enfamil soy was the only milk he kept down (he vomited my supply), #1 ingredient was corn syrup solids. I shuddered at every can but felt like a rock and a hard place, iykwim?

I don't live in the US. I live in French Canada where anything but slim is pretty unacceptable (moreso French attitude than general Canadian). The American obesity problem is extraordinarily complex - a go, go, go society. Women returning to work after 6 weeks (we get 1 year in most western nations), food in the US is very cheap compared to other western nations (and in poor nations food is cheap but so are wages). The obsession with slim quick fixes leading to rebounding weight gain (as most women on this site know), the lack of physical exercise due to vehicle necessity (one can't simply hop a train to work when you live in Nebraska, I'm sure), could go on forever... and I don't even live there.

I really love visiting the US, it's a beautiful place, but it is certainly the land of excess - the super rich, the super poor (the poverty in America is worse than up here, in general), the super fat, the super thin...

Sorry to just chime in here,I know this post is a little older,but I would fully agree that America's portion sizes are ridiculous! I'm from Canada,even though our country has a weight problem too, and yes we have fast food places. It's just crazy when I go to America how dirt cheap fast food is,and how much of it you can get. For example,at McDonald's in Canada our supersize fries are the size of America's regular fries. I was floored the first time i got mc Donald's, I actually brought it back to tell them I didn't order supersize,they laughed at me and said that was just a regular order of fries. I found that so insane. Our fast food prices in Canada are significantly higher than America's as well. That being said,only WE can control what we put in our mouths. We need to be educated, and read labels. Fast food nation didn't shove food down your throat. We did that ourselves. I agree that their should be more healthy options at restaurants though. However eating those meals once in a while isnt the reason for being fat. Eating them all the time would certainly cause some weight gain. Moderation,and education is the key!

There's tons of fat bashing on this site. And if America is a "mess" as you say, then what would you call Somalia, Iraq, the Sudan??? We've got our problems in this country but we're certainly not a mess.

And I'm not pessimistic about weight loss, I'm realistic. If (and WHEN) I reach my goal weight, I will remain humble and supportive. I won't start posting garbage about people thinking it weird that I'm of normal weight. And I won't start putting down other fatties. I know the struggle and it's hard enough having to fend off the mean remarks of thin people.

I saw no bashing in any of the posts except yours. You are calling the OP's words "garbage" just because she is telling us that she thinks its weird that people think she is "skinny" just because she is a normal weight and its true. It is odd to be considered "skinny" when really you should just be considered "normal". It goes to show what we are slowly adjusting to in society.

Also, where is she insulting other over weight people? I personally thought referring to people as "fatties" as in your post would be considered insulting. This entire thread is about the mess that our food industry is in. I highly recommend the documentary Food Inc. It shows how much corn filler we are actually eating just because its cheap for the manufactures.

Well, I disagree. And it isn't just this post. I've noticed a very weird tone on this site. I'm new here and maybe I'm just not the type of person who should post here. I use the word fatties with love. I'm a fattie. When I lose weight, I still consider myself a fattie. I have a great deal of empathy and that's what I see lacking on this site. And it's ridiculous to say our country considers normal weight people thin. On the contrary, just take a look at Jessica Simpson (before pregnancy). She clearly was in the right BMI range and LOTS of people called her fat. Lots of people. And what about Michelle Obama? The woman is incredibly fit and she was called fat for having a round butt. Come on, this country may be getting fatter but our views on body images aren't following suit. So, cry me a river if people consider you thin and you're normal weight.

I don't object to the idea that we, being a rich country, should have a purer food supply. But don't start whining about how bad things are here until you go somewhere and see true horror. There are people who only wish their biggest problem was fat. They don't have any food to eat at all. Think about that the next time you start spouting off about being considered thin.

You sound like you don't have any type of empathy of people are on the other side of the spectrum, you know the ones who are too skinny or the ones who think of themselves fat when really they are not. Just because their issue isn't being fat anymore, doesn't mean their thoughts and opinions don't matter and they can "cry you a river". Their thoughts have value. They are struggling as well and even though it may not be a weight loss issue, people shouldn't told their words are garbage just because their issue isn't the same as yours.

And I am sorry, but I care deeply about how our food industry is. Just because I personally don't have to worry about starvation or war does not mean that whats going into my body on a daily basis is not important. It is NOT okay for all of ours foods to be as extremely processed as they are. It is NOT okay for everything under the sun to have high-fructose corn syrup! I might not have to worry about a bomb dropping on my house, but what I feed my family is an extremely important issue! My body is my LIFE. Without it, I am dead. For that, it is important to pay attention to what goes into it. Do you really think putting all those pesticides into our systems everyday is really good? The toxins we breath in daily certainly are providing any nutritional value!

As for the celebrities, you are right to an extent. Yes, people were calling Jessica Simpson fat when she was NOT fat in real life standards. But the celebrity world and real life are completely different. In real life, it is becoming the "norm" to see more over weight people in a day then not. Society is accepting it more (not in celebrity world though), and it is clear! From bigger seats, to bigger portions, to seat belt extenders on planes, to more and more plus sized clothing stores opening.

As you said, you are new and maybe this site isn't the type of support you are looking for. But maybe it is and you just need to realize that sometimes people have different views. There is a wonderful support system here and I hope you will be able to find the type of support you need in order to reach your goals.

Really? I haven't seen it at all :shrug:

There are lots of people talking about their proactive attempts to lose weight and how good it feels when, after hard work, it finally does come off. I suppose that might be interpreted in an unfavorable light at a stretch, but there's no hate directed at anyone.

The majority of people on these boards seem to be overweight and looking for other overweight people to talk to, or else formerly overweight people who lost weight with the community and have stuck around because in the process they made friends and want to encourage other people (who already wanted to change of their own volition, no one dragged them here when they thought they were fine) trying to lose weight.

In all I think this is a very positive forum full of good advice, complete with its own cheering section. It's one of the outstanding examples of what is right with the internet. But if it's not for you, I guess it's not for you?