For some reason, dh and I were discussing that the only root beer we ever really liked was A&W, fresh in a mug. From there, we reminisced about when was the last time we saw an actual A&W. The last I could remember was in Southern Illlinois when I was in college about 100 years ago. He reminded me that we ate in one about 5 years ago in St. Catharines, Ontario I guess there really is something there other than doughnuts

So the point of this otherwise pointless post is that I googled A&W where they have a nutrition calculator for your tray full of food. Now, back in my bad old days, I would probably have ordered a deluxe bacon cheeseburger, regular fries, and a large root beer. This tasty light lunch would set me back what is now a full day's worth of calories (1450) with 62 grams of fat.

Gee, how'd I get fat?

Mel

Whoa, that brings back memories here too! We had an A & W when I lived in State College, PA and that's exactly what I would have ordered too. When you stop and think about it, it's a wonder that we all weren't enormous because I don't think too many people thought about carbs and grams of fat and diets and all back then. We'd just happily chowed down on our burgers and fries without giving it a whole lot of thought.

BUT ... maybe the difference is that those were occasional treats. I (at least) don't remember anyone eating like that EVERY DAY. Now we've got what McD's calls "heavy users" (and they're not being ironic ) -- people who eat there every single day. And I think we were all a lot more active then. I remember walking everywhere when I was a kid and even in college when I couldn't afford the 25 cent bus fare (am I dating myself? ).

I'm not really sure which is more to blame for the obesity epidemic -- the proliferation of crappy junk food or our sedentary lifestyles? Probably both, since we all know that the solution is:

EAT LESS, MOVE MORE!

There's still an A&W in my old hometown. My parents used to take us there. I remember when my brother, my aunt and I were all in the backseat, my aunt was holding up a french fry and talking, and a pigeon flew up onto the open car window and snatched her fry from her hand. LOL!

I've checked on that stuff before, just wondering. And Meg, my DAILY diet did used to consist of just such foods. I had breakfast every morning at Burger King, with a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with EXTRA bacon and EXTRA cheese...but of course. And if I was really hungry, I got a side of hash rounds to go with it. Lunch would be the chicken cordon bleu sub at Constantly Pizza or perhaps the spicy chicken combo meal at Wendy's. Then dinner would be ordered in supreme or meat lovers pizza. Every now and then I'd eat healthy...like a footlong Subway sub on the white bread with mayo, salami, ham, pepperoni, and tons of veggies, covered with oil and salt and pepper. Well...I was eating veggies anyway.

Oh, and let us not forget the snacks. That generally consisted of a king sized bag of peanut M&Ms or a half a bag of miniature carmel Twix. Or even a half a bag (large bag) of Ruffels with half a container of french onion dip.

And I was moving. I moved my fingers on the keyboard everyday. Hmmm, wonder why I was so big?

Oh, the Memories!!

I remember when DH and I were first married, I, wanting to be the good wifey would make this humongus supper!! A WHOLE t-bone steak each! A large salad laden with dressing, a very large baked potatoe, some veggies topped with butter of course! Then pie for desert!! OYE no wonder I gained 11# in a month! My other vices were to eat a bag of cookies while I was making this LARGE supper, because I was so hungry after work! Oh how times they have a changed!

We still have an A&W in the backwoods town! It is also in the same place but now all revamped! Back when I was going there with my parents and later on dates they even served us on rollerskates at our vehicles... When I went with my parents, in our Volkswagon beatle, THAT was a real treat for my brother and I!

Thanks Mel for bringing this up, it was fun remeniscing!

Lanaii1, my hubby and I have had a traditional steak and tators dinner with a movie every Saturday night since day 1. However, with my change in eating, the dinner's morphed a bit. He still has his steak and tator, and I have it about once a month. The other Saturdays, I fix two dinners. Like last night, I had salmon and sauteed squash and zucchini while he had his steak.

Oh, and the movie was "Taking Lives" with Sam Jackson.

That really got me thinking about a "normal day" in college... Grab a breakfast sandwich from McDonalds, Taco Bell for Lunch and then some pizza and brewskies after class at 10:00 pm! I am so happy to report that I don't touch anything from McDonalds except a salad, Haven't been to Taco Bell for 7 months or so and DEFINITELY no eating that late at night!

I feel so good about how far I've come with good food choices.

Hi,

I have even simpler example of junk food weight gain. When we immigrated to Canada from Europe, I was on perfect weight of 128 pounds, shaped well and very healthy (except for asthma). I biked to work every day (there are separate from cars bike routes, not streets in Vienna), went to aerobics class and simply was young and active. Here I am, new to Canada, no job, no money, and here is McDonalds (which is extremely expensive in Europe, so I ate there once in my life before) with 49c/hamburger deal when you buy 10!!! So guess what, my first month I ate 4 hamburgers/day, and my hubby 6/day. For a month... Well, I gained about 20 pounds!!! I mean it, and also spent about 150$ on new jeans, because old ones were useless. Mind you, I needed 4 more years to get to 150-155 pounds!

How is that for example. I would advertize McDonalds - 10 hamburgers and 20 extra pounds for 4.99! All in only one month! What a deal!

I remember the first time I saw that you could buy those clips to close a chip bag. You know, you'd eat some and seal the rest with this plastic clip? I laughed! Who ever had chips left to protect?