Good for you, little e. Maintaining dietary discipline is a skill just like any other. (I envy it. That continuous barrage of nutritionally poor high fat foods is one of the reasons why I don't miss America.)
Most countries don't have nearly the problem with this the Americans do.
I think your added reasons are bang on correct. Americans want their money's worth, regardless of what you pay. (You can buy a side salad at most California restaurants for $10. The typical entree is $18-$25.)
I remember eating until I hurled as a child too. But I think it's the supernormal stimulus of the sugar and sweeteners in the food which drives people to forget their body's natural signals for what it needs.
Not long ago my wife learned she cannot eat sugar at all. When she changed her diet, she started to notice how she can tell not only how much is necessary for sustenance, but a vague sense of what kinds of food as well. (Protein, vitamins, carbs, salt, etc.) I've noticed it too, and I've read a couple of case studies where children could do this as well.
I suspect, as you say, we have indeed forgotten what it really means to eat for nourishment.
I think an important hing for people to remember is that our bodies are basically designed to survive starvation or near-starvation conditions. Which of course means that if we can get food, we'll eat it, and if we have a choice between extra sugary and fatty food like meats, which were traditionally in short supply and hard to find, verses vegetables, which were pretty easy to find most of the time, we'll pick the stuff that's hard to get.
Most countries don't have nearly the problem with this the Americans do.
I think your added reasons are bang on correct. Americans want their money's worth, regardless of what you pay. (You can buy a side salad at most California restaurants for $10. The typical entree is $18-$25.)
I remember eating until I hurled as a child too. But I think it's the supernormal stimulus of the sugar and sweeteners in the food which drives people to forget their body's natural signals for what it needs.
Not long ago my wife learned she cannot eat sugar at all. When she changed her diet, she started to notice how she can tell not only how much is necessary for sustenance, but a vague sense of what kinds of food as well. (Protein, vitamins, carbs, salt, etc.) I've noticed it too, and I've read a couple of case studies where children could do this as well.
I suspect, as you say, we have indeed forgotten what it really means to eat for nourishment.
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