Food and fatness

[kalimyre]

So I watched Super Size Me, and wow, that was a scary movie. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, the basic premise is that this guy eats nothing but McDonalds food, three meals a day, for a month. It's crazy how horrible it turns out to be for his health. And I mean, of course most people don't eat all their meals there but after watching that

Comments

[indybaggins]

I've been a vegetarian for almost seven years now... I don't eat any animal, so also no seafood/fish.

For me it wasn't hard at all. It's just about changing your eating habits really, as soon as you haven't had meat for a couple months your body doesn't recognise it as "food" anymore. At least mine doesn't. I don't long for it at all, although I do have periods where all of a sudden I'll really long for eggs or chips or cheese, which I assume just has to do with craving fat.

You have to eat more and more often when you're a vegetarian as well, which is why some people feel like it doesn't work for them the first couple months.

Also, life-long vegetarians live on average ten years longer... *laughs*

Both ethically as health-wise, I would never go back to eating meat. I feel so much better now. Your skin will be clearer, your hair less greasy, you'll have more energy and you'll be able to eat more... Not to mention your immune system working better, cholesterol going down, the fact that you're not participating in animal cruelty

[kalimyre]

I'm not sure I could make the jump to full vegan--there's a level where you're allowed dairy products, but no meats, right? Although I must admit I felt good today after lunch, it was all vegetarian, no meat or dairy, and I didn't feel all loaded down and tired. I was able to work out and do my homework and still not feel hungry.

I think my husband would really not go for the vegetarian thing, though. I guess there's a certain resistance based mostly on laziness (junk food is so much easier, it's all prepackaged and quick) and also the taste preferences of a lifetime.

...are chips not allowed? Really? They're made with potatoes, and you can get the kind cooked with sunflower oil or something, seems like that'd be okay.

[poteidia]

I don't know what it's like for vegetarians in the US, or Texas specifically, though I have heard it can be tougher than it is over here (in the UK), just because the non-meat products are harder to find. And I remember when I went to Florida I tended to struggle to find places to eat - but that was 9 years ago now! I'm sure things have improved in that time.

I didn't have much trouble giving meat up - but then I wasn't very fond of it to start with. I've been vegetarian for almost 20 years now, and still miss certain things occasionally (bacon! chicken! tuna fish!) but there's so much variety out there now in non-meat products that I don't feel as if I'm missing out on anything at all. I can even get veggie bacon, which obviously isn't the same as the real thing, but is still pretty tasty.

[kalimyre]

Hmm, that's a good point about the hard-to-find-ness of certain foods. Especially here in the fat state. *g* Even the portions are huge here, apparently.

I'm not really a huge meat fan, although I do like the occasional steak, and sometimes sausages with breakfast. I would have a hard time giving up eggs and dairy, though. Also, it seems like healthy meals take generally longer to prepare than the less than healthy ones. I'm not much of a cook, and tend toward the type of food that comes from a box and requires little involvement to make into a meal. I'm not sure that sort of food comes in a healthy variety.

[poteidia]

I still have sausages! They don't taste exactly the same, obviously, but I've given them to avid meat-eaters and they've actually liked them.

I'm pretty much like that re. cooking too - I just don't have the time (or inclination) to make an entire meal from scratch every day. The Quorn range is great for that - they do burgers, sausages, pies, grills, fillets, 'meat' pieces...all kinds of things, including ready meals. And they're sold here as being a healthier alternative to meat because they're much lower in fat. I don't know if/how much of the range is available over there but it might be worth you checking out :)

[kalimyre]

Ooooh, linkages. *g* Thanks! I'll take a look, see what's available.

[sprat]

Man, wasn't that a terrifying movie? It still gives me the yucks. *shudders*

I was a vegetarian for about ten years before I quit, which I actually did partly so I could lose weight--my body tends to hoard the sugars that come from grains and beans and potatoes and stuff, but responds really well when I'm eating lots of fish and skinless chicken along with my veggies and (smaller) carb portions. As a vegetarian, my carb portions got huge to compensate for not adequately replacing the meat in my diet with stuff like tofu and nuts and fake veggie "meat" products, which I was always too lazy to cook, or too cheap to pay for. *g*

I'm sure you *could* lose weight as a vegetarian, though. I just wasn't prepared to make the necessary changes.

[kalimyre]

That scene where they showed the gastric bypass surgery was especially nasty. I mean, I imagine that nobody's internal organs look pretty up close, but seriously, eww.

You make an interesting point about the loading up on carbs issue. I'm bad at that as it is; I love my pasta and breads and I eat way more fruit than vegetables. It'd probably be better for me to go with lean meats and veggies; I just have to find some compromise that tastes reasonably acceptable and isn't too complicated to cook. (I come from the Helper-in-a-box school of cooking.)

[corliamat]

I was a veggie for 20 years, loved it. I started eating fish and chicken basically because I needed to at the time. It's a lot easier now I think, there's a lot more veggie products about. Mind you, some of them contain just as much crap as the meat products. I don't know if it's the same in the US tho.

I took Cal off school dinners 'cause they were just feeding him processed crap and it was giving him stomach problems. He's been fine since he went off them, so it does make me wonder what the Hell they're feeding our kids there.

I'm glad you mentioned the film tho, its one of those ones I keep meaning to see and then forgetting.

[kalimyre]

I have to wonder what they're feeding my kidlet at school, too. I mean, they send home menus every month, but it's pretty basic and repetitive stuff. There are always fruit and vegetable options, but there's also pizza and corndogs and I'm pretty sure I know what she's choosing. She's always hungry when she gets home, though. I'm not sure what that means.

You should see the movie, it's interesting and weirdly fascinating to see the lengths that junk food corporations will go to. Through the whole thing, the guy interviewed a lot of people and the ones representing the food industry were amazingly skilled at talking without saying anything.

[anonymous]

Here via friendsfriends:

I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm struggling with some of the same things. (And hey!, I'm in the fat state too. Like they say, everything is bigger in Texas. ;) )

On Super Size Me -- I bought a used copy of the DVD to watch for when I start to backslide. I can give up McD's, no problem, but Whataburger is a real struggle. I quit cold turkey, but then I always seem to go back. There may be something to the claims that fast food is addictive.

I hate to cook, and something I've found that makes it easier for me to add more vegetables to my meals is frozen vegetables that steam in the bag in the microwave, just like microwave popcorn. Green Giant and Birds Eye both make them, and there are other brands too.

[cynonymous]

Whoops, that was me, not logged in.

[kalimyre]

Oooh, that sounds good, the vegetables I mean. I tend to go with canned, but that's only good on corn and string beans, everything else comes out mushy and nasty. (Especially peas. Canned peas are the nastiest stuff ever.)

I'm not a Texas native, so maybe that's why I don't get the Whataburger appeal. I've been there, but it was only okay to me, not great. And expensive, considering what you're getting. Now Taco Bell, on the other hand, I'm a total addict. Sad, since I live about ten minutes from Mexico and could totally get real, authentic Mexican so easily. I like the fake stuff, I guess.

[cynonymous]

I agree, canned peas are *absolutely* the nastiest things ever. I have a cabinet full of canned corn and canned tomatoes, but now I'm hearing that the substance they use to line the insides of the cans may be bad for you, so I'm thinking of going with frozen on the corn. I haven't found any substitutes for the tomatoes