Bob

moomoo's for me indeed

made of kent

I just realised that is another factor, I don't have a car here I had one in the UK as we lived in a village without shops, and I worked full time, to so time was difficult, I did cycle every week before children and after them I walked a far amount, they are great resistance training the fitter I got the heavier they got, so the pushing got harder!
here I am lucky, I can walk nearly the whole 1.7miles to McDonalds and the stores and then I have about another 1 mile or so usable pavement, its not a pretty walk!! with all the traffic and the inability of drivers not understanding yield to predestrians on crossings (even on a red light!! grurr!) I deal with this by screaming your a F09809in' moron! not eloquent but from the heart!!!

cathy22w

Yep... I've found this country not really geared towards pedestrians or cyclists, unless you're in the cities. I have got around this by hiking and backpacking on the Appalachian trail and others. Love that. Don't really know how I packed on so much weight - but I did. And yep - you can get decent clothes no matter what size you are. Doing well at losing it right now. Spent the day walking around NYC yesterday, so things like that help.

Interesting.

mellybrown

I've lost 30lbs since we got here........plan on losing another 20

Im obviously not making a very good attempt at trying to be american!!!!

Bluegrass Lass

Add me to the 'fat bitch on a diet' list. My OH (the Brit) is trying to lose some weight too. We both just joined the local YMCA and plan on using their personal trainers to get ourselves back in shape. Our diet and our lack of exercise have contributed to our bellies. We both can work long hours, which leads us to fast food for dinner (since we are too tired to cook when we get home). But we plan on changing our ways and habits cuz I'm just way to friggin miserable at 70# overweight. I hope I can lose it all by Christmas so I can wear a nice swim suit for our planned trip.

thanks for mentioning that site, Tamms. Think I will definitely have to check it out.

Melissande

I actually have lost about 10 lbs. since moving to the US, despite not being able to go for my long countryside walks around the South Downs and walking miles daily around a lab chasing specimens. I put it down to creams teas and curries not being available. <Sigh> American food that I craved when I was in Blighty was cured by one or two trips to the fast food joints shortly after I arrived and then I didn't want it anymore because it had gone DOWN so much (more) in quality/quantity and UP in price in the five years I had been abroad. I am so inactive now in my unemployment that a certain percentage of the weight I have lost is probably due to my brain cells sloughing off and muscle atrophying.

Dan725

I've put about 10-15lbs on in the last 5 years of being here, but to be honest I think the bulk of it is probably more to do with stopping smoking (3 1/2 years ago) and having limited exercise time being a dad to a toddler (3 years) than anything else.

However, I do think my diet has gone downhill here. Don't find myself eathing as many square meals (meat and 2 veg!)...because they just don't seem to get that concept in most of the chain restaurants. All this "2 sides" business....rubbish! Where's my mashed tates and gravy, my roast tates, stuffing, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and sprouts? Washed down with a couple of pints in a country pub on a summers day....

Ridski

Gained about 70lbs in the first 6 years here. I lost 20 of those when I was sick, and I've managed to maintain that. Having said that, I was about 20lbs underweight when I first arrived, and all the weight has gone into my trunk. I'm 5' 11" and used to be a size 28 waist. Still only a 36 at the moment. Very strange.

cathy22w

Totally agree with this!

Juswus

Yep, I've become a monster since moving here. I would go up and down in England, but I've never been even close to this sort of weight before.........gross

My "fat clothes" actually hurt to wear now, so I'm almost at the point of doing something about it I get sick of hearing myself complain about it.

bugman

when i first visited the USA 10 years ago i piled on a good stone over the year (i made a few long visits).

It was a combination of large portions when eating out and the fact that when i got here i was lean so felt ok about eating whatever i felt like. i also got hooked on those ghiradelli brownie mix's for a short time. Of course those large portions of everything are covered in cheese, bacon bits, dressing etc, etc.

now i live here the bubble burst and im eating pretty much only home cooked from scratch so it can be as plain and 'healthy' as i want, so im back on simple brit style stews with veg etc, etc. In fact i now think i'd have a problem if i moved back to the UK, a simple store like morrisons has a smaller range but a much better variety within that range of bacon/cheese/bread/cooked meats/yogurt/cream (think clotted cornish!!!!!) than all the local stores in my local area combined. I'd probably put weight on moving back there getting used to all those nice simple pies and cheeses (oh and of course the real ales) i simply wont drink in a bar here if the choice is coors/bud/miller, i wont even touch sam adams now (which was the best of a bad bunch in local bars), im getting very snobby these days.

theres good stuff to be had over here but you have to search far and wide and ultimately the best of those simple foods i love:yogurt/cheese/bread/cream/bacon/ham are not to be found in the USA, well certainly not in a single standard supermarket like the seemingly modest morrisons, yorkshires longley farm products anyone??

further, i find much usa restaurant food horrible, i find that sauces/cheeses etc are used to mask the underlying blandness of a fat free piece of meat that they are usually slobbered over. A lot of teh time refined oils and sugars are used where origianlly a piece of meat with its own juices and fat was quite enough.

at our local irish bar (we are lucky, its walking distance and not one of the chains in a strip mall) i now go for the corned beef/cabbage as i find that more appetising than deep fried blue cheese dressed and bacon bits covered chicken/beef combo chilli cheese stuffed tacos, yuck and yuck again.

chartreuse

Yes! Despite what's often said, there are decent cheeses in the USA - I'm rather partial to a nice bit of extra sharp Vermont, for example.

So why is there this obsession with slathering shitty fake cheese orange goo all over everything?

bugman

true, my favourite usa cheese is williams old fashioned pinconning colby, they sell it at our local meijers, its like a cross between cheshire cheese and leicester, perhaps....... eitherway it has a nice taste and texture.

http://www.williamscheese.com/index.php?page_id=59

averagepunter

The trouble is this can last forever - I think I have been `almost at the point of doing something about it` for about 10 years.

ellimere

I've grown to detest grocery shops here. I just find myself standing there not having a clue what to buy... I find it quite overwhelming.

Going back to the UK (perm.) in August and have already started a list of things I want to get as soon as I get back! LOL

I think I've put on a couple of pounds but am not sure (no scales :/), which annoys me, if I'm honest with myself though I could probably do with it (I'm under 100 pounds anyway). I think I would freak out if I found out I had put on loads of weight over here though (small body frame, never been over 104 pounds in my life).

I don't drive over here either, so that probably helps. BUT I also stay in a lot.. too much really but have just moved to a new town and only know one person :/. Oh well, only 9 weeks to go and I can have a balti, salad cream.. branston pickle, REAL cheese.. greengages and lots of yummy stuff