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Has Your Diet Changed Since Moving to the US?

Has Your Diet Changed Since Moving to the US?

Old Jan 12th 2004, 1:26 am
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Question Has Your Diet Changed Since Moving to the US?

I don't mean have you gone on a diet but I'm asking about what you consume in general.

For me, the biggest changes is that of the meats I consume, I eat more lamb (American only). I hardly eat turkey any more.

For the last two years I lived in the UK, I tried to remove as much wheat from my diet but living in NC, it's very, very hard to find products that are made without wheat. The so-called rye bread that is found in grocery stores is not really rye bread since is is mostly wheat with a little rye. I am fortunate enough to have an excellent European style bakery in my city (only 5 mins from where I work) and they bake and sell wheat free and European style breads that contain a good percentage of rye.

I have developed a taste for NC barbecue now and like to eat this once in a while. However, I do miss barbecue ribs (pork, not beef) and eat these once in a blue moon.

I eat Mexican food more often (find me a Brit in the US who doesn't). Refried beans finally agree with me on this side of the pond (always had a problem when eating this dish in the UK).

I'm gobsmacked how much soda Americans consume. Maybe it's cos I live in the South. In the summer I perhaps drink more soda than I did in the UK but I regularly can't finish a can (the US size can is bigger than a UK size can).

I eat more leafy greens than in the UK. Collard greens, kale, turnip greens, etc. are very popular and are sold year round (at least in the South?).

As befits someone who calls themself NC Penguin, I miss my fish. I don't remember the last time I saw a fresh sardine and finding fresh oily fish is a hit and miss affair. There's plenty of (farmed) catfish, scallops, shrimp and flounder but they don't do it for me.

I'll try any food once but I'm hesitating at trying Velveeta, Cheez Wizz and avocadoes the size of grapefruit.

I'd say my diet is simply a little different now. Neither better or worse really. It takes more effort to eat what I want/like though.




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Old Jan 12th 2004, 1:47 am
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Default Re: Has Your Diet Changed Since Moving to the US?

For breakfast I'm more inclined to have bagels or waffles, but I still eat the same cereal as I used to.

I went mad for drinking cokes until my wife pointed out how cal-horiffic they were, especially in the jumbo sizes. I miss drinking squash, although I can buy bottles from the local Brit store.

I enjoy a bag of crisps and there are far more low fat brands here, although sadly salt and vinegar flavour isn't widely available.

I don't eat as much fruit as I used to, partly due to expense. I was a bit stunned the other day to find the 2 large tomatoes I was buying cost $6. Incidentally, does anyone know why red peppers are around $2 each but green ones are half the price?

The main difference is that we don't cook at home as much as we used to, we eat out far more frequently. As a big Tex-Mex / red meat fan I've come to the right place. We've found a great Indian restaurant and an OK Chinese one, so all I really miss eating from the UK is fish & chips.
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Old Jan 12th 2004, 2:16 am
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I came here on a K1 and the missus has always been a lot more conscious of what she eats than I have. Plus she is pretty damn good cook, and enjoys it too, whilst I'm not and don't.. Guess who does the cooking in our house? So in that respect there's a lot more salad and veg in my diet now, tho I do draw the line at Soy shakes for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, I've become a lot more picky about what coffee I buy.

I also do a lot more eating out that I used to do in the UK. Like everyone else the amount the Mexican I eat increased hugely. Also given the fact I live in an area known for seafood, that tends to get in the gullet more often that it used to.

I've cut down on chocolate. Lets face it, American Confectionary sucks. You cannot get the quality of a toffee crisp or a fudge or any other great snacks here....
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Old Jan 12th 2004, 4:35 am
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Default oh yeah!!

Mine has changed for the worst (soon to change)...in the UK I never went near a MacDonalds, I am sure they put addictive chemicals in the MacDonalds here though as I eat them alot....panda express orange chicken, mexican (we have the most amazing Mexican family run restaurant near us), Outback (I have developed a new taste for steaks that I never ever had before)...Im not a cook so I have to take some of the blame for my newly aquired bad habit...however I am learning to cook and we now buy more veggies in the supermarket (and yes they are expensive here too), and are more consicous of fat content etc...I had to do something before I turned into Jabba the Hut...the good thing is I dont like the cakes and sweets they have here, I ate a lot of sweets etc back home, so thats all but eliminated from my diet!..they just dont do sweets well!...although I really do miss sweets..mmm Starbars!
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Old Jan 12th 2004, 11:48 am
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My diet has changed incredibly since moving here. Firstly I live in an area mostly settled by Germans and Polish so Bratwurst and Kelbasa (sp?) are everywhere but 'normal' link sausages are a rarity. Being up here in the frozen north we only have locally produced fresh veggies in the summer so during the winter months even a humble swede costs a fortune. Answer to you question about red and green peppers DaveC, red peppers and green peppers come from the same plant but it takes about an extra 3 weeks or so for them to ripen to red which is why they are so much more expensive. A hint for folks who dont like paying extortionate prices for peppers in the winter .... they freeze well, slice or dice to the required size and freeze in portion size bags, they arent much good for salads but are great for cooked dishes.

I have definately eaten more beef since arriving here, Lamb is way over priced, we do however have loads of lake fish so we eat whitefish, trout or the like at least once a week.

I dont think you can help but change diet as familiar foods arent always available.

Jan
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Old Jan 12th 2004, 12:52 pm
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Portion size was originally the biggest change for me...particularly when eating out. You kid yourself for a while that if that is what you are served then where is the harm in eating it all.

After 6 months to a year of that mind state I was in trouble. Portion sizes are overwhelming but you don't have to succumb. I have cut down eating out to one evening and one lunch time a week. Avoid the cafeteria at work, bring in a packed lunch (even though everyone laughs at you) and exercise more.

I miss fruit, eat a lot less here, mainly because it is difficult not to buy it in anything but bulk, and no one else in the house would eat it.

Bagels have taken over my life. Wholefoods Market makes a damn fine wholegrain bagel, that really locks up hunger till lunch!!
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 1:11 am
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Originally posted by PrincessofWales
Portion size was originally the biggest change for me...particularly when eating out.

You're not wrong there....we went out for lunch on Sunday - I had chicken lettuce wraps off the appetiser menu as my main course...we got a doggie bag and the leftovers fed my wife and I for dinner!!

I reckon our diet has changed for the worse. Partly because of laziness (we eat out more) partly because of change in circumstances (we've got aa 2nd kid now and I seem to have less time to spend thinking about the menu, and just try to get something on the table quickly. That may have happened anywhere, but I think probably less so in the UK with the "fast" options available in our local butchers and deli) and partly because the of the food in the supermarkets - the the veggie are so-so quality most of the time, and expensive, and the food info labels are just plain scary! Incredibly high sodium in a lot of things. Makes cooking for the toddlers a bit tricky. And where oh where can you get decent fish fingers?? My 2 lapped up the Birds Eye 100% cod and/or hoki over xmas - so much better than the cr@p you get here....

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Old Jan 14th 2004, 9:14 am
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Having been for my first doctor's appointment yesterday I was delighted to hear that I had lost over 30 lbs since moving here. That is despite Thanksgiving, Wedding & Xmas.

Now if I could get my blood sugar under control he would have little to shout at me for lol.
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 11:58 am
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My diet hasn't really changed drastically since I've been here.
We eat out rarely as Hubby goes through bouts of travelling, living in hotels and eating at restaurants, (we've been in a hotel roughly about once a month since I arrived at the end of July).
He's actually lost weight since I've been here, not because my cooking's that bad or anything but because he was stuck on a diet of burritos and beer before I got here!!
Actually, my cooking's damn good, he loves everything I make.
It's amazing what you can do with a tin of Campbell's soup!
I do miss Brit choccy though and it's a rare occasion nowadays for us to venture downtown to the Brit store, so it's not really a bad thing.
Wholefoods stocks finnan haddie, (smoked haddock) now, (they must've heard me whinging about the unavailability of it) so I can make kedgeree, which Hubby adores.

I've certainly got no complaints about food here and I'm lucky not to have suffered any adverse effects of the American diet.
Jeez, no wonder there's so many adverts for heartburn/acid indigestion and the like on TV!! Makes you wonder if there's some deal between the producers of the grub and the pharmacuetical companies.
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 12:18 pm
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The diet is one of my greatest fears of moving! In Spain I have a really healthy diet. Spanish women always look amazing and you rarely see overweight people.

When I go to visit the other half all they seem to eat is meat and huge great chunks of it. I'm not a great meat eater and only eat chicken and occasionally turkey. The one great temptation I find there is breakfast at the diners.

Scrumpy how did you manage to shift 30lbs?
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 1:54 pm
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Originally posted by sibsie
The diet is one of my greatest fears of moving! In Spain I have a really healthy diet. Spanish women always look amazing and you rarely see overweight people.
Getting foods you're accustomed to/healthy really depends where in the US you are living.

Virgin & extra virgin olive oil is expensive in the US. As my Mum pointed out, the US has the climate to grow olives so why don't they produce (more) olive oil? I remember buying a friend a 5 litre tin of olive of oil from Costco for her birthday when I visited the US (some of you might think that's an odd birthday present).

Fresh fish/seafood is hard to come by unless you live on the coast but then you have to check its freshness very carefully.

When I go to visit the other half all they seem to eat is meat and huge great chunks of it. I'm not a great meat eater and only eat chicken and occasionally turkey. The one great temptation I find there is breakfast at the diners.

Scrumpy how did you manage to shift 30lbs?
I like diners but I'm usually stuck about what to eat for breakfast. I don't eat eggs (I have an egg allergy), try to stay off wheat, and don't eat beef so there's not a lot to choose from. I very rarely drink coffee (and would never contemplate drinking it first thing in the morning) and consume as little dairy (specifically cow) products too.

Before anyone launches into how picky I am about food, I'd like to point out that I ate like this in the UK (for at least three years) and had no real difficulties buying food and drink nor eating out. Also, I have not put on any weight in the 19 months I've lived in the US nor suffer any heartburn or acid stomach.




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Old Jan 14th 2004, 3:10 pm
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Nope

I ate grass in England, and I eat grass here too.
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 3:17 pm
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I have found myself eating more meats. We eat a lot of pork, which was barely on my menu back home, I was mainly a chicken eater. But now, we stock up on huge pork chops from Costco and vaccum pack it in the freezer. I never grilled in the U.K. but over here I'm cooking on the grill 3 or 4 nights a week. I also eat out more often. We probably go out to dinner maybe 3 or more times a fortnight and of course the portions are so much bigger. Living in a border state, the Mexican restaurants are on every corner and I loved Mexican food before I came out, but I am now kinda burned out on it. I moved on to Italian as my first choice when we eat out. We also have every major fast food restaurant within 5 minutes by car from the house. So I am in one of those at least once a week for lunch. I am eating more salad now though, but of course, I like it nicely covered in dressing, but we get the low fat stuff. I've gained around 10 to 15 pounds since I arrived 6 months ago, and even though I am now getting out on my bike 3 or 4 times a week, I just find it impossible to get back to where I was when I first came out.
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 5:15 pm
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Originally posted by jan_michigan
Answer to you question about red and green peppers DaveC, red peppers and green peppers come from the same plant but it takes about an extra 3 weeks or so for them to ripen to red which is why they are so much more expensive.
Jan
Thanks Jan, I think I will look into growing my own peppers.
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Old Jan 14th 2004, 5:18 pm
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Originally posted by waxwabbit
Nope

I ate grass in England, and I eat grass here too.
You are what you eat so that makes you a vegetable really, doesn't it? That follows.




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