Between 1975 and 2016, the prevalence of obesity in Europe rose 138%, with a 21% rise between 2006 and 2016. The prevalence of overweight rose by 51% between 1975 and 2016, and by 8% between 2006 and 2016. It is expected that by 2030, over half of Europe will live with obesity – up to 89% in some countries. No Member State is on track to reach the target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025.
The proliferation of unhealthy eating is a big problem for most of Europe, too. They’re on the same path as the US for mostly the same reasons, just a few steps back.
That said, if I’m going to be fat, I’d rather it be because of schnitzel the size of a dinner plate or cacio e pepe over a Monster Burger.
No. I think it’s for the reasons outlined or suggested in the link I included: increased cost of healthy ingredients, decreased accessibility to the same, people struggling to find time to eat well in the increasingly fast paced world, etc.
My mentioning my personal preference is mostly a concession to nuggets of truth in the 4chan post. It’s also true; there is nothing common about how I would prefer to consume quality food.
The access to fresher ingredients and healthier food cannot be understated. Food is so much more processed in the US, even if you're mainly cooking at home. Even the "ingredients" you buy at grocery stores are more processed.
That's not making people fat. People are fat because they eat to much and have sedentary lifestyles. Watch secret eaters on YT, it's from the UK, but demonstrates how much snacking and sitting most people do.
Yes, being sedentary hurts you. My point wasn't about weight loss, just that the quality of ingredients and food in Europe is leagues ahead of the US. It is much worse for you nutritionally to eat refined, processed grains than it is to eat whole grains. Not to mention the amount of fresh produce...
Nothing beats a cheeseburger. Btw, it's not cheeseburgers making us fat, for the most part. It's soda, and low quality food products with excess sugar and refined carbs.
I'm currently vacationing in Japan and have slimmed down a lot in just a week of walking, eating smaller healthier meals, and taking the train everywhere. America has a truly fucked standard of living. I don't want to go back to driving and eating shitty oversized unhealthy meals while also tipping.
It's not a bias it's a fact. My shirts are way more loose on me and I've been walking an average of 15,000 steps a day. What's it to you anyway? Are you upset someone's making a valid criticism about American transportation and eating habits?
Because it's a week lol you're talking about losing water from sweating, stored sugars in muscles from exercising, and a teensy bit of fat loss. you haven't "lost a lot" you're just on vacation
what's it to me? I like to tell people when they're wrong in the internet. you said something stupid. hello.
lifestyle change and public transit are great but you're just on vacation. and this is coming from someone who lived over a decade in the Americas and Asia both.
Your diet does make a real difference, more than you credit for in your reply. In university I had pizza almost every day for a month, I gained 15 lbs (7 kg) and had a way flabbier stomach. I stopped doing that and tried to eat healthier, incorporating salad with my meals, and in just about a week I started noticing it going away, and I was back to where I was before in 3 months.
It wouldn't surprise me too much to see how a body would react noticeably to a drastic change from a sedentary, highly processed carbohydrate diet and lifestyle to an active, more balanced one. Everyone's body is different of course so it won't always be the case, but to me the OP's claims seem far from impossible. Japan still has its share of oily foodstuff, but the average portion is tiny compared to the US.
If you look at yourself regularly and pay attention you can see your body change pretty rapidly. I've specifically watched my body bulking up on its own before burning those stored calories to build muscle and there's a clear cycle of noticing a bit more pudge a few days before I suddenly make a big jump in cycling distance or how much I can lift (and the pudge also goes away at the same time)
I can lose 10lbs in 3 days if i quit drinking beer. 10 lbs is definitely noticeable. It’s definitely not a real change, just not being super bloated, but noticeable.
An average male adult will burn round about 2000kcal/day, which comes down to 2kg of fat per week (that's 4.4 lbs in freedom units). To burn through 10 punds in three days, you'd have to finish an Ironman every day. And all that's assuming that your calorie intake is zero, nada, niente.
So if you're loosing 10 pounds in three days, you are either an exceptional athlete or you're just peeing a lot. That's also the problem with all these "loose 10kg in 2 weeks" diets: What you're loosing is water, not fat. And as soon as you end the diet it's a matter of days to regain that weight .
I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying their experiences on a one week vacation are irrelevant to the broader lifestyle differences between cultures. its like no one in here has taken a statistics course. it was just dumb to bring it up at all
Because it's a week lol you're talking about losing water from sweating, stored sugars in muscles from exercising, and a teensy bit of fat loss.
Yes, and that is visibly noticeable on many people.
When I switch from bulk to cut the cut starts to take effect like almost immediately, and I slim down significantly within a few days. I know it's mostly glycogen and water, but it physically looks very different after the water wooshes out of your body and your muscles become more visible.
(Also, it's not exactly sweat, it's that higher glycogen levels are bound to water molecules, which get released and can actually be used by the body or discarded as excess as the body seeks an equilibrium.)
Yes, and that is visibly noticeable on many people.
it's not about whether its noticeable. it's about whether or not it's attributable to lifestyle differences between cultures or if a person is just being extra active on vacation and wanted to talk about their vacation online
Somewhat unrelated but I 100% thought your uname said "TapewormTraveler" and thought "well this guy would know a thing or two about travel and weight loss" before my brain corrected it. I need coffee lol.
I walk an average of 15k steps on a slow day. Before I got promoted out of the shipping dept I used to do 30k/day before I left work, then still had to run errands and do things, now it's usually more like 10k-15k at work (and some bodyweight squats while I stand at my desk because why not) and go do things. All of this (and here's the part that will shock you) was in America. You don't have to be in Japan to walk, even if you don't walk for work there's always "exercising."
Basically you're saying "usually at home I'm sedentary as fuck but since here I'm a gawking tourist I've been doing a modicum of cardio, and it has affected me exactly as expected, but instead of give myself credit for the work I did and realizing I could take this lesson back home I'm going to turn it into some weird contest and continue to blame my environment."
It is possible to eat healthy here too, though that is admittedly harder especially if you're dead set on not cooking, yet there are healthy to go options if you know where to look still. Buy a used bike and eat healthy at home, you don't have to have cool foreign shit to look at while you do it, there's probably a nice park or trail nearby you can have cool local nature to look at too. Or travel a lot and use that as an excuse if you're privileged enough, whatever, but make no mistake you don't have to.
Are you not-so-subtly insinuating that I'm saying "random bullshit" on the Internet?
I've personally had periods in my life, too, where I've transformed my body significantly/noticeably within a timeframe of one week. It can happen.
A thing isn't necessarily "fucking stupid" just because you don't believe it (due to lack of knowledge), or you haven't seen it (yet) (due to lack of life experience).
Maybe don't react so strongly and you might have a more open mind in the future, and allow it to expand. 👍❤️
No, they're right, it's extremely unrealistic to lose much weight in fat in one week. Even if you ate literally nothing and hiked up mountains 12 hours a day, which is obviously impossible, it'd be maximum like 10 pounds. Walking a bit and eating normally? No more than 2, that's already extremely rapid weight loss.
Water weight on the other hand you can easily lose more than 5 pounds in a day.
I never said I lost weight, but I have slimmed down. What I've lost in water or fat weight I've gained in leg muscles. I've already been trying to lose weight for months through occassional dieting, using a treadmill daily, and lifting free weights. I've definitely lost arm muscle mass but I can now easily climb up several flights of stairs navigating subway platforms. It's possible to change body composition over a week and a half if you've been priming for months. It's okay if no one else believes me, after all this is the internet and anyone can lie. I'm satisfied with my own results and that's all I need.
It's being a cry bully to point out that it's physically unlikely they lost any appreciable amount of weight in a week? Or do they just have a basic understanding of how the human body works and not want to play along with an unrealistic masturbatory 'America bad' fairy tale?
I'm all for believing BS stories on the Internet, but don't get your panties in a wad when people point out parts that are entirely unrealistic. And I say that as someone who actually lost a large amount of weight in a comparatively short time.
It took months and it was still fast enough that those around me were worried for my health. There's no way they lost anything meaningful in a week, especially when losing a large amount of water weight upfront and hitting an initial plateau is a known thing in the weight loss community.
hey, im not one to shoot down allies in an online argument, but last thing i wanna do is look like i'm defending the USA. america DOES suck. its lifestyle is horrible and there are minimal opportunities for adequate exercise or proper nutrition compared to japan. the point i'm making is that someone's one-week vacation not going to reveal meaningful conclusions about those lifestyle differences. really I'm just defending basic research/statistical competency by calling out a stupid irrelevant comment that was probably just intended to shout out someone's vacation online than to contribute to any discussion on cultural differences between nations
I'm not "crying bullshit". I do believe that you are slimmer than you were when you left, probably with a lot less water weight -- but how do those changes reflect Japanese lifestyle? I'm saying that you cannot take your experience on a vacation where you make drastic short-term lifestyle changes and draw conclusions from them
We know American lifestyles are unhealthy, and your experiences on vacation have nothing to add or subtract from that. It'd be as if someone came in here and said "I ate a sandwich in Vienna and got diarrhea, the Austrian lifestyle is disgusting!" like cool story and im happy for you but it's really irrelevant. (just like our argument XD)
at its core, we have to acknowledge that there are serious challenges posed to our own bodies by modern society. people DO live sedentary lifestyles in asia. people DO end up eating only garbage when they're overworked and don't have accessible healthy food choices. obesity rates ARE increasing in countries like japan and korea. people DO develop eating disorders in these countries. i watched a professional dancer in seoul plummet into binge eating disorder as a response to the very lifestyle changes that we could be propping up in this thread. it's so complicated, and one person's vacation week does not really speak to the tenuous relationship 21st century humans have with food. many of the same challenges we face in the USA are happening in asia too, and in increasing amounts
Vacationing in Italy was the same - smaller, healthier meals, lots of walking - I felt great and didn't have the shits once on a 2 week trip. It's a daily thing at home.
I'll take a Double Triple Bossy Deluxe on a raft, 4x4 animal style, extra shingles with a shimmy and a squeeze, light axle grease; make it cry, burn it, and let it swim.
I'm up in Canada and since the start of the pandemic I've stopped going to fast food places. But after things got back to normal, I thought why should I go back to ordering food at McD's .... as I thought of it more, I realized it didn't make any sense.
Fast food is basically unnutritious food made by underpaid workers who don't like their work ... the food doesn't do me any good and its too expensive .... I have to trust the underpaid employee didn't mess up my order ... I waste money by degrading my health only to spend more money to try to get back some good health
I realized it was cheaper in the long run of my life to not eat at these damned places.
If you're vegan this applies even more. From what I heard McD only has like 3 vegan options while, in comparison, Burger King had the whole menu available in a vegan form.
Oddly enough, asides from apple wedges and I think the side salad, the hot apple pie is technically vegan, not that I'd eat anything that came out of one of those kitchens.
Yeah, McDs sucks and I haven't been in years, but I do go to fast good restaurants that have decent quality and pay workers reasonably, like In-N-Out, Five Guys, etc. We don't go very often, maybe once or twice per month, so we're happy paying a little more for better quality.
And yeah, as someone who tends to look at calories before ordering to get the best value per dollar (more calories per dollar), this makes complete sense to me. Also, I tend to eat out with my whole family (5 of us), so I think more in terms of the total bill than individual orders since we can share fries or whatever. But given Hank's reaction, this apparently isn't how most people approach it.
Last year, I got to march, and realised I hadn't had a McDonald's in over 3 months.
So I decided to just stop going there.
I think it was all the price hikes: When it's £7 for any half decent burger and fries, I might as well be spending a bit more and going to a local place.
Or getting something better than a burger!
Or spending the same, and getting slightly better at Wendy's.
Agreed to both of these points, though as an American I will say there are healthier options, it's just that they make those cost twice as much as the cheaper, unhealthy options.
Most of the food comes from fast food along stroads. It is a core part of the problem. The education system is probably the root, but I wouldn't expect a tourist to understand that.
The food stands out. Like Australia has too many fat people too, but our restaurants don't cater to them like America's - don't try to feed everyone a meal suited to a 200kg man trying for 300.
Sremoved is just a variant form more common in the UK, where snicker is the preferred one in the US. Though I wouldn't put it past a 4chan user, it's also a perfectly normal word they may have learned being taught and exposed to UK variants of English.
I thought, and a quick Google confirms, that it is used in the Harry Potter series a few times. Obviously, you might not have read them, but for people in my cohort, that was likely our largest exposure point to British culture.
They feature vitamins in the shapes of the Flintstones characters: Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Dino, and The Great Gazoo.
For over twenty years, Betty was not included as one of the vitamins. However, after a grassroots campaign and the results of a Bayer telephone poll came in favor of including Betty, the character was added to the lineup in 1995, replacing the Flintstone car.
The ![email protected] people should be using Betty as their mascot.
Ok, serious question, is American fast food different from European? I've been to our local McDonalds and the like and the food is fucking atrocious. Tasteless non-identifiable meat patty with some mayo, ketchup, "cheese" and a sorry excuse for a vegetable. I mean it's just bad. Is American chain food better or are you just delusional?
When I visited US their mcdonalds burgers tasted +- the same as local (eastern europe), that is exactly as you described. What was different is million different options that they asked me and were somewhat aggressive with me being slow. 🫠
Drinks were enormous in size and super cold, air conditionioners set to something like 16 while its 30+ outside everywhere. 😄
Big food is kind of a marketing thing in America. Restaurants want to give their customers more " bang for their buck" (or at least appear to), but they don't want to lower prices. Instead, they increase portions. This has lead to a size arms race where every restaurant wants to claim they have the biggest food in town. This is especially the case for burger joints. It doesn't matter to the restaurant if customers eat all their food, since they pay for all of it either way. I'm guessing Americans are more culturally susceptible to this marketing tactic, since bigger-is-better is common here, and hence things have been taken further than in other countries.
This seems to be another case of someone throwing reason out the door for the sake of insulting Americans. There is no way you would be getting "shit eating grins" for ordering a kids meal. And if your large burgers are smaller than a kids meal, you either have very little size variation, or the small would be like a single bite.
Yeah, that worker is one of two in the entire restaurant. She has to take your order plus the five behind you, the drive-thru orders, make fries, bag it all up, take your monkey, clean tables, make coffee, refill the ketchup/soda/milkshake/yogurt contraptions with their various bags of sugary goo, restock counters/tables with all the varied plastic and paper geegaws, take out the trash, stock the walk-in, clean the bathrooms somebody sprayed with liquid shit, then count out and get to her other job by 3pm so she can then do it all again tomorrow. She doesn't give a fuck what anyone orders, it's just a blur of colors and lower back pain.
If she makes a face it's probably the best she can do to fake a smile because you might be a secret shopper who is going to ding her points for not saying, "Welcome to McDonald's Home of the McFlurry™ now with DoubleStuff™ Oreo™, what can I get started for you today because It Just Tastes Better!!℠" with the proper amount of obsequiousness.
There's plenty of reasons to hate the hellscape, no reason for anon to invent some.
Guy 3/5: fills 32 ounce cup with fresh hot, salt slathered fries. Drops cup in a large bag. Takes another full scoop of the fries and throws them in the bag. Easily 4-5 potatoes worth.
The cup of fries should be 1300 calories, they easily put twice as many in. That's a daily food intake worth of calories for the side alone.
The calorie count is accurate for what they give you, not what fits in the cup. They just use a cup that's way too small to trick you into thinking they're giving you more than what you paid for.
You know what you get in Canada for 25 bucks at Five Guys? Tiny little fries, no peanuts while you wait, and a burger so shitty you want to throw it at those stoned morons.
Erhm well back in the day fat people were the peak of social hierarchy because they had enough money to buy enough food to be fat, therefore spending $12 on a burger to get fat makes me mega rich
Wait till Americans discover deep-fried candy bars, the one area where the Europeans (well, Scots in particular) area ahead of Americans in deep-fried tech.
Forcing Presidents to eat Iowa Goy Slop on national television like it's a TLC reality TV show called "My 1000 lb Family" is a rite of passage in this country.
I'm always interested in polls and stats. But I'm fairly confident that this one would be boring. Just your run of the mill buns, patty and whatever fillings are most popular. Usually a mix of lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, cheese (altho some might see cheese as a cheeseburger thing and think that's not a burger)
Tbf, the distinction (if one is to be made at all) is in the prefix, not the suffix. "Burger" is an acceptable shorthand for both hamburger and cheeseburger, so it could be either. If one is to differentiate, it's necessary to say the prefix (or to specify toppings to be added or excluded based on what the menu says is standard for this location, i.e "no cheese, no onion, add fried egg.")
There's a place I know in Saskatchewan, that makes 3/4 lb burger patties out of good quality chuck, serves them with two pieces of bacon, couple onion onion rings, on two pieces of inch thick garlic texas toast he fries on the griddle in mayonnaise and bacon fat, fancy mustard and some spicy sauce he makes himself. You'll never have anything like it, I'm pretty sure he's smoking the hamburger before grinding it. Embarrassing five guys easy for price and quality, and it's just some guy owns a dive bar with no staff but him.
Damn that sounds good! I love hole in the wall places like that. I miss my old favorite spot in Seattle, 206 Burger Company. It wasn't the fanciest or super over the top, but they just hit right and they (at least used to) have pretty good prices too.
As someone who usually eats just once a day (with some supplemental shakes on work days) I love American potions. One of the good things about this country.
The lack of veg is concerning though. It sucks that the alternative to fried potatoes is usually just a handful of leaves.
I just got a Carl's Jr Star burger for $3 and it had tons of lettuce and tomato. Pretty fantastic and almost healthy (not really). Like a good American, I ate 2, so something like 1k calories.
I don’t even think the stereotypical giant american burger is a thing anymore unless you go to places that specifically market a special large burger. Now a $12 burger is just regular sized. And an $18 “artisanal” burger has a thin disc of meat and is taller than it is wide.
I understand that. I was referring to shrinkflation specifically, where the typical regular american size burger is the same as anywhere else now and not like the stereotype before where everything is bigger in the US. I agree it still applies to soda drinks though.
Well that's pretty much only true at McDonald's because of their immense market share. Most other places still serving large patties and large burgers. Carl's Jr., Wendy's, etc. God knows what Burger King is doing, but I think the Whoppers are still pretty big. Disgusting, but big.
In Europe you pay 20€ for a semi decent micro Burger some Hipster slaps together, wearing black Nitrile Gloves thinking his shitty minimalistic "Burger-Shop" will become the next big joint.
I think both cultures have their issues when it comes to food. Europeans are just more pretentious about it.
America has pretentious, expensive burger joints though, and Europe has fast food. The real battle isn't "American vs. European", it's "the people in power vs the people that aren't", in both places. Trying to draw divides like "Europeans are more pretentious about their food" is just a distraction from that.
I don't know where you live, but either you live in an expensive city, only eat burgers at hipster places, or are memeing. I can still find perfectly good burgers for 12€ in my city and they fill me up. It's not necessary to get stuffed and roll back home like a US landwhale.
I can still find perfectly good burgers for 12€ in my city and they fill me up.
Where do you live? I'm in The Netherlands and I don't think a burger/fries combo can be had under €17 at any restaurant in the country, with the exception of American fast food chains (which are kinda trash). I think restaurants in this country are very expensive compared to the average in Europe.
Exaggeration for the sake of the Argument. The US has loads of small restaurants and fusion kitchens with local diversity (soul food). Regarding the amounts I don't mind to have a "cheat day". I was at SaltLick BBQ in Texas and I was sad when I was filled up because of how good it was (Brisket!! pecan Nut Pie!!! Spearribs!!!!!!!!).
While I love me a cheese assortment with fine wine in Europe or similarly awesome food.
It's just hard to compare fine dining with food you just want to inhale asap.
You compare literal apples to oranges (and are pretentious about it, sry).
Where the hell are yall getting burgers at? Every fastfood place near me serves anemic, poorly prepared burgers that are not worth the cost for taste and only rarely worth the time investment when it's near midnight and I need to absorb the alcohol in my stomach
I was curious so i just checked. Assuming the drink is water and there's no dipping sauce or sauces added to the burger, it comes to 760 calories (macros are 44g fat, 63g carbs, 31g protein). That's definitely more than half of my daily calories, but I'm a middle-aged 5'0" lady. Still, that's a huge amount of fat, and surprisingly little protein!
Yes, the fat macro is way out of balance there at over half the caloric intake. It explains why Americans are known for being sedentary. That much of your calories coming from fat has got to make you lethargic. And then the carbs are all refined and high glycemic index, so you are mixing that with insulin spikes and crashes. Not enough protein so their muscles are underfed and fatigued. It all makes sense.
It's because fastfood places need to compete on either value or quality. They can also try to do both by primarily aiming to convey quality and having a special menu or set of offerings that promise the same quality but at a better price.
Wendy's mostly brands themselves as quality focused as compared to other fast food places. So their "good deal" offering has to promise to offer the same quality at a lower price, which means smaller. So they call it big to camouflage that it's actually smaller.
Fuck yeah.... Not really implying it's over but there's a huge spike from 2020 to 2022 but much less so from 2023 to (now) 2025.
Prices spiked from pre pandemic to post pandemic. Burgers from 8-10 dollars to 15 ish dollars. So like 50 percent. From two years ago to now... Idk. Burger spoked from 14 ish dollars tobamube 15-16. Ridiculous. But predictable/ reasonable (but actually inreasonabel).
That's where I come from. Chime in from other countries other than my current state of mother fucking Georgia, USA...
Edit: happy to double check my math with sources when I'm sober again. Happy new year's!
So I guess I was referring to the "mountain" of inflation around 2022 that really made everything so expensive. And I notice now as well that inflation has stabilized at a higher rate then before. So to circle back... Yeah... Maybe calling it "post inflation" wasn't quite spot on.
Absolutely they enforce it. To the point that they rather you leave the restaurant.
Some places they actually discount the kids meals. Places that don't have this policy people would abuse it by only buying 2 or 3 kids meals since that is the best food to cost ratio.
Well since we're trying to compare the cuisine of a single country against the cuisine of many countries why don't we just acknowledge that each and every one of them has their own unhealthy food they sometimes indulge in?
There are other places to eat, though? Why travel and get fast food? Get something local - anything that is a nationwide chain is nonsense, the US is too big to have one cuisine.
Here, get a Cuban sandwich, black beans, and fried plantains. You will still have enough for two meals, they aren't wrong about the portions, but at least it will be good.
Changing $12 for what is functionally agricultural waste product is so fucking funny.
Ground beef is what's left on the cow after all the choice bits have been carved off. The bun is so thick with preservatives most organisms literally can't eat it. The sauces are just colored corn syrup. The produce is bottom of the barrel.
This isn't food, it's industrial runoff. You'd eat better picking through the trash of a real grocery store.
So anon blames an entire country for their shitty life choices?
I don't remember the last time I ate fast food. I'm sure when I did, it was nothing like this - oh, it still sucked - but all I got was a burger and iced tea.
Though I completely agree restaurant portion sizes are insane anywhere. I akways get 2 meals out of a "serving", often 3.
The fact that you are calling this a life choice and not a societal problem also reveals a lot about American culture. A public health policy that relies on personal responsibility has never worked and will never work.
dont stop them. it was a mistake to take care during the pandemic.
let them eat a ton of fat a day, zip some raw milk with mountain dew - because that is how you solve a problem. you do not stop it.
look at world aid. tried to stop world hunger...and more people than ever die from hunger.
we proling a problem by trying to solve the impossible.
there is no argument to convince imbeciles.
Yeah, if anything it is known for sugar in everything that's not supposed to be sweet and corn syrup where you'd expect normal sweetness from sugar. And absurdly large portions.
Personally I have only tried some of the more "famous" sweets such as twinkies and reecies or whatever it's called, and I found both disgusting. The former are just weirdly greasy cake dough filled with teeth hurtingly sweet goop, so intense you can't taste anything else. And the other made me gag after just a small bite and was entirely too sticky for my taste.
I also tried imported "original" Mac and cheese and that stuff was just repulsive too. Weirdly bland and the consistency of snot.
Well, that's what your pop culture tells us Americans like to eat.
So the thought process is something like "I really dont care for instant foods available here, but the Americans reference it all the time sometimes even as a kitchen staple. So maybe they have that shit figured out" and then you try it and get results such as mine.
It also doesn't help that I can't go to an actual American restaurant, you know, being a continent away and all. Best I can do is maccas or Burger king, not even the chains you got over there that are supposedly good. If you're lucky there is a pizza hut in a major city
What era or genre are you getting the pop culture from? Twinkies at least have only been a joke in media for at least 15 years because of zombie survival stuff, and longer as a 'haha look at the fat kid' before that. Die Hard uses them as a comedic element to break up parts of the film but in less of a joking about Twinkies directly way, though it is part of the overweight cop's character. That movie is nearly 40 years old though and probably marks around the time Twinkies started shifting from a snack to a meme
Edit to add: They also originally had banana flavored filling. You can still find these sometimes and while not good they're better than the plain ones imo
Pop culture also says french people eat snails all day and british people use no spices and only one of those is true ;)
But, yeah, don't take the international brands as an example of what Americans typically eat. I mean, some people do, but most people don't eat out most of the time anyways
The real issue is that in American food they are much more willing to throw out the idea that food should be healthy and nutritious for profit and quantity.
It's more that the restaurant industry is so big and specialized over here that if you want to eat healthy there are establishments for that, and if you want OP's experience there are others for that. If you want the freshest, healthiest menus with scratch-made dishes you patronize local businesses. If you want the name brand dishes—most which are precooked and reheated—you go to one of the nationwide chains.
True, but if you can have both, why not? You don't have to eat a whole combo yourself, my SO and I usually share an order of fries, don't get sodas, and get our own burgers. If we go to a sit down restaurant, we'll usually share an entre and maybe order an extra side if we don't think it's enough.
Wait 'til you see the child size soda.
It's 512 ounces, or roughly the size of a two-year old child, if the child were liquefied. It's a real bargain at $1.59.
Straight from the orphan crushing machine. Delicious
512oz = 15.14L. Literally soda in a size of a child.
Who The fuck is able to drink that much? That's a fucking bucket just with soda.
https://youtu.be/Ish8NBunrQU?t=33s
What the actual fuck?
Parks and recreation is a tv show. The clip is satire. Real American soda sized are still ridiculously large, but not this exaggerated "child size".
Ah thanks.
'Tis a SitCom.
Damn, 15L of coke is like 5700 calories. More than double a daily intake only in a fucking soda.
If you drink diet Coke, you could drink about 15-20 of them before you get to the lethal limit of sodium in a grown adult.
So room to grow!
Soda from pnr
If you can't beat'em sweetems :)
https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/europes-obesity-statistics-figures-trends-rates-by-country
The proliferation of unhealthy eating is a big problem for most of Europe, too. They’re on the same path as the US for mostly the same reasons, just a few steps back.
That said, if I’m going to be fat, I’d rather it be because of schnitzel the size of a dinner plate or cacio e pepe over a Monster Burger.
Do you actually believe that these numbers are from common people eating quality food?
No. I think it’s for the reasons outlined or suggested in the link I included: increased cost of healthy ingredients, decreased accessibility to the same, people struggling to find time to eat well in the increasingly fast paced world, etc.
My mentioning my personal preference is mostly a concession to nuggets of truth in the 4chan post. It’s also true; there is nothing common about how I would prefer to consume quality food.
The access to fresher ingredients and healthier food cannot be understated. Food is so much more processed in the US, even if you're mainly cooking at home. Even the "ingredients" you buy at grocery stores are more processed.
That's not making people fat. People are fat because they eat to much and have sedentary lifestyles. Watch secret eaters on YT, it's from the UK, but demonstrates how much snacking and sitting most people do.
Yes, being sedentary hurts you. My point wasn't about weight loss, just that the quality of ingredients and food in Europe is leagues ahead of the US. It is much worse for you nutritionally to eat refined, processed grains than it is to eat whole grains. Not to mention the amount of fresh produce...
hey I've been waiting for you
Yeah. Europe is only 10% behind the US in being overweight. 60% compared to 70%. Not much room to talk shit.
Nothing beats a cheeseburger. Btw, it's not cheeseburgers making us fat, for the most part. It's soda, and low quality food products with excess sugar and refined carbs.
I'm currently vacationing in Japan and have slimmed down a lot in just a week of walking, eating smaller healthier meals, and taking the train everywhere. America has a truly fucked standard of living. I don't want to go back to driving and eating shitty oversized unhealthy meals while also tipping.
you've "slimmed down a lot" in a week? did you also give birth this week? or is this a bias?
It's not a bias it's a fact. My shirts are way more loose on me and I've been walking an average of 15,000 steps a day. What's it to you anyway? Are you upset someone's making a valid criticism about American transportation and eating habits?
Because it's a week lol you're talking about losing water from sweating, stored sugars in muscles from exercising, and a teensy bit of fat loss. you haven't "lost a lot" you're just on vacation
what's it to me? I like to tell people when they're wrong in the internet. you said something stupid. hello.
lifestyle change and public transit are great but you're just on vacation. and this is coming from someone who lived over a decade in the Americas and Asia both.
Your diet does make a real difference, more than you credit for in your reply. In university I had pizza almost every day for a month, I gained 15 lbs (7 kg) and had a way flabbier stomach. I stopped doing that and tried to eat healthier, incorporating salad with my meals, and in just about a week I started noticing it going away, and I was back to where I was before in 3 months.
It wouldn't surprise me too much to see how a body would react noticeably to a drastic change from a sedentary, highly processed carbohydrate diet and lifestyle to an active, more balanced one. Everyone's body is different of course so it won't always be the case, but to me the OP's claims seem far from impossible. Japan still has its share of oily foodstuff, but the average portion is tiny compared to the US.
Cool, all of that within a week?
There is no chance there is a visible change from a week of eating salads, no matter how fast your metabolism is.
People will argue about anything on the internet, just like lying.
If you look at yourself regularly and pay attention you can see your body change pretty rapidly. I've specifically watched my body bulking up on its own before burning those stored calories to build muscle and there's a clear cycle of noticing a bit more pudge a few days before I suddenly make a big jump in cycling distance or how much I can lift (and the pudge also goes away at the same time)
Not. In. A. Week.
I can lose 10lbs in 3 days if i quit drinking beer. 10 lbs is definitely noticeable. It’s definitely not a real change, just not being super bloated, but noticeable.
You're drinking over 11k calories a day in beer?
An average male adult will burn round about 2000kcal/day, which comes down to 2kg of fat per week (that's 4.4 lbs in freedom units). To burn through 10 punds in three days, you'd have to finish an Ironman every day. And all that's assuming that your calorie intake is zero, nada, niente. So if you're loosing 10 pounds in three days, you are either an exceptional athlete or you're just peeing a lot. That's also the problem with all these "loose 10kg in 2 weeks" diets: What you're loosing is water, not fat. And as soon as you end the diet it's a matter of days to regain that weight .
I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying their experiences on a one week vacation are irrelevant to the broader lifestyle differences between cultures. its like no one in here has taken a statistics course. it was just dumb to bring it up at all
Yes, and that is visibly noticeable on many people.
When I switch from bulk to cut the cut starts to take effect like almost immediately, and I slim down significantly within a few days. I know it's mostly glycogen and water, but it physically looks very different after the water wooshes out of your body and your muscles become more visible.
(Also, it's not exactly sweat, it's that higher glycogen levels are bound to water molecules, which get released and can actually be used by the body or discarded as excess as the body seeks an equilibrium.)
it's not about whether its noticeable. it's about whether or not it's attributable to lifestyle differences between cultures or if a person is just being extra active on vacation and wanted to talk about their vacation online
Somewhat unrelated but I 100% thought your uname said "TapewormTraveler" and thought "well this guy would know a thing or two about travel and weight loss" before my brain corrected it. I need coffee lol.
they could be in their in 20s
Would someone do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies??
I walk an average of 15k steps on a slow day. Before I got promoted out of the shipping dept I used to do 30k/day before I left work, then still had to run errands and do things, now it's usually more like 10k-15k at work (and some bodyweight squats while I stand at my desk because why not) and go do things. All of this (and here's the part that will shock you) was in America. You don't have to be in Japan to walk, even if you don't walk for work there's always "exercising."
Basically you're saying "usually at home I'm sedentary as fuck but since here I'm a gawking tourist I've been doing a modicum of cardio, and it has affected me exactly as expected, but instead of give myself credit for the work I did and realizing I could take this lesson back home I'm going to turn it into some weird contest and continue to blame my environment."
It is possible to eat healthy here too, though that is admittedly harder especially if you're dead set on not cooking, yet there are healthy to go options if you know where to look still. Buy a used bike and eat healthy at home, you don't have to have cool foreign shit to look at while you do it, there's probably a nice park or trail nearby you can have cool local nature to look at too. Or travel a lot and use that as an excuse if you're privileged enough, whatever, but make no mistake you don't have to.
Depending on your starting state/condition, you could slim down a noticeable amount during a week, sure.
you could also just say random shit on the internet too, wonder which is more likely
look i think America is a torturous shit hole just like the rest of lemmy but the above point is just fucking stupid
Are you not-so-subtly insinuating that I'm saying "random bullshit" on the Internet?
I've personally had periods in my life, too, where I've transformed my body significantly/noticeably within a timeframe of one week. It can happen.
A thing isn't necessarily "fucking stupid" just because you don't believe it (due to lack of knowledge), or you haven't seen it (yet) (due to lack of life experience).
Maybe don't react so strongly and you might have a more open mind in the future, and allow it to expand. 👍❤️
It's good to be skeptical but it's kinda sad to see someone cry bullshit so easily. Just go be miserable somewhere else dude.
No, they're right, it's extremely unrealistic to lose much weight in fat in one week. Even if you ate literally nothing and hiked up mountains 12 hours a day, which is obviously impossible, it'd be maximum like 10 pounds. Walking a bit and eating normally? No more than 2, that's already extremely rapid weight loss.
Water weight on the other hand you can easily lose more than 5 pounds in a day.
I never said I lost weight, but I have slimmed down. What I've lost in water or fat weight I've gained in leg muscles. I've already been trying to lose weight for months through occassional dieting, using a treadmill daily, and lifting free weights. I've definitely lost arm muscle mass but I can now easily climb up several flights of stairs navigating subway platforms. It's possible to change body composition over a week and a half if you've been priming for months. It's okay if no one else believes me, after all this is the internet and anyone can lie. I'm satisfied with my own results and that's all I need.
It's being a cry bully to point out that it's physically unlikely they lost any appreciable amount of weight in a week? Or do they just have a basic understanding of how the human body works and not want to play along with an unrealistic masturbatory 'America bad' fairy tale?
I'm all for believing BS stories on the Internet, but don't get your panties in a wad when people point out parts that are entirely unrealistic. And I say that as someone who actually lost a large amount of weight in a comparatively short time.
It took months and it was still fast enough that those around me were worried for my health. There's no way they lost anything meaningful in a week, especially when losing a large amount of water weight upfront and hitting an initial plateau is a known thing in the weight loss community.
hey, im not one to shoot down allies in an online argument, but last thing i wanna do is look like i'm defending the USA. america DOES suck. its lifestyle is horrible and there are minimal opportunities for adequate exercise or proper nutrition compared to japan. the point i'm making is that someone's one-week vacation not going to reveal meaningful conclusions about those lifestyle differences. really I'm just defending basic research/statistical competency by calling out a stupid irrelevant comment that was probably just intended to shout out someone's vacation online than to contribute to any discussion on cultural differences between nations
I'm not "crying bullshit". I do believe that you are slimmer than you were when you left, probably with a lot less water weight -- but how do those changes reflect Japanese lifestyle? I'm saying that you cannot take your experience on a vacation where you make drastic short-term lifestyle changes and draw conclusions from them
We know American lifestyles are unhealthy, and your experiences on vacation have nothing to add or subtract from that. It'd be as if someone came in here and said "I ate a sandwich in Vienna and got diarrhea, the Austrian lifestyle is disgusting!" like cool story and im happy for you but it's really irrelevant. (just like our argument XD)
at its core, we have to acknowledge that there are serious challenges posed to our own bodies by modern society. people DO live sedentary lifestyles in asia. people DO end up eating only garbage when they're overworked and don't have accessible healthy food choices. obesity rates ARE increasing in countries like japan and korea. people DO develop eating disorders in these countries. i watched a professional dancer in seoul plummet into binge eating disorder as a response to the very lifestyle changes that we could be propping up in this thread. it's so complicated, and one person's vacation week does not really speak to the tenuous relationship 21st century humans have with food. many of the same challenges we face in the USA are happening in asia too, and in increasing amounts
You can lose 5 pounds in a week if you're under 50 and healthy. This would cause clothes to loosen up on you.
I spent a month there at 19 and had to buy a belt a week and a half in
Story checks out to me
Vacationing in Italy was the same - smaller, healthier meals, lots of walking - I felt great and didn't have the shits once on a 2 week trip. It's a daily thing at home.
What do you do if you have a bad knee or back?
Don't forget to tip the shooter.
All you have to do is follow the damn train...
Aw shit, here we go again...
If you think about it, that mission was a red flag about Smoke being a fucking traitor. Fatass couldn't shoot dudes 2 meters away
Wouldn't that just make him a busta?
This hurts me
He can't hurt you if you shoot him first! In fact, that's how you get his indestructible Sanchez motorcycle...
We serve food here, sir.
And I'm guessing a Florida small ball on the side?
*diet coke
I'm up in Canada and since the start of the pandemic I've stopped going to fast food places. But after things got back to normal, I thought why should I go back to ordering food at McD's .... as I thought of it more, I realized it didn't make any sense.
Fast food is basically unnutritious food made by underpaid workers who don't like their work ... the food doesn't do me any good and its too expensive .... I have to trust the underpaid employee didn't mess up my order ... I waste money by degrading my health only to spend more money to try to get back some good health
I realized it was cheaper in the long run of my life to not eat at these damned places.
mcdonalds is the literal worst burger option though
If you're vegan this applies even more. From what I heard McD only has like 3 vegan options while, in comparison, Burger King had the whole menu available in a vegan form.
The fries aren't even vegan at McDonald's, they use beef products as part of their flavoring
Depends on the country to be clear, although it's true in the US still for whatever reason.
Yup, some Indians got pretty miffed about that: Maybe even angry.
Oddly enough, asides from apple wedges and I think the side salad, the hot apple pie is technically vegan, not that I'd eat anything that came out of one of those kitchens.
Yeah and a combo at Five Guys is $25 bucks so it's not like a good cheeseburger is even accessible to most people anymore.
Yeah, McDs sucks and I haven't been in years, but I do go to fast good restaurants that have decent quality and pay workers reasonably, like In-N-Out, Five Guys, etc. We don't go very often, maybe once or twice per month, so we're happy paying a little more for better quality.
How's the worker pay on Culver's?
Ah. Damn.
https://youtu.be/3u04LYvGQjw?si=FiveGuysOff
Love Hank Green. :)
And yeah, as someone who tends to look at calories before ordering to get the best value per dollar (more calories per dollar), this makes complete sense to me. Also, I tend to eat out with my whole family (5 of us), so I think more in terms of the total bill than individual orders since we can share fries or whatever. But given Hank's reaction, this apparently isn't how most people approach it.
I made a similar decision around 20 years ago.
Last year, I got to march, and realised I hadn't had a McDonald's in over 3 months.
So I decided to just stop going there.
I think it was all the price hikes: When it's £7 for any half decent burger and fries, I might as well be spending a bit more and going to a local place.
Or getting something better than a burger!
Or spending the same, and getting slightly better at Wendy's.
Anyone who looks at the U.S. and thinks it's a fucked up country because of the food just isn't paying attention.
It may not be the only issue but it is definitely on the list.
Agreed to both of these points, though as an American I will say there are healthier options, it's just that they make those cost twice as much as the cheaper, unhealthy options.
Go to a Mexican restaurant. Fajitas are $25 or more. It's just vegetables with some meat. I can make that at home for like $3. We don't eat out much.
Agreed. It's just not where I'd start changing things.
I dunno. As the saying goes,"You are what you eat." And our elected "leader" advocates the leading producer of junk food.
Maybe if the American populace had actual nutrients in their bodies instead of butter and lard, we'd be able to critically think for once
Butter and lard aren't the problems with the American diet.
It's almost impossible to find anything still made with lard anymore.
I mean that's probably the problem
Try high fructose corn syrup
Idk why Americans love that stuff so much ... I feel everything that has high fructose corn syrup in it istasting the same
Maybe that's why Trump picked RFK. "Hey Bobby, get Mcdonalds using beef tallow for their fries again and you can do whatever you want otherwise."
Most of the food comes from fast food along stroads. It is a core part of the problem. The education system is probably the root, but I wouldn't expect a tourist to understand that.
The food stands out. Like Australia has too many fat people too, but our restaurants don't cater to them like America's - don't try to feed everyone a meal suited to a 200kg man trying for 300.
Anyone who (likely) intentionally writes the word "snicker" wrong to include a slur doesn't think the actual bad stuff in America is bad.
Sremoved is just a variant form more common in the UK, where snicker is the preferred one in the US. Though I wouldn't put it past a 4chan user, it's also a perfectly normal word they may have learned being taught and exposed to UK variants of English.
That's so weird, I've literally never seen that form used even by people from the UK.
I guess it's plausible that they'd just write it like that, I guess.
The secret third option is that they know that it's a way of spelling it and prefer to use it because hehe n word.
I thought, and a quick Google confirms, that it is used in the Harry Potter series a few times. Obviously, you might not have read them, but for people in my cohort, that was likely our largest exposure point to British culture.
Most american comment ever
Real
Really waving your ignorance there, bud, not his.
Malnourished european can not handle a real meal.
Explain how we are malnourished when ONE burger contains EVERY food group. You can't.
That's what we got flintstone gummies for bruh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintstones_Chewable_Vitamins
The ![email protected] people should be using Betty as their mascot.
You put Fred Flinstone in your mouth? Sounds kind of gay.
Putting any of the Flintstone family in your mouth makes you strong. Those guys were real Americans who picked themselves up by their bootstraps.
Ok, serious question, is American fast food different from European? I've been to our local McDonalds and the like and the food is fucking atrocious. Tasteless non-identifiable meat patty with some mayo, ketchup, "cheese" and a sorry excuse for a vegetable. I mean it's just bad. Is American chain food better or are you just delusional?
I mean, I don't know an american that would list any fast food as the place that serves the best/their favorite burger.
When I visited US their mcdonalds burgers tasted +- the same as local (eastern europe), that is exactly as you described. What was different is million different options that they asked me and were somewhat aggressive with me being slow. 🫠 Drinks were enormous in size and super cold, air conditionioners set to something like 16 while its 30+ outside everywhere. 😄
This poster speaks the truth.
Big food is kind of a marketing thing in America. Restaurants want to give their customers more " bang for their buck" (or at least appear to), but they don't want to lower prices. Instead, they increase portions. This has lead to a size arms race where every restaurant wants to claim they have the biggest food in town. This is especially the case for burger joints. It doesn't matter to the restaurant if customers eat all their food, since they pay for all of it either way. I'm guessing Americans are more culturally susceptible to this marketing tactic, since bigger-is-better is common here, and hence things have been taken further than in other countries.
This seems to be another case of someone throwing reason out the door for the sake of insulting Americans. There is no way you would be getting "shit eating grins" for ordering a kids meal. And if your large burgers are smaller than a kids meal, you either have very little size variation, or the small would be like a single bite.
Yeah, that worker is one of two in the entire restaurant. She has to take your order plus the five behind you, the drive-thru orders, make fries, bag it all up, take your monkey, clean tables, make coffee, refill the ketchup/soda/milkshake/yogurt contraptions with their various bags of sugary goo, restock counters/tables with all the varied plastic and paper geegaws, take out the trash, stock the walk-in, clean the bathrooms somebody sprayed with liquid shit, then count out and get to her other job by 3pm so she can then do it all again tomorrow. She doesn't give a fuck what anyone orders, it's just a blur of colors and lower back pain.
If she makes a face it's probably the best she can do to fake a smile because you might be a secret shopper who is going to ding her points for not saying, "Welcome to McDonald's Home of the McFlurry™ now with DoubleStuff™ Oreo™, what can I get started for you today because It Just Tastes Better!!℠" with the proper amount of obsequiousness.
There's plenty of reasons to hate the hellscape, no reason for anon to invent some.
She can't have my monkey!
I REALLY wish they would have went to Five Guys.
Guy 3/5: fills 32 ounce cup with fresh hot, salt slathered fries. Drops cup in a large bag. Takes another full scoop of the fries and throws them in the bag. Easily 4-5 potatoes worth.
The cup of fries should be 1300 calories, they easily put twice as many in. That's a daily food intake worth of calories for the side alone.
The calorie count is accurate for what they give you, not what fits in the cup. They just use a cup that's way too small to trick you into thinking they're giving you more than what you paid for.
It's supposed to be 1.2 lb I'll circle back in the next time I go there.
https://www.fiveguys.com/-/media/public-site/files/allergen-ingredients-and-nutrition-info/five-guys-us-nutrition-allergen-guide-july-2023.ashx
You know what you get in Canada for 25 bucks at Five Guys? Tiny little fries, no peanuts while you wait, and a burger so shitty you want to throw it at those stoned morons.
TIL
I would sure fucking hope I get a few potatoes worth after paying $45 for one burger combo…
Lol yeah, took the fam there it was $75 for 3 plates of fast food.
Pretty good tho..
Erhm well back in the day fat people were the peak of social hierarchy because they had enough money to buy enough food to be fat, therefore spending $12 on a burger to get fat makes me mega rich
Make this into a greentext, you will earn so many likes
It's the other way around now, normal people can only afford the ultra-processed slop and nutrient-defficient fruits & veg.
Wait until anon discovers a hamburger with a glazed donut for a bun and the entire thing is deepfried.
served with a side drink of milkshake with double cream on it
Is it a five dollar shake?
Only with coupons
Haha. At this point a fast food shake probably costs $5.
I think you think you are joking but that is a real beverage option for said burger. They even add a stick of butter for extra fat content.
No I don't, I have encountered many americans trying to convince me that this is a reasonable combo...
I haven't discovered this yet, praying 2025 won't be my year 🙏🏼
Wait till Americans discover deep-fried candy bars, the one area where the Europeans (well, Scots in particular) area ahead of Americans in deep-fried tech.
We've had that for nearly a century, it's just state fair food because even Americans have standards.
Forcing Presidents to eat Iowa Goy Slop on national television like it's a TLC reality TV show called "My 1000 lb Family" is a rite of passage in this country.
Haha that's cute! That's where deep frying starts here. We even deep fry butter.
Behold! A monument to American Gluttony!
Comes with a side of insulin I hope. $800 combo
Where do I find this?
It's interesting reading responses on this because I'm gathering a lot of Europeans/non-americans think that burgers are always fast food?
When an american thinks of a good burger I think most of us are picturing our favorite bar and grill's burger, not a chain fast food one.
Are burgers pretty much only at fast food chains in other countries?
Nope. Tons of places make them. I have no clue what these people are on about. Just fake outrage, I guess.
REEEEE NOT EVERYWHERE IS AMERICA REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"We'll see" DJT
It would be interesting to have a poll by country about what people think a burger is.
I'm always interested in polls and stats. But I'm fairly confident that this one would be boring. Just your run of the mill buns, patty and whatever fillings are most popular. Usually a mix of lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, cheese (altho some might see cheese as a cheeseburger thing and think that's not a burger)
Tbf, the distinction (if one is to be made at all) is in the prefix, not the suffix. "Burger" is an acceptable shorthand for both hamburger and cheeseburger, so it could be either. If one is to differentiate, it's necessary to say the prefix (or to specify toppings to be added or excluded based on what the menu says is standard for this location, i.e "no cheese, no onion, add fried egg.")
There's a place I know in Saskatchewan, that makes 3/4 lb burger patties out of good quality chuck, serves them with two pieces of bacon, couple onion onion rings, on two pieces of inch thick garlic texas toast he fries on the griddle in mayonnaise and bacon fat, fancy mustard and some spicy sauce he makes himself. You'll never have anything like it, I'm pretty sure he's smoking the hamburger before grinding it. Embarrassing five guys easy for price and quality, and it's just some guy owns a dive bar with no staff but him.
Damn that sounds good! I love hole in the wall places like that. I miss my old favorite spot in Seattle, 206 Burger Company. It wasn't the fanciest or super over the top, but they just hit right and they (at least used to) have pretty good prices too.
As someone who usually eats just once a day (with some supplemental shakes on work days) I love American potions. One of the good things about this country.
The lack of veg is concerning though. It sucks that the alternative to fried potatoes is usually just a handful of leaves.
I just got a Carl's Jr Star burger for $3 and it had tons of lettuce and tomato. Pretty fantastic and almost healthy (not really). Like a good American, I ate 2, so something like 1k calories.
A burger with high quality ingredients is not the worst thing you can eat. The worst part about it will be the saturated fat from the red meat.
Even if you do get vegetables they're typically flavorless compared to what you can grow at home.
Yeah, because everyone has a yard and free time for gardening...
I don’t even think the stereotypical giant american burger is a thing anymore unless you go to places that specifically market a special large burger. Now a $12 burger is just regular sized. And an $18 “artisanal” burger has a thin disc of meat and is taller than it is wide.
I think the point here is that "regular" for Americans is not the same as "regular" for Europeans.
A European "large drink" in a fastfood restaurant is 500ml. In the US, 473ml is a small one.
I understand that. I was referring to shrinkflation specifically, where the typical regular american size burger is the same as anywhere else now and not like the stereotype before where everything is bigger in the US. I agree it still applies to soda drinks though.
Well that's pretty much only true at McDonald's because of their immense market share. Most other places still serving large patties and large burgers. Carl's Jr., Wendy's, etc. God knows what Burger King is doing, but I think the Whoppers are still pretty big. Disgusting, but big.
Falsified and homosexual. No Yuroopeens allowed
Ragebait, am European, love American Food!
In Europe, the portions are European sized. In the US, they are whale-sized.
In Europe you pay 20€ for a semi decent micro Burger some Hipster slaps together, wearing black Nitrile Gloves thinking his shitty minimalistic "Burger-Shop" will become the next big joint.
I think both cultures have their issues when it comes to food. Europeans are just more pretentious about it.
America has pretentious, expensive burger joints though, and Europe has fast food. The real battle isn't "American vs. European", it's "the people in power vs the people that aren't", in both places. Trying to draw divides like "Europeans are more pretentious about their food" is just a distraction from that.
I don't know where you live, but either you live in an expensive city, only eat burgers at hipster places, or are memeing. I can still find perfectly good burgers for 12€ in my city and they fill me up. It's not necessary to get stuffed and roll back home like a US landwhale.
Where do you live? I'm in The Netherlands and I don't think a burger/fries combo can be had under €17 at any restaurant in the country, with the exception of American fast food chains (which are kinda trash). I think restaurants in this country are very expensive compared to the average in Europe.
Exaggeration for the sake of the Argument. The US has loads of small restaurants and fusion kitchens with local diversity (soul food). Regarding the amounts I don't mind to have a "cheat day". I was at SaltLick BBQ in Texas and I was sad when I was filled up because of how good it was (Brisket!! pecan Nut Pie!!! Spearribs!!!!!!!!).
While I love me a cheese assortment with fine wine in Europe or similarly awesome food.
It's just hard to compare fine dining with food you just want to inhale asap.
You compare literal apples to oranges (and are pretentious about it, sry).
Heresy! There must be rivalry between the continents in all things!
the "tiny" burgers like the $5 biggie bag at Wendy's is the perfect amount of food. jr bacon cheeseburger, small fries, 4 piece nugget, drink.
THATS normal portion, even if it's not healthy, not a 1/2 lb double cheeseburger 6 inches in diameter, 3 inches thick and a 32oz bucket of cola.
Where the hell are yall getting burgers at? Every fastfood place near me serves anemic, poorly prepared burgers that are not worth the cost for taste and only rarely worth the time investment when it's near midnight and I need to absorb the alcohol in my stomach
$5 is worth for a quick lunch to me.
Where are you getting any kind of fast food for $5 these days?
Wendy's. some places it's $6
You think the Baconator is anemic? I think you mean sclerotic.
Isn't that still over half your daily calories needed in your "normal portion"?
I was curious so i just checked. Assuming the drink is water and there's no dipping sauce or sauces added to the burger, it comes to 760 calories (macros are 44g fat, 63g carbs, 31g protein). That's definitely more than half of my daily calories, but I'm a middle-aged 5'0" lady. Still, that's a huge amount of fat, and surprisingly little protein!
Yes, the fat macro is way out of balance there at over half the caloric intake. It explains why Americans are known for being sedentary. That much of your calories coming from fat has got to make you lethargic. And then the carbs are all refined and high glycemic index, so you are mixing that with insulin spikes and crashes. Not enough protein so their muscles are underfed and fatigued. It all makes sense.
probably, but it's the right size, never said it was healthy lol
They call the tiny one a "biggie bag"?
They really don't want to let on that small burgers are available, do they?
It's because fastfood places need to compete on either value or quality. They can also try to do both by primarily aiming to convey quality and having a special menu or set of offerings that promise the same quality but at a better price.
Wendy's mostly brands themselves as quality focused as compared to other fast food places. So their "good deal" offering has to promise to offer the same quality at a lower price, which means smaller. So they call it big to camouflage that it's actually smaller.
I'm not asking for an explanation, I'm criticizing.
I already know very well that you people like to explain why it makes sense that things are screwed and backwards.
What do you mean "you people?" Racism.
After the 2024 election I'm 100% "racist" against Americans. Enjoy 2025.
I need to investigate this “biggie bag”
it's my go to, good value for what you get. those $15 baconator bullshits are WAY overrated.
Twelve dallers? That's a steal post-inflation.
I just fed myself and three kids on <$20, which was pretty cool.
When is the "post-inflation" going to happen? Haven't seen any indication of inflation coming to an end in my lifetime.
Fuck yeah.... Not really implying it's over but there's a huge spike from 2020 to 2022 but much less so from 2023 to (now) 2025.
Prices spiked from pre pandemic to post pandemic. Burgers from 8-10 dollars to 15 ish dollars. So like 50 percent. From two years ago to now... Idk. Burger spoked from 14 ish dollars tobamube 15-16. Ridiculous. But predictable/ reasonable (but actually inreasonabel).
That's where I come from. Chime in from other countries other than my current state of mother fucking Georgia, USA...
Edit: happy to double check my math with sources when I'm sober again. Happy new year's!
It's always a good time to start Internet arguments when you're drunk haha. Have a good new year's eve!
Oh yes you, too!
Also, I googled when sober again.
So I guess I was referring to the "mountain" of inflation around 2022 that really made everything so expensive. And I notice now as well that inflation has stabilized at a higher rate then before. So to circle back... Yeah... Maybe calling it "post inflation" wasn't quite spot on.
Anyway. Toodledoo!
Some places won't let you order a kids meal unless you have a kid with you.
Why would they care? Is the rule really enforced?
Absolutely they enforce it. To the point that they rather you leave the restaurant.
Some places they actually discount the kids meals. Places that don't have this policy people would abuse it by only buying 2 or 3 kids meals since that is the best food to cost ratio.
What if you come with a kid and buy only discount kids meals? 😺
It goes something like this: https://youtu.be/kvxe-auK2sI?si=PVfxZRkydFFUjZIO
This encapsulated this meme perfectly
I wonder what the nutrition is of the average fish and chips meal. That would be a slightly more reasonable comparison, wouldn't it?
He said he was European, not British.
So a kebab then?
Kebabs aren't that bad? They use a lot of veggies here so they can skip on meat 🙃.
Kebabs don't dominate our eating as much as Burgers do in the US
I eat a burger like once a month
Well since we're trying to compare the cuisine of a single country against the cuisine of many countries why don't we just acknowledge that each and every one of them has their own unhealthy food they sometimes indulge in?
lol, I better eat two hamburgers in one day to get the true american experience
I had two hamburgers today for lunch today. No big deal.
É meglio no
They didn't give you a pack of cigarettes with your meal? How un-yurapeein!
that's france and finland specifically not all of europe
Germany is pretty smokey in some cities
Americans shop for calories per dollar.
Please don't look at why they do that, we're the best country ever!
This is after supersize was deemed too super sized
It's the gateway drug to insulin. Corn syrup infused fats, no vitamins or any other important stuff.
Does OP even Taco Town?
There are other places to eat, though? Why travel and get fast food? Get something local - anything that is a nationwide chain is nonsense, the US is too big to have one cuisine.
Here, get a Cuban sandwich, black beans, and fried plantains. You will still have enough for two meals, they aren't wrong about the portions, but at least it will be good.
Changing $12 for what is functionally agricultural waste product is so fucking funny.
Ground beef is what's left on the cow after all the choice bits have been carved off. The bun is so thick with preservatives most organisms literally can't eat it. The sauces are just colored corn syrup. The produce is bottom of the barrel.
This isn't food, it's industrial runoff. You'd eat better picking through the trash of a real grocery store.
Lol. You don't know shit about fuck. It's honestly a little amazing.
Found the vegan. lol.
Just watch Bowling For Columbine to find out exactly how fucked up the USA is.
So anon blames an entire country for their shitty life choices?
I don't remember the last time I ate fast food. I'm sure when I did, it was nothing like this - oh, it still sucked - but all I got was a burger and iced tea.
Though I completely agree restaurant portion sizes are insane anywhere. I akways get 2 meals out of a "serving", often 3.
It's not life choices, it's getting to know a new culture
The fact that you are calling this a life choice and not a societal problem also reveals a lot about American culture. A public health policy that relies on personal responsibility has never worked and will never work.
dont stop them. it was a mistake to take care during the pandemic. let them eat a ton of fat a day, zip some raw milk with mountain dew - because that is how you solve a problem. you do not stop it.
look at world aid. tried to stop world hunger...and more people than ever die from hunger.
we proling a problem by trying to solve the impossible. there is no argument to convince imbeciles.
Guarantee it was a very reasonable burger and this person just wanted to bitch and moan
For an American, sure.
But basic cheeseburgers here are around the size of what you call sliders.
Compare this to all the other Europeans saying how absolutely fucking delicious American burgers and food in general is.
I don't think I've heard any European say this about American junk/fast food even once.
About the only thing I think I've heard in regards to flavor is "sickeningly sweet" and "even stuff that's not supposed to be sweet is sweet".
Yeah, if anything it is known for sugar in everything that's not supposed to be sweet and corn syrup where you'd expect normal sweetness from sugar. And absurdly large portions.
Personally I have only tried some of the more "famous" sweets such as twinkies and reecies or whatever it's called, and I found both disgusting. The former are just weirdly greasy cake dough filled with teeth hurtingly sweet goop, so intense you can't taste anything else. And the other made me gag after just a small bite and was entirely too sticky for my taste.
I also tried imported "original" Mac and cheese and that stuff was just repulsive too. Weirdly bland and the consistency of snot.
Why do europeans insist on eating the worst american foods? Twinkies barely count as a food they're like 99% preservatives
Well, that's what your pop culture tells us Americans like to eat.
So the thought process is something like "I really dont care for instant foods available here, but the Americans reference it all the time sometimes even as a kitchen staple. So maybe they have that shit figured out" and then you try it and get results such as mine.
It also doesn't help that I can't go to an actual American restaurant, you know, being a continent away and all. Best I can do is maccas or Burger king, not even the chains you got over there that are supposedly good. If you're lucky there is a pizza hut in a major city
What era or genre are you getting the pop culture from? Twinkies at least have only been a joke in media for at least 15 years because of zombie survival stuff, and longer as a 'haha look at the fat kid' before that. Die Hard uses them as a comedic element to break up parts of the film but in less of a joking about Twinkies directly way, though it is part of the overweight cop's character. That movie is nearly 40 years old though and probably marks around the time Twinkies started shifting from a snack to a meme
Edit to add: They also originally had banana flavored filling. You can still find these sometimes and while not good they're better than the plain ones imo
Oh yeah it's been a while since I did that, probably 2010s? Just haven't had the urge to try again since.
Really? Banana does sound tastier
Pop culture also says french people eat snails all day and british people use no spices and only one of those is true ;)
But, yeah, don't take the international brands as an example of what Americans typically eat. I mean, some people do, but most people don't eat out most of the time anyways
I thought French people ate Baguettes all day?
Or do they use them for sword training? I can never remember...
Hon hon hon enguarde
Just eat your cake bread drenched in sugar sauce.
and salty... everything is way high sodium
Deliciousness and oversized portions are not, in fact, mutually exclusive
The real issue is that in American food they are much more willing to throw out the idea that food should be healthy and nutritious for profit and quantity.
It's more that the restaurant industry is so big and specialized over here that if you want to eat healthy there are establishments for that, and if you want OP's experience there are others for that. If you want the freshest, healthiest menus with scratch-made dishes you patronize local businesses. If you want the name brand dishes—most which are precooked and reheated—you go to one of the nationwide chains.
True, but if you can have both, why not? You don't have to eat a whole combo yourself, my SO and I usually share an order of fries, don't get sodas, and get our own burgers. If we go to a sit down restaurant, we'll usually share an entre and maybe order an extra side if we don't think it's enough.
I’ve literally never heard any European say that, and I know a good fucking amount of Europeans
yeah so that's a ragebait, isn't it?