I am disgusted

5000 calories is low for most americans? that is BS. Please, provide some evidence for that. 5000 calories is a SHITLOAD of food.

these are the statistics i've found..

" Average Calorie Intake per Day
1971 2000 Change
Women 1,542 1,877 Up 22%
Men 2,450 2,618 Up 7%
Source: "Trends in Intake of Energy and Macronutrients – United States 1971-2000," February 6, 2004"

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=7112

That means that American men have added virtually 1 can of coke to their diet over the past 30 years..and women 2. Obesity has more to do with our sedentary lifestyle than with overeating.

200 extra calories a day can equal 20 pounds of fat gain in 1 year...do that over a few years along with less exercise and you can see why we are in such dire straights.

BTW: who determines what individuals "SHOULD" eat? It should be up to the individual. The last thing we need is the government to step into our lives over another thing.

 

I think it's sad that you have such an apathetical attitude, but that's fine. I am not necessarily blaming McDonalds - I understand that the people decide what they eat (well, most of them.. I think the worst thing is when parents take their young children out to fast food all the time.. they don't know what they're really eating.. and it will greatly affect them later on in life) But you know as well as I do that a lot of people are pathetic and lazy, and most of them don't want to be responsible and prepare their own healthy meals.. and yes, this is their fault, but McDonalds isn't helping. They know their food is horrible.. it's unhealthy and it's bad for people to constaantly be consuming, yet they don't care. They sell disgusting, unhealthy cheap food for a profit.. and I find it horrible that money is all they care about. Nothing is going to change, of course, and like I already said, it's the person's fault, but still, it doesn't make it any more healthy or any less disgusting. That is exactly why I think Super Size Me is a great movie - it was a way to enlighten people about the problem. Yes, granted, most people already know it's unhealthy and everything, but from the movie, they got more solid proof. I rarely ever ate there, but after seeing that movie, simply passing by a McDonalds makes me physically ill. Seeing the weight he gained, that nasty heart surgery (I think that's what it was.. I'll admit I couldn't watch any of that.. ), and watching the fries not decompose while sitting in that huge jar (gross!).. all good reasons to stop eating there completely. Blech.

 

Yes it is low, because if you really take a look at what most people eat today, it's high caloric food from these god awful fast food joints. If you went out and just started asking random people on the streets what they eat during the day, you'll find that alot of people eat out almost 2-3 meals a day. It's not that hard to hit a 5000 calorie mark by eating that way.

I agree that the government shouldn't be deciding what people eat, but it sure doesn't teach proper nutrition when they okay ketchup as a veggie in schools and offer nothing but processed frozen crap as main dishes.

 

Look, i have no problem with schools teaching kids how to eat 'properly.' But when it comes to forcing a restaurant to serve healthy food then i believe we've gone too far. McDonalds isnt poisoning people(dont say they are!). Their food is bad when it is consumed in large quantities, like many other non fast food items are. Are we going to demand that only fruits, veggies and grains be offered in supermarkets too?

hipmoon: any evidence that most americans eat more than 5000 calories a day?

 

Common sense here. If people eat out that much ....boom close to if not at 5000 calories a day.

 

we are talking about average..not the extreme. Most americans dont eat 3 super sized meals a day!

 

Haven't seen the Supersize Movie. It sounded kinda gross to me. But Now I want to see it. I haven't eaten at Mc D's in a long time. My husband eats there and consistently gets a McMigraine. There has gotta be something to THAT!

 

Excuse me, but when did I ever say anything about "forcing a restaurant to serve healthy food"?? I completely agree with you about the government thing - I think they are corrupt and involved in too many things already, so I NEVER suggested them regulating/taking control/forcing fast food restaurants such as McDonalds to serve only healthy foods. I also remember saying that I know things will never change, and that McDonalds and other places will continue to serve unhealthy crap for a profit, but you're mistaken if you interrupted that as me thinking the government should at all interfere. This has nothing to do with the government - I am simply disgusted that McDonalds is so horrible and immoral. Obviously the government couldn't be responsible for forcing morals and ethics on companies such as McDonalds (first of all, they'd be infringing on our freedom even more, and secondly, they are far from ethical) I simply think that McDonalds should care more about the people they are serving their food to, regardless of the government... and yes, like I already said and agreed with you, the people choose to eat at McDonalds so it is ultimately their fault, but I still think that McDonalds is taking advantage of the people who are too pathetic and lazy to take care of themselves. If they want to die in a few years from a heart attack or something, well, I can't stop them. I don't support McDonalds - their food is cheap and unhealthy and they really don't offer much for me (due to the fact that I'm vegan) but this thread was ultimately about Super Size Me - like I said, I can't stop them from killing themselves, but I think a movie like this that exposes the truth can by really make people *think* about their decisions.. and for that reason, I think Super Size Me is a wonderful documentary (though quite gross and disturbing).. and should be used to educate as many as possible.

 

Fair enough and i agree. I'm sorry that i drew the wrong conclusion.

 

man, all this is making my head spin, the point is, and no need to argue, that fast food is bad for u and im glad u are turining vegetarian again!! im and organci vegetarian,a dn so are my parents, so, we dont eat nething that has been proccessed, u can get alot of really great on kecin oh wats his name he wrote "natural cures 'they' dont want u to know about" hes a genuis,and his website has lots of goody healthy organci vegetarian stuff, ull have to look him up cause i cant member his last name something funky, oh and dude that sarah mcglaclhin(sp?) in her sig and she is gorgious!

 

The government doesn't have to force fast food restaurants to serve healthy foods, and would not, but the government is already controlling the things you eat. Yes McDonald's is poisoning people as well as the government. You could say the people are responsible for eating that crap, but the restaurants are responsible for brainwashing advertisements.

Anyway to the original poster, it is very good that you are taking steps towards becoming healthier, especially with a young child. Try vegetarian.allrecipes.com this site has a search where you can put in the ingrediants you want to use and it generates recipes with those ingrediants. From my experience it seems it's not too hard to actually please kids with vegetarian recipes. Good luck to you!

 

Thanks to all that have replied to this...you all had some great ideas. it was harder than i expected to just quit eating fast food...the cravings are there. Which is a little wierd for me....I use to be a drug addict and now I feel like I am having fast food withdrawls...its so creepy. I am a full time college student, a full time mommy to a beautiful lil 2 yr. old girl and I am dealing with my husband being in Iraq for going on about 6 months now. It feels so overwhelming to try to cook 3 healthy meals a day and healthy snacks in between. Some days I am just so tired that I want to go get my lil one some fast food just so that I can skip cooking one meal. But I try to think of her and what i am putting into her body. It can be so hard. When I sit outside in between my classes I watch people...there are lots of people that are overweight...in fact it seems like there is more overwieght people than thin nowadays. Its frightening that its becoming the norm to be unhealthy. I don't want to be skinny..I just want to be healthy. Seems like food is the new "In" drug.

 

Absolutely, good point, that food is a drug, it's addicting, and extremely unhealthy, kills more people than drugs do. I understand what you're saying about cooking so many healthy meals a day. My advice would be to cook a few meals at a time on one night (I'd usually do Sunday night) and then when you're ready for it just warm it up, it won't work with everything, but for lots of things it will.

Another thing would be to simplify your meals and especially snacks, sandwiches, soups, salads are the way to go when you are tired and need a good meal. Raw soups are amazingly delicious and simple, all you need is a blender. Smoothies are also a good snack or even breakfast if you have a blender. Also eating raw fruits and veggies with crackers or a dip for snacks would make it easier, peanut butter or almond or cashew butter are all very filling.

But it can be difficult to cook if you don't know what to buy and I remember having the problem of adjusting my shopping list so I didn't have to go to the store everyday in order to have something to make. If you'd like some simple recipes that don't take much time but are very yummy, pm me. I would like to say that what you're doing is very courageous, for you and your daughter. Good luck to you!