I’m no angel where food is concerned.

My  friend Julie laughs about one joint family holiday where she may have found me hiding in a room scoffing down a whole bag of starburst snakes. I may have defensively covered the bag, not to hide, but to make sure she didn’t try to have any. Like a fox terrier dog, don’t touch my food peoples. In my defence I hadn’t had a lollie binge for almost two weeks. For your information, and no doubt Julie’s relief, I don’t do that anymore. Well not very often anyway, maybe at the airport occasionally. Where no one knows me. 

Last night, in Knoxville we went to a restaurant called Fleming’s. Fine dining at it’s best. It actually was. Beautiful decor, leather seating, booths, white linen service. I loved that the kitchen was right there at the end of the restaurant where we could see what those guys were doing. It was truly the best meal out I have had since I have been here. But even so, in the good ole USA where the obesity rate is about 39%, or 93 million, they just serve too much food.

This was no exception. For entree we split a white salad. One of the healthier salad options, it’s half an iceberg lettuce topped with blue cheese sauce and crispy bacon. There are usually 4-5 sauce choices complementing everything, blue cheese being very popular. On the table appeared the magic bread baskets, you know those ones that mysteriously refill as soon as they look slightly empty. 

My friend Tom told me that in his house it was considered good manners not to eat everything you are presented wth. A compliment to the chef. Not easy for me to leave that bread basket when I love bread, was quite hungry and grew up relatively poor in a family who didn’t waste food because there wasn’t a lot of it. Maybe people here are food stocking due to a poor no-waste childhood. Somehow I don’t think so. 

Last nights restaurant was out of the ‘norm’ price and serving size wise. In many restaurants the mains or entrees are quite cheap, at about $9, but come with sides of soup or salad. That and that bloody bread, encouragement on all levels to eat big. At Flemings the sides were an extra cost on top of the very pricey mains. You will be pleased to hear that I didn’t choose the $89, 34oz steak, yes, that’s nearly 1kg of meat, instead choosing the chicken. It was the cheapest item on a menu which had no vegetarian options. My chicken appeared to be the pair of Foghorn Leghorns own legs which meant one too many legs. As a side I chose crisp brussel sprouts which they put in the middle of the table. Good call, it was enough to serve all four of us.

This morning we went for breakfast to Cracker Barrel.  Yes, it’s a chain but toted as ‘good wholesome family food’ and highly recommended by MOD’s friend who were were eating with. No longer being a breakfast eater, I was keen to keep it small so chose the ‘side’ of yoghurt, fruit and granola. Greek yoghurt isn’t big here, the yoghurt was runny and sugary sweet but still the best option from a high fat, big quantity menu. The next best option was yoghurt fruit granola, served with ‘grilled’ eggs, sausages and biscuits (scones to us). Our waitress obviously felt I needed a little more with my side of yoghurt today and added a rather large hot fresh-from-the-oven blueberry muffin. A muffin which took all of my self control not to eat. Because damn it, I do like to eat! Saving grace here is that most menu items have the caloric count. That stopped me dead in my tracks. 

Not so other tables. I was reminded that the restaurants here are feeding much more than hungry mouths, they are doing a mighty job of feeding fat cells and arteries. Bigtime.  

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention USA advise that obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer which are some of the leadings causes of preventable and premature deaths. 

The couple beside us this morning devoured three plates each of piled high, fat loaded breakfast food. I wondered if this was their only meal for the day. Surely. Something I have wondered about often here. This couple weren’t morbidly obese like the family behind us, but let’s give them a few few years shall we? And yes I am being judgemental but its from the shock my friends. I seriously haven’t seen anything like the quantity and quality of the food served that we are seeing here during the 10,000km we have driven so far across the states. They do say the size of your stomach is initially about the size of your fist.  Given the amount of eating out we are doing here, I feel I’m suitably qualified to just maybe, make comment.

When we went to the American diner in Bayport I asked for a poached egg. The waitress told me they don’t ‘have’ poached eggs. It seems eggs are fried or scrambled.  At that diner as well, I looked across at the other tables, amazed at just how much food was piled onto each plate. 

Is all that food necessary? 

Not so long ago I read about the 5/2 Diet. It made a lot of sense. We eat far more than our body needs and this certainly appears to be the case here. Research suggests that calorie restriction with proper nutrition seems to help extend lifespans and delay the onset of age-related disorders by reducing what are called reactive oxygen species in the body.
Source – American Chemical Society. “How a low-calorie diet could extend lifespan.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 June 2016.

I’m by no means perfect, I often eat the wrong food and whilst I exercise a lot, there are no guarantees that I’m going to reach older age. Who knows how or when you are going to check out of this world. What I do know is that I want to hang around and annoy my kids into their old age. Hopefully this lesson I am learning here will stick in my head next time I reach for those bad choice (but infinitely yummy) foods.

And now, having ranted and raved, I guess I should climb down that ladder, dismount from my big high horse and go eat. After all it’s been 3 hours since my last food stop.