Restaurant Portion Sizes and All You Can Eat Buffets

[MerinPally]

The words aren't that small. They say "In American Restaurants", "In American Homes", and "In European Homes". Not "US adult", "US child", "European adult". I suspect that neither set of labels are accurate, but they were just made up by two different sets of people. If a plate size is normally for adults, then there will be regular cutlery for it. It's not like Europeans have gone for centuries with only children's cutlery.

As a "European adult" I'd say it's a mix. When I was a child my mum would give me 2 fish fingers, a crapton of peas and a good amount of chips. As of recent years I'll eat 3-4 fingers. So none of the pictures are particularly accurate.

[Pickynerd]

Almost all animals will eat until they explode if they have the opportunity.

[zealo]

My plates when at a restaurant always looks like the middle and left plate, whoever made that picture is pulling it out of his own arse and presenting it as a fact.

[cFortyfive]

Looks like a legit portion if I'd plan to hide behind children in west Africa.

Adult here,

Half of that, or maybe just the fingers and a few chips would more than fill me, No I'm not skinny, I've got more of a gut than I'd like, but that portion is overkill, if I managed to eat that, I would be fine for hours afterwards, probably until late night if I had it at 12

Do you have some sort of metabolic issue or are you simply not moving at all ?

[Miyani]

Well after doing my own thorough independent research i guess i can post my own unbiased results to this issue...



As you can see this shows us how quick and reliable internet research can be in making informed decisions, now lets not get me started on the differences between drink/popcorn sizes or the poor Americans may go into shock to learn how much we hold back when eating.

[Deleted]

Well after doing my own thorough independent research i guess i can post my own unbiased results to this issue...



As you can see this shows us how quick and reliable internet research can be in making informed decisions, now lets not get me started on the differences between drink/popcorn sizes or the poor Americans may go into shock to learn how much we hold back when eating.

I know your image was supposed to be a joke, but how the fuck does anyone eat a burger that large? It is too big to bite so that means taking it apart which defeats the purpose of a burger.

[tankbug]

I have lived in Oslo for many years, and I haven't seen any "all you can eat" buffets, except from hotel breakfasts. But restaurant portions are usually the perfect size for a grown man with normal appetite, but it depends on the place really. But then again, it won't affect our weight that much, because we don't eat out that often in general.

ps. The tiny portion on your picture, OP, is not your average norwegian size. Nobody eats a single fish finger for dinner unless they are fashion models. It doesn't even count as lunch. I would say put one extra finger on the middle one, and you're getting closer.

[Reeve]

I know your image was supposed to be a joke, but how the fuck does anyone eat a burger that large? It is too big to bite so that means taking it apart which defeats the purpose of a burger.

You don't. It's something you make for the fun of making something ridiculous. When you want to eat something good, you make the plate on the left. Yes, in the US, too.

[chazus]

You guys realize that the image being posted isn't from any study or anything about "American" or "European" dishes.

It's an image from a "celestial healing" retail website that someone yanked off google and slapped nations on them.

[MerinPally]

You guys realize that the image being posted isn't from any study or anything about "American" or "European" dishes.

It's an image from a "celestial healing" retail website that someone yanked off google and slapped nations on them.

I didn't even bother to check but it wouldn't surprise me. It's an Orlong thread, I didn't expect anything remotely correct from inception.

[mvaliz]

As somebody who has been battling obesity for most of his life I can tell you that it's going to take a monumental mental shift... possibly a generation going extinct... in order to change that mentality of us Americans.

As a child, i always dreamed of a place that was something that would let me eat to my hearts content without limit! 35+ years later I learned the lesson behind "be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!"

Sadly for many whom battle depression find that food is a cheap easy "pleasure" outlet, particularly if you're living alone and have no where else to turn to to make one happy. All you can Eat buffets can literally be the equivalent of an alcoholics open bar.

Of course, the sad result is for most overweight people, depression comes from being overweight - and thus when you turn to food to give instant gratification, it ultimately snowballs you into more depression... which in turn... ect....

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You guys realize that the image being posted isn't from any study or anything about "American" or "European" dishes.

It's an image from a "celestial healing" retail website that someone yanked off google and slapped nations on them.

Obviously its not (did what I assume are the "Kids utensels" on the euorpean plate give it away? :P). But the point is still true that portions in America are way beyond larger than any other country food-wise.

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I know your image was supposed to be a joke, but how the fuck does anyone eat a burger that large? It is too big to bite so that means taking it apart which defeats the purpose of a burger.

It could also be a very small (radius) burger. Think White Castle slider. :P

[Deleted]

As somebody who has been battling obesity for most of his life I can tell you that it's going to take a monumental mental shift... possibly a generation going extinct... in order to change that mentality of us Americans.

As a child, i always dreamed of a place that was something that would let me eat to my hearts content without limit! 35+ years later I learned the lesson behind "be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!"

Sadly for many whom battle depression find that food is a cheap easy "pleasure" outlet, particularly if you're living alone and have no where else to turn to to make one happy. All you can Eat buffets can literally be the equivalent of an alcoholics open bar.

Of course, the sad result is for most overweight people, depression comes from being overweight - and thus when you turn to food to give instant gratification, it ultimately snowballs you into more depression... which in turn... ect....

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Obviously its not (did what I assume are the "Kids utensels" on the euorpean plate give it away? :P). But the point is still true that portions in America are way beyond larger than any other country food-wise.

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It could also be a very small (radius) burger. Think White Castle slider. :P

You would still need to be able to unhinge your jaw to take a bite.

[Deleted]

I love when obese people are calling me " PIG " because I can eat at least 5 times more than them, and still be fit.

[mvaliz]

You would still need to be able to unhinge your jaw to take a bite.

It's a little known fact that us Americans have a 10% genetic shared inheritance with that of a Burmese Python. :P

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I love when obese people are calling me " PIG " because I can eat at least 5 times more than them, and still be fit.

I've got a couple friends like that too. People's genetics are different from eachother when it comes to processing food. I know a thin-as-a-rail girl who inhales candy for dinner, but I gain a pound just by walking past a candy store and smelling the air. :P

Unfortunately that also means your metabolism is running unusually high, which usually means you die younger as you're constantly burning more energy. Not that being fat doesn't make you live any longer either, of course. :P

[Reeve]

I've got a couple friends like that too. People's genetics are different from eachother when it comes to processing food. I know a thin-as-a-rail girl who inhales candy for dinner, but I gain a pound just by walking past a candy store and smelling the air. :P

Unfortunately that also means your metabolism is running unusually high, which usually means you die younger as you're constantly burning more energy. Not that being fat doesn't make you live any longer either, of course. :P

Genetics play a role in determining how you utilize energy, but it still all comes down to calories consumed versus calories used. The skinny as a rail girl inhaling candy for dinner is using those calories somewhere. She may be working a job where she's moving much of the day, walking to/from work, generating more heat than usual. Has a higher percentage of muscle per body mass, meaning a higher basal metabolic rate, whatever. But those are things you can train into a body.

One of the other guys I know on these forums was about 60 pounds overweight a couple years ago. Now he heads 3300 calories a day and still loses weight sometimes, because he's changed his body so much. He's still not a big musclebound guy, but he has so much lean muscle that it burns a shit ton of calories every day.

[MerinPally]

I've got a couple friends like that too. People's genetics are different from eachother when it comes to processing food. I know a thin-as-a-rail girl who inhales candy for dinner, but I gain a pound just by walking past a candy store and smelling the air. :P

Unfortunately that also means your metabolism is running unusually high, which usually means you die younger as you're constantly burning more energy. Not that being fat doesn't make you live any longer either, of course. :P

The metabolism argument is vastly overstated, it's not nearly as large as people think. Most of it will come down to portion size.

This year at university I've been trying to get fitter and healthier, put on some muscle, and I've been exercising for a while now. I keep a spreadsheet of my food and you really notice things quite quickly, especially when it's colour coded.

[Orlong]

OK, here's a less snarky answer.

The portion you have on the left is a normal size portion for both the US and Europe. When people talk about enormous portion sizes in the US, this is what they're talking about:






It's not that these things don't exist in Europe. It's that they aren't an ingrained common part of the culture there. If you go to Cheesecake Factory in the US, chances are the portion sizes are double what they ought to be, but that's a very successful restaurant. The same goes for Chili's, TGI Fridays, Logan's Roadhouse, or any number of similar chain sit down restaurants.

With the exception of the burrito next to the baby, they all seem like perfectly reasonable portions to me

[Deleted]

Unfortunately that also means your metabolism is running unusually high, which usually means you die younger as you're constantly burning more energy. Not that being fat doesn't make you live any longer either, of course. :P

I put most of my thoughts here . Don't worry for me this phase is gone. I was eating like one anaconda when I lived with my family.

It took me years to understand that my intestines were in very very bad state. Leading me to " severe severe asthma " for a whole decade, till the beginning of 2014... that's what you get when you don't give a fuck and eat only gluten and milk product aka pasta and bread plus cheese ( french idiot education ç_ç ).

Understanding how to beat constipation and urinate a lot more, is the principal.

Obesity is a very small part of the bad food phenomenom. People are so clueless.

[Orlong]

I know your image was supposed to be a joke, but how the fuck does anyone eat a burger that large? It is too big to bite so that means taking it apart which defeats the purpose of a burger.

Sometimes they just make them flatter but bigger. There is a place near me that makes 6 pound burgers, and they are free if you can eat the whole thing. Looks like this:




They also make a 25 pound burger thats meant to split with the family:

[Deleted]

Sometimes they just make them flatter but bigger. There is a place near me that makes 6 pound burgers, and they are free if you can eat the whole thing. Looks like this:




They also make a 25 pound burger thats meant to split with the family:

So you either have a mouthful of bread or a mouthful of meat? I do not see how anyone can actually enjoy that.