Moving to Brazil on 05/06/2009

[alphamale]

I think this thread is giving me an insight into the US/western worlds obesity epidemic. When "all you can eat', 'unlimited soda refills' and 'ranch dressing' are standard expectations of a dining expereince, you know that the world is in trouble.
How about the portion sizes compared to the US?

Thats not a shot at you gerbil, you're obviously in shape and work out plenty to eat what you want, i just mean if you're used to these things, there are clearly millions of fatties who are too are probably eat this stuff out of habit as opposed to desire or necessity.

Personally the brazilian concepts of fresh fruits, and bbq'd meat straight up with rock salt (whilst obviously high in sodium) sound pretty awesome to me, no wonder people who go there, train hard and eat like a local lose weight where applicable.

[Gerbiljiujitsu]

Originally Posted by alphamale

I think this thread is giving me an insight into the US/western worlds obesity epidemic. When "all you can eat', 'unlimited soda refills' and 'ranch dressing' are standard expectations of a dining expereince, you know that the world is in trouble.
How about the portion sizes compared to the US?

Thats not a shot at you gerbil, you're obviously in shape and work out plenty to eat what you want, i just mean if you're used to these things, there are clearly millions of fatties who are too are probably eat this stuff out of habit as opposed to desire or necessity.

Personally the brazilian concepts of fresh fruits, and bbq'd meat straight up with rock salt (whilst obviously high in sodium) sound pretty awesome to me, no wonder people who go there, train hard and eat like a local lose weight where applicable.

Great point!

I actually have a physical education degree and I"m certified to teach health so I totally understand what you're talking about and you are right in America we have a serious obesity problem with fast food chains being one of the problems. The other problem being that it is expensive to eat healthy. This can be seen when buying meat at the grocery store (the higher fat content ground beef is cheaper) and in the drive through McDonalds. The dollar menu offers a hamburger for a buck but you cant find a grilled chicken on a whole wheat bun for a buck...it's just set up to make you fail.

The matter of the drink...I just want something to drink considering that I work out. I know that water is the best option but there is no fountain water and you often have to buy it .5 liters at a time which just isnt feasible for me. I drink diet coke or coke zero so I get zero calories and lots of aspartame which is a personal choice for me. When I choose between obesity and possible cancer...for now I choose cancer. If they offered clean, filtered drinking water at all I can drink that would be awesome and I would (and often do at home) make the healthy choice.

Ranch dressing on another topic...damn I love that stuff. I dont put it on everything but being able to put it on my Batatas Portuguese would be awesome. The don't have A1 or pickles either so I dont satisfy my sour/vinegar taste cravings either.

The portion sizes as far as drinks and fast food are concerned are more in line with the 50's in America...meaning it corresponds to what an actual serving size should be. Although I have to say that Brazil has more "all you can eat" places than we have in America...it's just healthier because it's not processed and for the most part its fresh.

As far as studies are concerned the data shows that exercise alone is almost as good as diet and exercise. Meaning that the deciding factor in whether or not your going to be obese or unhealthy lies in the simple fact of you getting off your couch and going to exercise. I am in no way telling people to eat what they want, on the contrary I'm telling people that it's important to watch what they put in their mouths, I am just trying to be an advocate for physical activity...damn my professors would be proud LoL.

[Ko[F]]

Originally Posted by Terere

It also annoys me we don't have refills, but I guess it makes us coke addicts healthier.

hahaha coke as in coca cola or cocaine? also.. what's cebolas?

and i agree it would be cool to see more youtube clips... of training and maybe places are barra / rio

[Terere]

Originally Posted by Ko[F]

hahaha coke as in coca cola or cocaine? also.. what's cebolas?

and i agree it would be cool to see more youtube clips... of training and maybe places are barra / rio

hahaha it sounded weird. Cebola are onions, in here they fry them and serve with some amazing sauce..

Do you guys actually eat that kind of stuff in australia? It always seemed to me that it is just a marketing scam that Outback is typical australian food.

[Terere]

Originally Posted by Gerbiljiujitsu

Great point!

I actually have a physical education degree and I"m certified to teach health so I totally understand what you're talking about and you are right in America we have a serious obesity problem with fast food chains being one of the problems. The other problem being that it is expensive to eat healthy. This can be seen when buying meat at the grocery store (the higher fat content ground beef is cheaper) and in the drive through McDonalds. The dollar menu offers a hamburger for a buck but you cant find a grilled chicken on a whole wheat bun for a buck...it's just set up to make you fail.

The matter of the drink...I just want something to drink considering that I work out. I know that water is the best option but there is no fountain water and you often have to buy it .5 liters at a time which just isnt feasible for me. I drink diet coke or coke zero so I get zero calories and lots of aspartame which is a personal choice for me. When I choose between obesity and possible cancer...for now I choose cancer. If they offered clean, filtered drinking water at all I can drink that would be awesome and I would (and often do at home) make the healthy choice.

Ranch dressing on another topic...damn I love that stuff. I dont put it on everything but being able to put it on my Batatas Portuguese would be awesome. The don't have A1 or pickles either so I dont satisfy my sour/vinegar taste cravings either.

The portion sizes as far as drinks and fast food are concerned are more in line with the 50's in America...meaning it corresponds to what an actual serving size should be. Although I have to say that Brazil has more "all you can eat" places than we have in America...it's just healthier because it's not processed and for the most part its fresh.

As far as studies are concerned the data shows that exercise alone is almost as good as diet and exercise. Meaning that the deciding factor in whether or not your going to be obese or unhealthy lies in the simple fact of you getting off your couch and going to exercise. I am in no way telling people to eat what they want, on the contrary I'm telling people that it's important to watch what they put in their mouths, I am just trying to be an advocate for physical activity...damn my professors would be proud LoL.

Its the same problem in Brazil. The majority of obese people are poor workers, they have no time because of schedules and tend to eat hot dogs or deep fried stuff + a coke which costs like 3 reais at train stations. I have enough money + time to eat good stuff, I mean, its more of a social problem than anything. In USA, tourists from Brazil add a lot of weight because they have little money to spend on food so they get those dollar menu thingies at Wendy's

[Ko[F]]

Originally Posted by Terere

Do you guys actually eat that kind of stuff in australia? It always seemed to me that it is just a marketing scam that Outback is typical australian food.

yeah it's a scam... i never even heard of Outbacks until i went to the US a couple years ago... and i totally forget there was even a Fosters beer as well until all the yankees asked me and i was like "wtf is fosters? Ever heard of VB mate" haha

if there was a 'traditional' aussie food it'd prob be the bush tucker the indigenous aborigines used to gather... snake, kangaroo, grubs n bugs, turtle and dudgong even i think depending on where the tribes were located. actually there's other 'traditional' aussie foods like scones, lamingtons and kebabs at 5am in the morning after a night out drinking... but i'm gonna stop hi-jacking the thread hehe

[anaconda]

Originally Posted by Gerbiljiujitsu

As far as studies are concerned the data shows that exercise alone is almost as good as diet and exercise. Meaning that the deciding factor in whether or not your going to be obese or unhealthy lies in the simple fact of you getting off your couch and going to exercise. I am in no way telling people to eat what they want, on the contrary I'm telling people that it's important to watch what they put in their mouths, I am just trying to be an advocate for physical activity...damn my professors would be proud LoL.

You have any links to those? From what I've read/seen/remember, it was the other way around - diet is more important than exercise. Anecdotally, thats how my body functions also. I know everyone is different, but I am curious about this.

Other than that, keep up with the great thread. How is your portuguese coming? How long have you been there now? Do you think its possible to become relatively fluent in terms of speaking within 3 months?

[GBlutador]

another awsome post gerbil... have you considered having any friends or fam ship you a six pack of ranch? cant be that expensive

[platfox]

Originally Posted by anaconda

You have any links to those? From what I've read/seen/remember, it was the other way around - diet is more important than exercise. Anecdotally, thats how my body functions also. I know everyone is different, but I am curious about this.

Are you guys talking about weight loss? If so, I think diet is more important than exercise for most people and most situations, but if you're rolling 4-5 days a week for 2-3 hour sessions you can really get your metabolism going, even back to the rate of a teenager. I can pretty much eat anything I want nowadays.

[Flibb]

I thought I could bring you some ranch sauce but its just an american thing and found out why when I read the ingredients and had to gag. I wouldn't put that on animal food (salad) let alone something nice as portugese potatoes.