People back then ate strictly for sustenance. These days w/ cooking and travel shows, eating has become a form of entertainment/hobby. I even do it. Recently on Shark Tank there was a couple selling almond water. I was curious and went hunting for it til I found it. Wasn't impressed with it so won't get it again but I consumed 100+ calories, just out of curiosity.

I meant to add: my late husband and I lived in Germany and Austria in the late 80s. A typical daily menu would be:

Breakfast: hard liquor and cold cuts, cheese, hard rolls.

Lunch: half of a chicken, warm potato salad, fruit. Wine or heavy German ale (they made fun of American beer, calling it horse p**s, lol).

Dinner: soup (usually consomme), veal or pork, potatoes, vegetable. Hard liquor, wine.

I stayed buzzed most of the time, from all the alcohol. (Just kidding.) :D

When I was young in the 60s, a lot of my parent's friends smoked. While not a healthy habit it was a good substitute for snacking and also suppressed appetite.

While I do think the increase in snacking is a big problem, I have low blood sugar and snacking was a revelation for me. I remember many times while I was in school feeling jittery and nauseous. I was experiencing low blood sugar but never associated the feeling with being hungry. When I got older I would get hangry (hungry-angry) from low blood sugar. Now I carry a protein bar with me all the time and never let my blood sugar get low.

MizGG,

In a magazine, I saw a calorie comparison between similar meals at a chain versus a non-chain restaurant. In every case, the non-chain had slightly better stats (lower counts in calories, fat grams, and sodium). I think it was because the chains use so many preprocessed, partially prepared, shipped in and then microwaved items. So, you're right to choose the non-chain for a slightly healthier choice and for supporting a local business.

But you're also right that portions everywhere are out of control. We were all congratulated for being members of the Clean Plate Club so it's an ingrained from childhood habit to eat it all. It took a few years of subtle training, but now my husband doesn't eat everything on his restaurant plate.

hhireno, exactly. I used to travel the US often, and would eat at the chains in a city I wasn't familiar with. When the internet came about, and you could look up nutrition charts, I was appalled. IIRC, Chili's has the highest sodium count of them all. One meal there can go over the recommended daily intake.

Bigger portions, less activity and a food-obsessed culture with a 24-7 food tv cycle.

MizGG- sodium content is appalling in chains (and probably other restos). I think calorie, fat and sodium info on menus should be the norm.

DH and I went to a local chain (La Madeline) for breakfast and I was very swayed by the nutritional info given. Note- just skip the croissant that adorns just about every dish!

mimi, we love La Madeline! I splurge there: chicken salad, pasta salad, and we get coconut cake to take home. :)

Are you in D/FW? We go to the one on Camp Bowie in Ft Worth.

I'm in the DC area, and LM has been around for a long time. One opened up near us in "our" shopping center, so we treated ourselves before going grocery shopping.

I enjoyed 2 eggs over easy and a potato cake. That cake was splurge enough! I took the croissant home for the dogs and birds.

The place is delightful, with good prices, friendly staff and a nice atmosphere.

As a child in the 60s, we (7 children) often woke up to a pot of oatmeal simmering on the stove. That would be served with lots of sugar, cream and butter. Buttered toast was the side. If it wasn't oatmeal, we had eggs, bacon and toast. Always with a glass of orange juice. I'm sure my mother ate, just can't picture her at the breakfast table with us.

I'm guessing she waited till we were off to school to have her coffee and cig. After years of heavy smoking my father and mother both quit cold turkey when their grandchildren started being born.

She also did all the cleaning and the laundry, including hanging clothes on the line and ironing cotton shirts for my dad and my 5 brothers. There were times when we had 'a maid', but my mother always worked side by side with her. She was always moving, stayed thin and beautiful her whole life. The smoking finally caught up with her when she was in her early 80s when she developed emphysema.

I'm not sure I agree with that. My grandmother cooked a full breakfast - eggs, bacon or sausage, biscuits, etc. almost every morning of the world. Of course this started before the 60's but she was still doing it then. Cooked dinner every night and sometimes lunch was a cooked meal too. BUT, they were very active, there was not alot of sitting in front of the tv and certainly not computers, ipads, etc. at that time. I think the electronics boom has greatly hurt people because so many are doing that instead of kids playing outside, etc. People are more sedentary and I agree with the comment about processed food. My grandparents (and parents) always had a big garden and mom and my grandmother canned and froze.

I agree portions are crazy. And the best thing one can do is to totally reframe your idea of how much you need to eat. Even a whole sandwich frankly is kind of a lot… Surely if it's a sandwich served in a restaurant.

in the summertime the kids frequently like to visit local ice cream places. They always get kiddie size. They arent kiddies; I think the shortest one of them is 5'7. But they don't even usually finish it. They've learned what we taught them, which is that portions served commonly, often have no relationship to what you really need to be satisfied. For myself I'm always reminded of the golf ball sized portions of ice cream that one gets in Europe . I actually have a picture on my phone that I show the servers, because they really can't understand/believe what it is I want. It's probably still about half of what a kiddie portion looks like here..

that said, those breakfasts are horrendous . I am not a coffee drinker and I only drink tea occasionally. Imho the first two breakfasts distill down to a drug plus white flour. Horrible. Where is the fiber? Fresh fruit or vegetable? And where's the protein?

lastly, I don't think it's as simple as eat a little less and move a little more, for many people. science shows there's clearly a genetic component for some people, and that your body understandably fights very hard against weight loss for evolutionary reasons. I think it makes more sense to focus on nutrition and being fit, then weight per se.

PS. When we were in Hong Kong on vacation two years or so ago, we had dinner out on New Year's Eve. On the menu, which was price fixe, they listed "American style desserts". We each got one. To our horror and great offense, when they placed our desserts in front of us, each of them looked to be the size of an entire recipe. I think one dessert could serve 6. That was what they perceived as American-style. I need to find a photo because it simply unbelievable

I was a child in the 60s, and I have a clear recollection of hearing so many of the women in my lives talk of being "on a diet." There wasn't a lot of push to get into a more healthy lifestyle, but the women around me who were my mom's age or thereabouts were always "on a diet", and I used to go to a place called "The Spa" with my mom which was where the women went to "do their exercises" (Jack LaLanne style). People seemed to be pouring themselves into temporary fixes but missing the big picture of how lifestyle (and genetics) is the driving force.

In the 70s, Mom went on a "health kick" and started inflicting "health food" on us. Oh, it was awful. I'll never forget trying to force down a concoction of cottage cheese and avocado on Ritz crackers. The thought of the lumpy consistency even now triggers my gag reflex! But she did what she thought was right for her family at the time.

Anyway, I don't think that people (women in particular) were thinner during those eras because they had a healthier outlook on portions. I think many women were actually starving their bodies of vital nutrients on their fad diets - and yeah, cigarettes may have factored in there as well.

You are all so right about the ridiculous portions available today. The way many of us devour what's in front of us (myself included on too many occasions), you'd think we fear we're in danger of missing the next meal.

ETA: Pardon all of my "quotes", please! Just my way of relaying the catchphrases I remember hearing back in the day. ;-)

I don't believe in restricting myself from anything (if I really want it) but I do believe in portion control. I have maintained the same weight since high school (107 lbs. 5'2"). I do run every day and weight train several times a week. I actually think we are healthier than previous generations. We have access to so many unprocessed natural foods now. Exercise is a way of life for many of us. I grew up in the 70's and 80's eating all kinds of junk food: twinkees, tastee cakes, jello, fast food, etc. Things I never eat now. I try to eat unprocessed organic food at home (of course eating out you never know), lots of vegetables, one salad and one raw fruit every day. I also do not eat sugar. My husband is 51, looks about 20 years younger and makes the way I eat look like child's play. He is a low carb, high protein guy. Weightlifer, runner, etc. He next to never strays from his regimen. I think some could be genetics. Everyone in my family was thin but they weren't in good shape. My mother never exercised a day in her life and she was what I would call "skinny fat". No muscle tone. She also had numerous health problems and was a diabetic. My father was the same way, not heavy but really did not exercise past his 30's. In my husband's family every single one is heavy and out of shape. He always says if he did not train and watch his diet the way he does he would be the same.

There was no such thing as "TV binge watching"

There was also, during the 1950-early 1970s, "mother's little helpers", a type of speed used for weight control. But, I think the advent of restaurant bottomless sodas (When I grew up, we got one cup since refills cost the same as the original) and the combination of large servings and the sedentary lifestyle of suburbia, where people have to drive everywhere, has had a huge effect on the obesity today.

I also think the low fat craze has added a huge amount of weight to Americans. When fat is removed it needs to be replaced with other additives to make the food palatable. The additives usually amount to a ton of high fructose corn syrup and/or sodium. Take away the fat and you lose not only flavor but satiety. A double edged sword.

We live in an area where obesity is the norm. We would be horrified when we went to a local pizza shop to see overweight couples with not only a large pizza but a full size sandwich for each of them. Talk about carb overload.

I also think that so many people don't count the calories that are in their beverages. Think a Starbucks Grande Latte or an even more sugary coffee. Those calories are useless.

I am like MizGG in regards to breakfast. I have to be up and moving about before I can even stomach the thought of breakfast and many days I am not even hungry until lunch.

We had a German exchange student when my youngest dd was in high school. A lovely young sweet, tiny girl. So many different cultural things to get used to. She was so surprised at our wasteful ways and overindulgence even though she didn't come right out and say it. She showered every few days, even though she had her own bedroom and bath. I continuously offered to do her laundry with the family laundry. She gave me her clothes infrequently, instead choosing to wear them several times before laundering. No wasting water.

She was shocked at the size of our home and that she would have her own room...even though our house is not that big. But most of all she was surprised and yes maybe a little shocked at the amount of food we put away and the portion sizes at the restaurants. She ate like a bird.

a comment that Melina made was that "everything is so big".

Sometime later my daughter went to visit her in Germany for two weeks. My dd is not overweight but she enjoys eating. She told me she thought she was going to starve to death, lol. The water was carbonated?

side note. Someone mentioned smoking. My 89 yr old mother is a nurse (as am I). She remembers when Drs even encouraged pregnant women to smoke to keep their weight gain below 15 pounds. Seems smoking was everywhere. I used to smoke yrs ago and it certainly killed my appetite.

No time to read all comments right now, but wondering how many of those just coffee & toast breakfasters/minimal eaters wound up w/ osteoporosis?

My mother is one of those extremely weight conscious women from that 50s/60s era who now struggles w/ mobility issues stemming from osteoporosis & sarcopenia(age-related muscle loss) & she still eats like bird as they say & complains that she has become too fat (she's 85).

This is not to say that constant grazing & over indulgence is the alternative - just as many health issues stem from that, obviously,

Moderation in everything, right?

Carolb, interesting comment. My mother (also 85) has been weight-fixated her whole life, and is to this day a minimal eater. And she has all sorts of osteoporosis issues, too. I never saw a connection, but it makes sense.

No binge watching indeed! In fact, my brother born in the mid-50s can recall when not all channels (and there were only 5) were on all day;'and most went off the air after 10:30 or midnight and came back on sometime between 6 and noon. In fact, when I moved to Dallas in the mid70s, I remember all stations being off the air between midnight and maybe 6am.

People absolutely ate much less in the past. My mother (82) and i were talking about the food an Italian friend used to make for us back in the Sixties. She remarked that it probably wouldnt be considered "authentic" today because it was so minimalist. Then she reminded me that before she and my father became friends with Vittorio, her Italian cooking consisted of making spaghetti or pizza from a box of Chef Boyardee. I looked at a vintage box of that stuff online and it was a tiny box of food but it fed all four of us for dinner---often with leftovers. We didnt snack because there was no "snack" food in the house aside from fruit, which was usually eaten with a meal.

Yes we eat much more and have a sedentary lifestyle with many labor saving products and devices. For example - my mother used a wringer washer, hung clothes on the line, ironed everything, washed dishes by hand, grew food in the garden, baked her own bread, did her own canning, made all the meals from scratch, mowed a big lawn with a walk behind, non-self propelled mower, etc. Aside from burning calories through activity, it didn't leave much time to sit around eating.

Research that shows exercising beyond a certain point no longer burns calories. If you've ever been at the starting line of a marathon, you'll see the anecdotal evidence of this. If they've all been training enough to run the event, theoretically they should all be supermodel size. What determines their weight more than training is the diet they've been following.

Besides video games leading to kids being sedentary, in many areas of the USA, it's unusual to let you kid run outside all day and come home 1) for dinner and/or 2) when the street lights came on.

In some areas, it's considered neglect to let you kid walk to school or around the neighborhood. There's a couple in my area that was reported and investigated for "free range parenting".

Lots of things have changed.

hmmm. i grew up eating a lot! my mom made breakfast every day for me- sometimes a bowl of cereal, always OJ, sometimes oatmeal, sometimes eggs and toast, or pb&j on english muffin. when she packed lunch, it was always a substantial sandwich, fruit and a 'dessert' which usually was some cookies or on rare occasion, a tastycake pie. i always had a snack when i came home from school- i remember often eating salty planters peanuts from a can and choc milk. we also had charles chips delivered to the house. my mom also always made full dinners- in HS when i wanted to go from being a 'normal' wt to being very skinny, i specifically remember cutting down from 2 porkchops at dinner to 1!! and passing on dessert maybe! we all ate a lot in my family, but none of us were overwt, except maybe my mom could lose ~ 10 #s! but, i can't imagine eating that much now! but, besides having good metabolisms, i think we were all just very active! inactivity is a lot of the reason for so much obesity...

My daddy took me out to lunch today (early Valentine's treat, he's a sweetie), and I wanted to take a picture of my lunch for this thread. :D

It was a local Mexican restaurant; I got the burrito plate from the lunch menu (supposed to be smaller sizes). The burrito was huge, it was shocking. After chips and salsa, I couldn't even eat 1/2 my meal. I brought it home for dinner, what was left will easily feed my husband and me. It's just ridiculous. I asked before if I could order a kid's meal, and was told, no, they don't allow it under 12 yrs old.

I just don't understand why portion sizes have gotten to this point.

The huge portions are just ridiculous. Of course, places like Cheesecake Factory are known for that trait, but I've only ever been there once and had a salad so enormous that it would have fed a family of six, easily. I just think of how much waste is involved. MizGG, you were smart to take your leftovers to go and you'll enjoy them later, but sometimes I think people are so stuffed that they don't want to look at that plate in front of them another minute and it all gets dumped into the trash. That's shameful, isn't it?

I Googled Cheesecake Factory + huge portions and found the photos to prove it. This is a typical salad - actually, maybe a little on the small side.

And I have no idea what this is, but it looks positively vile.

Oh, wow, TR.....that last pic! What in the world?! It does looks vile.

I've only been to Cheesecake Factory once, too, while visiting Mr G in Long Island (before we married). I remember not being impressed, not even with the cheesecake. It was just a lot of calories, not much taste. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, I can't remember.

I think I'm skipping dinner tonight. All this food talk has made me not want to eat. :D

In our area, the Cheesecake Factory puts the calories on the menu. Many of the salads are almost a full days' calorie intake for an average sized woman.

That second photo looks like a frizzled blooming onion. I've never been to Cheesecake Factory-can't say I'm proud nor ashamed.

I hear the portions are epic.

Get a load of this:

McDonald's new Kale salad is the most outrageous offender, with more calories, fat, and sodium than a Double Big Mac burger.

I was curious about that Annie. I wonder if that total is with the fried chicken or the grilled? The other thing I would wonder is if the salad could still be the healthier option if the person ordering it was going to skip fries and soda. Now, if I wanted a kale salad, I would not be ordering it at McD's.

I actually think that illustrates the larger issue with diet right now. We tend to over evaluate on-off situations without putting them into the context of a whole life. The majority of the food I consume, I consume at home. Therefore, if I have gone to a restaurant, I will eat the loaded french fries at Outback or a frizzled blooming onion without apology, enjoying every bite because I know that when I go home, there is a chance I will not be eating later that day or will eat lighter the rest of the day. I do not eat that way at home on a regular basis so to me, the restaurant is a treat. I have to say, for a treat, I love to go to Pappadeaux and get the bacon wrapped stuffed shrimp that I can dip in clarified butter which I get once every couple of years but man, do I enjoy it.

I do agree that size is generally out of control, even at home. When I purchase chicken parts, they are significantly larger than I recall having as a child. I am constantly having to remind myself to put just one piece on each kid's plate.

I'm a real fan of the Nutrition Action Letter which is published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. They try to cut through a lot of the garbage and rumor and get to the studies as well as the validity of the studies.

They recently highlighted a study of small chain and independent restaurants in the Boston area and found the average entree with sides was about 1300 calories. That didn't include a drink, an appetizer or a dessert.

Re McD's salad, it's the cheese, dressing and croutons that add a lot of calories and fat, and if you order the grilled rather than fried chicken, you can lower the calories some more. They do offer a balsamic vinaigrette which is a healthier option. But the expectation is you're making a healthier choice by getting a salad when in fact you may not be. And when a company is losing business because of the perception of unhealthy menu pulls something like this, it only damages their image further.

Here's a chart from the NIH on how portions have changed over the past 20 years. I think it would be even more dramatic if they went back further to the 60s and 70s.

This image is rather stunning.

That image! Yikes. It's similar to my burrito yesterday. Ridiculous.

DH and I had leftovers last night, and we were both stuffed to the gills, after sharing half of a half.

MissGG I have also had restaurants say no when i asked about ordering a child plate but nobody has ever hassled me when I just ordered it. Wondering if it's not the wait staff worried about a smaller gratuity. To the ones that denied permission, they lost my biz forevah!

I almost always take home half of my food when we eat out. It's really amazing how huge the portions are these days. DH and I like different things many times, but on occasion when it is something we mutually agree on, we split either a salad or an entrée, or both, and then we are both happy. It's still a lot of food.

Annie that image is downright scary! It is the same here with some of the burritos DH has ordered in some of the restaurants around here too. I was also curious about the kale salad. It was brought out as a 'healthy' choice, but now we know better.

Here's another interesting chart on food availability

And a more detailed look at consumption by food type can be found in this article.

It seems the meme that as we cut back on fat we increased sugar and thus are more obese is incorrect. The data would suggest that we didn't cut back on much of anything, but that we just eat a lot more of most things. We eat more meat, chicken, fish, cheese, yogurt, fats, oils, fruits, vegetables, grains and caloric sweeteners. We also drink more alcohol. We do eat fewer eggs and drink less milk.

The Chick fil-a kale salad, btw, is fantastic.

That image is indeed freaky! I often tell my DH when we're at a restaurant that the dish he's about to tuck into is as big as a baby ... or a football ... or a giant man's head. He probably wishes I'd just shut it.

;-)

Well, now I'm forced to share meatloaf baby, with a bacon diaper and pearl onion eyes. I want to find out who did this, and ask WHY. (I first saw it years ago, when someone shared it on a board I frequented. Thanks, right?)---

Grilled chicken at McD? I am assuming it is like most cheapo "grilled chicken"; water logged and with black magic marker "grill marks". :::shudder:::

If we are out and about and need to stop for fast food, we usually will go to a grocery store and grab some fruit and greek yogurt, nuts, a wrap, etc. If it's a Whole Foods, their restaurants are just as quick as fast food and can satisfy everyone. You can get protein and a ton of salad options, and you control how rich they are.

One thing I am surprised noone mentioned about the CF. It's the one chain we do frequent (apart from the Diginn and Pret a Manger in NYC). Why CF? The Skinnylicious menu is excellent, extensive, and has calorie counts (meals under 490 and under 590 calories). I think 590 is a bit high for one meal for a female, but as an eating-out option, it's a good choice. You need to say no to the bread and keep your drink calorie free ( but I like their unsweetened Passion fruit iced tea). And I like a lot of their Skinnylicious menu. The salads are tasty and not just a pile of greens. Their lettuce wraps are great. I also like their turkey burger and some of the chicken entrees. They did take my favorite dish off the menu. It was warm asparagus salad with one fried egg, sundried tomatoes and pine nuts. Under 490 calories. Waitstaff told me no one understood a "warm salad".

Hahahahahaha! Nooooooooooooo! My eyes! My EYES!

Ugh! I wish I could unsee that meatloaf baby!

Omg. My day is ruined by meatloaf baby!

Mizg i have to ask, where are you cheating on GW on the internet to find that, lol????

i think that meatloaf must have been made as something morbid for a halloween party or something... :(

are 'we' really drinking more alcohol than a few decades earlier??? seems to me there was more daily drinking then...

Through the years our dinner
plates have gotten quite a bit larger, which makes it easier to serve larger food
portions. Kitchen cabinet companies have increased the standard
depth of wall cabinets to 13” or even 15” now that plates are 11” - 12” in
diameter. This past Thanksgiving, my hosts used her mother’s good china from
the 1950’s and the dinner plates were no more than 8” across.

Re alcohol, it depends on what time period you select, but if you tote them up, we are drinking more than we did in the, say, 50s. But the mix has changed...wine is growing, spirits are on the rise again, while beer is tapering.

LOL! Sorry, everyone. :D

kswl, it was the widow support board (now closed) .... a widow was posting about a weird guy contacting her, and bizarre ideas about meatloaf. Someone found this and posted it as a joke. I couldn't eat meatloaf for a year. :D