you call this a small??????????

Hi! all, I live in Israel and I recently went home for 2 months. When I got there I was shocked at how huge everything in america is. The food portions, the drink portions and the people. Here in Israel there is a little overweight population. I stood out like a banshee when I first got here, now that I've lost the weight and grew my hair out, they view me with more of an interest instead of a freak of nature. I urge everyone to be careful with sizes, it is so easy to get the big portion because it is only 10 cents more. I was aware of it because I have been out of the country for 2 1\2 years and it seemed so odd that anyone could ingest that amount of food. Even in my heavier years I never ate that much. A small in americe is a large here and there is no such thing as free refills. I don't know why I posted this just that it seems so easy to over eat there because everyhting is so easy. There are no drive thrus or prepacked meals here either, you really have to work to get a meal. Food for thought!! Congrats to everyone on your great success! Dawn

Thanks Dawn, I am sure those that do eat fast food on occasion keep the portions in check. Especcially after WLS, most of could not eat that size anymore even if we wanted too!! The only place I go anymore is taco bell or Del taco & the burritos are way too big to finish at one sitting. so it make 2 meals. How did you end up living in Israel, Just curious. Was it your choice or do you have family that brought you there. Just curious. Glad you are back on line with us. We are a great group!! Marilyn, the Bearlady

Dawn, this is precisely why we have become such a "fat" country; that notion used to be equated with America's wealth -- now it means exactly what it says...we are so fat and fast food chains are killing us every bit as much as any cancer. Suffer the children, especially the children. They are gorging on the stuff and coming up in broken families where they don't know the meaning of sitting down to a healthy, home cooked meal anymore. Couple this with the gameboys and nintendos and hours and hours of sedentary self-entertainment and we are lost. While I am so incredibly grateful for this surgery, if we don't rally and do something about the fast food situation we are doomed. Thanks for this stark observation. Take care, Reenie

Hi Dawn! Good to see you! As always, you have a fresh and interesting perspective. It is hard to reverse the effects of our culture! Joy

Hi Dawn, and Welcome back to the board!! You are absolutely right. Portions seem to keep getting larger and people are getting larger right along with them!! Years ago, I always felt like I was the only fat guy around. Now, I'm not out more than 5 minutes without seeing several really huge people! I don't think that this is just "Post-Op awareness" either..... This country is just getting fatter by the day. It has just become too easy to get a high- calorie meal or snack with no effort. Between fast food joints; convenience stores; and microwave ovens, you can stuff yourself with tons of junk any time of the day or night!! Plus with all of the advertising going on, you cant' escape the non-stop exposure to food. Years ago, a meal or a snack required some time and effort to create. Those days are gone. It's instant gratification and "Fatification" in America today! We are eating ourselves to death in this country. Look at the radical steps we had to take to try to re-gain our health and even re-arranging our insides is no gaurantee of success!! It's pretty scarey when you think about it!! Mike