IHOP restaurants

"All you can eat pancakes at IHOP." I think they are just inviting our society into their restaurants to add to the obesity epidemic in our country- WTH?

Jen-

Seriously. It's not tempting in the least bit to me. Never been a huge pancake fan..bite or two is good..after that it's just a doughy mess.

Sad thing is, the UK is going the same way. 10 years ago, very few places offered eat-all-you-want.  The exception being some Asian restaurants who would do it just once a week. One chain of pub restaurants (Toby) has offered eat-all-you-want buffets for ages but that only includes one serving of meat and doesn't include desserts. It is really only the veg that you can have as much as you want.

But things are changing.  Pizza Hut (probably taking the idea from its US roots) now offers e-a-y-w lunches.

But still not as many as i saw in the US. And not as cut-price. We were in a hurry one day and had to stop for food near a main road en route for somewhere and went into a  Taco Bell. The buffet there was something like $4 dollars to pile your plate and then go back!! That's silly money for so much food! I can quite understand why people on low incomes find it cheaper to fill their families on junk than cook wholesome foods! To us it all seemed very greasy and very sweet!

Kate

Kate,

You bring up a excellent point !!!  It is getting cheaper to go out and eat then it is to fix meals at home.

I can go to Taco Bell and get tacos for a heck of a lot cheaper then I can make them at home the same way with steak.

I was looking at the steaks the other day they wanted almost 40 bucks for some nice steaks well you know what I can take my family to Outback for the same amount of money and get the fixings to go along with it for that much money .

Grocery store prices are getting outlandish .  There are times I might not eat the healthiest at home because of being low on money for that week you have to do what you have to do and eat what you have at home even though it might not be the best possible choice *sigh* you just dont eat as much and drink extra water.

Fruits and stuff like that is extremely high here where I live so I dont buy to much of it . When you have a to feed a family you take what is on sale and do with that.

Like here we have a place called the golden corral all you can eat buffet.  They have steak, seafood, salads, bars and bars of food for 10 bucks.  I cant fix a meal like that for 10 bucks.  Salad, a steak, a veggie and carb no way I can fix a meal like that for 10 bucks at home so that is why people go out and eat more and more now it is getting cheaper then grocery shopping.

 
Eating after WLS is cheap, you don't have to eat steak and such.  Check it out:

wasabubblebutt.blogspot.com/2010/03/cheap-foods.html

I think that's true to a point... Yes, those places are cheap but look at what you are eating.  The amount of chemicals, preservatives and food substitutes in those foods is frightening.  I refuse to buy anything that has to make nutritional claims on the packaging.  If you have to make the claims, you've had to process it and add chemicals to get it there and I would prefer my body receive nutrition from natural items.  I won't buy anything fat-free, low-fat, sweetened with HFCS or low-carb.  The amounts of foreign substances in those things are asinine.

I follow a few food rules (can't wait to ditch the protein shake to follow them more closely, I cringe every day when I drink it) and one of them is I don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients or any ingredient that I cannot pronouce.  I think that while you spend more money to eat real food (shopping at farmer's markets and the outer aisles of the grocery store only) you are getting more for your money and putting better things in your body.  I don't buy anything that my great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food if she saw it today.  Just look at some of the things in our grocery store aisles today.

I just think it makes such a difference.  We can't eat a lot of food with our bands.  I'm definitely willing to spend the extra money to make sure it's the best quality food I can find.  And besides which... you are buying less of it, honestly it evens out about the same.  I may buy a $25 dollar steak at the butcher but I only buy one and it makes at least 2 meals for me and my husband, if not 3.  And I can drive to where that cow was raised in less than an hour and I know what it ate before it ended up on my plate.

It's true that we are what we eat but I think it's also true that we are what what we eat eats too.

I would really encourage everyone to read "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan if you find any of this interesting.  There is also a great blog called 100 Days of Real Food.  (I don't have the link but you can google it)  She was able to feed her family of 4 like this on a budget of $125 a week.  That's less than people on food stamps have to spend on groceries.  It's 100% possible if you really put your mind to it.

Just my opinion...

Paintingchef - just a thought... Does you doc insist on protein shakes? I never had one! Even immediately post-op. I made my own soup base, added something like chick peas, lentils or soya beans for protein. Blended until smooth, added extra stock or water to get the right consistency. Tasty, nutritious and high protein with no additives! And, of coures, any flavour you like.

I know some others on OH did the same. My nut was completely happy for me to do that!

Kate

This is my last week on them.  I took a stand with the doctor and nutritionist this week.  They were insisting onthem, yes.  And I finally was all screechy and preachy with the "CHEMICALS!  POISON POISON POISON" attitude until they agreed to see if I could get enough protein on my own.  I'm confident I can.  Great suggestions!!  I've got loads of legumes so I'll have to make some stock this weekend!

I don't think their goal is obesity, their goal is to increase business. Many will take them up on that offer. Sad, yet true.

Healthy items are always a lot more expensive than unhealthy things. You don't see a lot of low fat or low cal items on the dollar menu anywhere. McDonalds charges over $3 for a chicken breast sandwich but they have specials like 2 Big Macs for $3.Or 4 double cheese burgers for $5. My grocery bill almost doubled when I stared dieting. Of course I eat less now but I still want my family to continue eating healthy. Let's face it it's cheaper to eat crap.