Too much food

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

[Trevor]

The best thing would be if they would give you a perfect amount of food.

[marooned]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants.

So do I. It encourages people to overeat. And it wastes food. It's totally unnecessary. I mean there are certain constantly thrifty sorts who benefit from it and it can save money considering you can divide your meal over the course of several meals, but anyway. I wish there was just an option to have a normal serving size and perhaps pricing that corresponded with how much food you get (like normal serving size vs. the jumpo super size to feed an army pricing).

[Creepy-female]

Just get appetizers. They're usually the perfect size and cheaper too.

[The Exception]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

I agree. I wish they would offer smaller portions, its way more than I can eat in one setting.

The best thing would be if they would give you a perfect amount of food.

That would be cool but what's considered the perfect amount of food is different for everybody.

So do I. It encourages people to overeat. And it wastes food. It's totally unnecessary. I mean there are certain constantly thrifty sorts who benefit from it and it can save money considering you can divide your meal over the course of several meals, but anyway. I wish there was just an option to have a normal serving size and perhaps pricing that corresponded with how much food you get (like normal serving size vs. the jumpo super size to feed an army pricing).

I often ask for a box, so I can take leftovers home. Sometimes this is not always practical though. If I'm not going straight home after going out to eat, by the time I get home, I'm afraid the food will become spoiled so I'm afraid to eat it, hence wasting food.

Just get appetizers. They're usually the perfect size and cheaper too.

Yeah, but they tend to be greasier and most often fried, so they tend to be unhealthy.

[Mattie]

Just get appetizers. They're usually the perfect size and cheaper too.

This is what I do too! I usually try to go tapas-style, lots of small things so I can have variety, and I believe there's something about keeping a more level metabolic rate or some random fact like that. I try to avoid doing a big meal at all costs and have little things throughout the day.

[Creepy-female]

Yeah, but they tend to be greasier and most often fried, so they tend to be unhealthy.

That depends on where you eat.

This is what I do too! I usually try to go tapas-style, lots of small things so I can have variety, and I believe there's something about keeping a more level metabolic rate or some random fact like that. I try to avoid doing a big meal at all costs and have little things throughout the day.

I read somewhere that processing calories ages the body. So low level intake spaced out seems like it would be easier on the body than consuming it all in one sitting.

[FDG]

Lol. I disagree completely. As long as quality is good, how could a bigger portion be worse than a smaller one? You still have the choice to leave in your plate what you don't want to eat. Perhaps you should move a bit more, that'd leave you hungrier and able to enjoy food more.

[Creepy-female]

Lol. I disagree completely. As long as quality is good, how could a bigger portion be worse than a smaller one? You still have the choice to leave in your plate what you don't want to eat. Perhaps you should move a bit more, that'd leave you hungrier and able to enjoy food more.

That's wasteful. People shouldn't have to wade through their food. Standardized portions used to be smaller. Quality depends on where you eat and what. Moving doesn't necessarily mean more appetite, sometimes when you're active you feel less hungry.

And emotionally..it kind of feels like unfinished business..it sounds a bit silly but it feels like you failed. Waiters are always disappointed that you didn't order more, so they're like "just a snack?" in a slightly miffed tone. Or if you don't eat out often, and it's a special occasion, and someone orders something nice and expensive for you, you feel guilty for not eating it all. Or you get comments about how you eat like a bird because the hungry man portion was too much for you. Or you see them just out of range of the dining room sweeping your uneaten food into the trash. Or you man up and chug it all and have a stomachache for the next day. I think in most cases people are in charge of their own bodies and should have self control regardless, but it can be annoying to have to defend your choice all the time just because it differs a bit from what's generally accepted, when a small thing like food becomes such a hassle.

[xerx]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

Don't go to restaurants. The food isn't usually very healthy. Either it's full of saturated fat, has a high glycemic index or contains harmful additives. Even healthy menu choices aren't very healthy most of the time.

You can control the portion size if you cook your own food. I pick my own ingredients..

And I sheer my sheep and skin my own leather boots too, dagnabit.

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

Perhaps you should move a bit more, that'd leave you hungrier and able to enjoy food more.

I've been exercising plenty, that's not the issue.

You can control the portion size if you cook your own food. I pick my own ingredients..

Yeah I've been doing this more.

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

And emotionally..it kind of feels like unfinished business..it sounds a bit silly but it feels like you failed. Waiters are always disappointed that you didn't order more, so they're like "just a snack?" in a slightly miffed tone. Or if you don't eat out often, and it's a special occasion, and someone orders something nice and expensive for you, you feel guilty for not eating it all. Or you get comments about how you eat like a bird because the hungry man portion was too much for you. Or you see them just out of range of the dining room sweeping your uneaten food into the trash. Or you man up and chug it all and have a stomachache for the next day. I think in most cases people are in charge of their own bodies and should have self control regardless, but it can be annoying to have to defend your choice all the time just because it differs a bit from what's generally accepted, when a small thing like food becomes such a hassle.

lmao. yeah. It's like the emotional principal of the situation. Of course I always have self-control, and I followed it- I let the meal spread out over 4 times.

[Aiss]

I was going to say that as long as you order one dish (not appetizer, main and dessert), size seems to be fine for most people, but then I recalled what's called 'American size' portions.

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

Yeah honestly it feels like some sort of insecurity complex about masculinity that americans have or something. Like a version of 'small penis syndrome.'

[Creepy-Cyclops]

Hmmm, interesting, afaik Americans do have quite large portions.

Where I am, sometimes when my friend and I find ourselves in a restaurant, we've found ourselves (if eating the same thing) ordering 3 meals and asking them to put on 2 plates.

Buffets do me in though, I can find myself eating too much at them and becoming somewhat immobile for a while, ie best thing to do is to go home and lie on couch watching TV for a while, before getting hungry again, heh.

[Trevor]

That would be cool but what's considered the perfect amount of food is different for everybody.

No but. It has already been accounted for.

[redbaron]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

yeah. well just take the rest home and eat it the next day! the more meals you can get out of it, the less cooking you have to do!

[Creepy-]

Just get appetizers. They're usually the perfect size and cheaper too.

Or kids' meals.


I *like* that they give such big portions... like redbaron said, if you take some home for later meal, that's less cooking you have to do later, which is nice.

[silverchris9]

Yeah honestly it feels like some sort of insecurity complex about masculinity that americans have or something. Like a version of 'small penis syndrome.'

Eh. I think we had a daddy complex with Europe for a long time. And then when we stepped in and "saved" Europe in WW2, it was like when you've graduated from college and you can finally send some money back home to Mom, or maybe help Dad out of a financial scrape by paying the mortgage or something. Billy came home and saved the farm! And then we were real adults for like, 15 years. But then we lost our job and we couldn't pay the mortgage and we broke up with our wife and we pissed off our best friend...

[Rubicon]

And emotionally..it kind of feels like unfinished business..it sounds a bit silly but it feels like you failed. Waiters are always disappointed that you didn't order more, so they're like "just a snack?" in a slightly miffed tone. Or if you don't eat out often, and it's a special occasion, and someone orders something nice and expensive for you, you feel guilty for not eating it all. Or you get comments about how you eat like a bird because the hungry man portion was too much for you. Or you see them just out of range of the dining room sweeping your uneaten food into the trash. Or you man up and chug it all and have a stomachache for the next day. I think in most cases people are in charge of their own bodies and should have self control regardless, but it can be annoying to have to defend your choice all the time just because it differs a bit from what's generally accepted, when a small thing like food becomes such a hassle.

I hear your portions are ridiculous compared to ours though. :-p

[discojoe]

That's wasteful.

If a restaurant serves large portions, it is because it has determined that its customers on average want portions of that size. If it were to reduce portion sizes, it would negatively affect business, and you have no basis to conclude that this would not be the case, since you are not the one running the restaurant.

The argument that it is wasteful to serve oversized portions relies on the assumption that there is somehow a more efficient way to allocate the food. There isn't. Telling people where to ship the food amounts to central planning, and will only result in them producing less of it, since they would no longer be able to sell it for as much money on the global market.

People shouldn't have to wade through their food.

Evidently, most people don't consider it "wading," so you're imposing your own preferences onto everyone else by making such a declaration.

Standardized portions used to be smaller.

And thanks to the distribution of labor, people can now get more of what they want for the same price.

Quality depends on where you eat and what. Moving doesn't necessarily mean more appetite, sometimes when you're active you feel less hungry.

And sometimes people purchase things with their own money that you will find distasteful. If you would like, we can set a horrible legal precedent and make it so the government can tell us how much food we are allowed to buy with our money. Or you can tolerate what other people do with their own money so that your own freedoms remain intact.

[Rubicon]

A slight bit of research shows that portion sizes have gotten dramatically bigger over the past few decades, Disco.. obviously to people's detriment, from the erm looks of things. What's your point?

[discojoe]

A slight bit of research shows that portion sizes have gotten dramatically bigger over the past few decades, Disco.. obviously to people's detriment, from the erm looks of things. What's your point?

Two points.

My first point is that there is not any ethical difference between telling people that they can only purchase portions of a certain size and telling them they can only buy so much candy every year.

My second point is that using central planning to regulate the food industry would stifle the market and reduce employment, production, and innovation.

[Krig the Viking]

If a restaurant serves large portions, it is because it has determined that its customers on average want portions of that size. If it were to reduce portion sizes, it would negatively affect business, and you have no basis to conclude that this would not be the case, since you are not the one running the restaurant.

Exactly. If restaurants reduced their portion size, this forum would have threads complaining "I spent all this money at the restaurant, and they didn't give me enough food! Now I'm hungry and angry because the restaurant ripped me off! I'm never eating there again!"

Seriously people, do you realize how lucky you are to live in a society where your only food-related complaints are that there's too much of it?

[discojoe]

Exactly. If restaurants reduced their portion size, this forum would have threads complaining "I spent all this money at the restaurant, and they didn't give me enough food! Now I'm hungry and angry because the restaurant ripped me off! I'm never eating there again!"

Seriously people, do you realize how lucky you are to live in a society where your only food-related complaints are that there's too much of it?

Public schooling has left them without the ability to think beyond stage one when considering any piece of information.

[Rubicon]

My first point is that there is not any ethical difference between telling people that they can only purchase portions of a certain size and telling them they can only buy so much candy every year.

The OP was addressing the topic of restaurant portions, which are decided for you - have always been decided for you. The size has just changed in recent years. Candy is hardly relevant, but the ethical equivalent would be bags of candy getting bigger. No matter how big or small the sizes, people are 'being told' how much they can buy. So there's some responsibility on the part of the portion-control people to get it right.

My second point is that using central planning to regulate the food industry would stifle the market and reduce employment, production, and innovation.

Central planning has always been used.

[xerx]

If a restaurant serves large portions, it is because it has determined that its customers on average want portions of that size. If it were to reduce portion sizes, it would negatively affect business, and you have no basis to conclude that this would not be the case, since you are not the one running the restaurant.

The argument that it is wasteful to serve oversized portions relies on the assumption that there is somehow a more efficient way to allocate the food. There isn't. Telling people where to ship the food amounts to central planning, and will only result in them producing less of it, since they would no longer be able to sell it for as much money on the global market.

Evidently, most people don't consider it "wading," so you're imposing your own preferences onto everyone else by making such a declaration.

And thanks to the distribution of labor, people can now get more of what they want for the same price.

And sometimes people purchase things with their own money that you will find distasteful. If you would like, we can set a horrible legal precedent and make it so the government can tell us how much food we are allowed to buy with our money. Or you can tolerate what other people do with their own money so that your own freedoms remain intact.

I think she was just suggesting a subjective opinion to her friend, not trying to impose her preferences on economics.

[munenori2]

BUT EVERYTHING'S ECONOMICS, FOOD IS ECONOMICS, SEX IS ECONOMICS, THIS POST IS ECONOMICS, READ DISCOJOE'S BIBLE AND YE SHALL KNOW.

[Joy]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

I like it because then I have breakfast for the next day, too. Often a couple more meals. Left overs kick ass.

[FDG]

BUT EVERYTHING'S ECONOMICS, FOOD IS ECONOMICS, SEX IS ECONOMICS, THIS POST IS ECONOMICS, READ DISCOJOE'S BIBLE AND YE SHALL KNOW.

If everybody had sex with hookers instead of having a girlfriend, GDP would rise dramatically.

[Bardia]

If there is more food there is more to take home and eat at some other point in time.

I like the portion size. I have a high metabolism and need a lot of food and calories so I don't waste away. If they were smaller I would have to eat more often.

[xerx]

I have just one more thing to add to this thread:

[munenori2]

If everybody had sex with hookers instead of having a girlfriend, GDP would rise dramatically.

lol

[Khola aka Bee]

I hate how they give you so much food in restaurants. I went out to eat awhile ago and the meal that I ordered is lasting me four times! Do they seriously expect me to eat all that in one setting? My body was stuffed after only a few bites.

Why would you complain about too much food? So long as the price is good and you can take it home, freeze it, and eat it for another three days afterwards, isn't that a profit?

If it got thrown out it would piss me off.

[Creepy-Pied Piper]

Removed at User Request

[Rubicon]

[Creepy-Pied Piper]

Removed at User Request

[Rubicon]

awwww

[Khola aka Bee]

For one whole week!

*HUGS*

[Bardia]

LOL the only people I know who actually complain about portion sizes being too small are noticeably overweight. "man that crab cake was too small & wasted my money. I'm never eating there again". Then if you order an appetizer as meal everyone looks at you judgmentally & labels you as anorexic. lol I love this country.

Soooo not true. I know a lot of guys who aren't over weight and will complain about the portions at some places including myself. Some people just have a really fast metabolism which creates a big appetite, especially if they are really physically active. Most places have fair sized meals but some restaurants like Seasons 52 have small portions and don't fill me up at all. I only know one or two girls like this for comparison purposes, so mostly guys that I know have this problem.