[dd74]

Americans are so fat because we've been trained from childhood to believe in large portions. Over the weekend we ate at a Cheesecake Factory, and I swear, the Shepard's Pie dish they brought us could be split between four people.

The simple fact is this: American used to labor manually. Now everything is automated and computerized, and is conducted from behind a desk. Nonetheless, we still eat portions as if we were lived on a farm. Addtionally, fifty years ago, there was never talk of exercise because Americans were too tired from working on the farm to exercise; it just wasn't a concept then, especially in rural areas.

Manual labor necessitated large meals - eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast - any Denny's-type offering - would go through us like water. Now it simply sticks inside us because we don't "labor."

You're always safer calorically when preparing your own meals. But that's often as expensive as going out to eat. So if you go out to eat, take a friend or two and split up the meal - and the bill. I bet someone could get away from a place like the Cheesecake factory with spending $10 (including drink and tip), if the meal was split up.

Oh, and yeah: exercise helps. But exercise is better than picking lettuce in the field like our ancestors used to do.