My 600lb life and other similar programmes

[Sunshineandflipflops]

Something that never fails to amaze me when watching these programmes is where people get the money to eat all the food required to get to and stay at this size? You see them getting takeaways constantly and they are rarely capable of working so generally curious as to how they afford it. I work and couldn't afford a daily takeaway even if I wanted one!
I know healthier foods can be more expensive than junk food but not at this quantity and not takeaways!

You aren't wrong to wonder actually!
Our food bill dropped since on a diet. Just a bit but it did.

I checked a calculator and apparently if I were 500 pounds (highest available) my sedentary tdee would be 3500? Another one given me 3600.

That's surprisingly "little"! Maybe USa also has takeaways cheaper? I think it's predominantly US the sries, isn't it?

Oh interesting.. I actually hadn't thought of this, but now you mention it, it does seem strange.

I always assumed they maybe received disability benefits if they can't work. Or maybe they have excellent health insurance which maybe covers them not being able to work?

Or maybe takeaways are cheap in the states. In fact, I know they are. Taco Bell you could probably feed a family for about ten dollars if you get their deals.

I know rent and housing is comparatively cheap there too. I used to live there and am a US citizen by birth, but I can't remember it well enough to tell you.

I think even here in the UK sometimes takeaway food is the easiest and cheapest option, once you factor in travel, if you live in a 'food desert' where there are no shops with fruit and veg etc and don't drive. In fact, I believe fast food places deliberately set themselves up in places like this, so people have fewer options.

Cheap shit junk food is everywhere in USA. It's far cheaper to eat take out than to cook nutritious good quality food at home. The amount of sugar in their products is much higher than allowed here, the portions are much bigger too, I do believe there is some form of addiction at play. The meat is pumped full of hormones, antibiotics and pesticide residue, the crops are GMO. America's food is a disgrace.

I expect that US portion sizes and prices play a big role. I've just worked out that 2 cheeseburgers from McDonalds costs around £1.50 and you can get a takeaway pepperoni pizza for around £3.50.

Interesting, thanks. It's terrible that it's cheaper to fill yourself with crap than to eat healthily and other than health of course, no incentive to be any different.

Yes, it is the US series I have been watching.

Tbh it's quite logical mass produce crap which hasn't seen vegetable even in passing will be cheaper than actual veg for example.
It takes time and money to grow the veg, then move it around without damage and it going off, quickly sell it.
Meanwhile highly processed crap can be made in incredible amount, bunged around, kept in whatever temperature and has lifespan longer than a blue whale.

There is still very much possibility to eat very well and healthily on budget though. But it requiers standing by the cooker and in a kitchen for a bit, which I don't think many people of that size, if any actually, can do.

We were horrified with the portions of food we were served in New York. I've got a very healthy appetite, but didn't finish a single plate of food while we were there. I'd ordered pancakes one morning for breakfast, and it came with a mountain of them complete with an entire fruit basket - I was so confused that I asked the waitress if I had to take them from the stack thinking it was how they served them

The only place where we had regular servings were in the more upmarket restaurants where you paid for quality versus quantity, I guess.

Oh I know!! I love that programme and always wondered how they afford the endless massive pizzas and gargantuan drive-thrus. It sounds like it's much cheaper in the US then, not £12 for 1 10 inch pizza like here.

(Good job I can't get a big takeaway pizza for £3.50 in the UK or I'd need a trip to Dr. Now too)

Most if them get disability benefits which helps cover the cost.

Agree the portions are huge - our first visit many years ago DH and I went into the first restaurant and we both ordered starters plus mains, the waitress suggested we shared a starter or held off on ordering our main course. We held off, the starters came out - he'd ordered potato skins and I'd ordered chicken wings - DH portion was 16 - my wings came in a big bucket - both came with extras, bread, salad, dips etc. We ate as much as we could and got a doggy bag, we didn't have the mains. We quickly learnt ! When we was coming home our flight was delayed by 4 hours so we went to a Pizza Hut buffet and ate very slowly people watching to kill time. An American at the next table came in and we watched him eat 42 slices of pizza before we left for our flight - he wasn't a big bloke.

I'm always horrified at how huge those people get.

Most of them are quite poor, too, and live in low quality housing from the looks of it. I wonder if they spend a lot of their budget on food.

This is a good book from the perspective of a food addict. She was able to hold down a full time job WFH, but at her worst she was spending $400+ a week on takeaways and going into debt to do so.

I always feel so sad for them as I understand the compulsion to over eat. I have absolutely no control over my eating when my sleep apnea is uncontrolled. Something flips in my head and the only thing that stops me eating is reaching the point of feeling sick. I'm extremely lucky in that I got the diagnosis before I reached 600 lbs and have lost a lot of weight since, but it could so easily have been me.