About the perils of overeating in the US

It is tempting to think all Americans fall into two categories – the uber-skinny Hollywood type and the clinically obese burger-chomping brigade.

Of course that’s way too simplistic, there are people here of all shapes and sizes. But this is the land where fast food is king and there is an undeniably massive problem with over-eating. ‘Let’s do breakfast’ is often cue for three or four enormous pancakes smothered in fresh cream and maple syrup.

Having lived here for nine moths I’m beginning to have sympathy with people who find themselves overweight – because it’s happening to me. Since arriving in March I’ve put on more than a stone (14 pounds to my American friends), I feel out of shape and bloated, and clothes are not fitting me.

The first problem is my lack of self-control and willpower. The food – and the sweets – are so tempting here. I’m a sucker for all sorts of American candy like tootsie rolls and in particular a confection known as salt water taffy. I could eat the stuff till it’s coming out of my ears.

When I left Scotland, good burger shops such as Five Guys were springing up all over Glasgow. Multiply that by 100 for Phoenix. The burgers here are delicious, so are the french fries (chips are what we call crisps in Scotland), and the portions are enormous.

The other difficulty is that, with the exception of most of the fast-food joints, the food on offer is of a very high quality – irresistible to be honest. Mexican cuisine is the speciality round here but there are good restaurants everywhere. After all, Americans take their food seriously.

How many times have you heard the morning after the night before discussion? Something along the lines of ‘I had six pints, five wines, then I can’t remember the rest of the night’. It happens every day of every week in workplaces up and down the country.

The culture here is totally different. Americans don’t talk about the drink they’ve had, but they enter into great detailed conversations about how the food is prepared. Men of all ages will describe how thinly they sliced the beef in their Philly cheese steak, or at what temperature they cooked the ribs on the barbeque.

It may seem strange that, having come from the country where we offer deep-fried Mars Bars and Snickers in fish and chip shops, I should put on so much weight in a land where the food is healthier.

So what am I going to do about this? For a start I’ve been encouraged by reading about some of my Facebook friends who have adopted sensible eating plans that have made a big difference to their clothes sizes. Step forward Simon Houston, Jesse Caufield, Helen McArdle and anyone else I’ve missed.

It doesn’t have to be some sort of major diet, just common sense eating with exercise thrown in. The tempting restaurants all have salad options, and eating at home will have to mean an end to the cookies, popcorn, and other delights that seem to appear from nowhere.

I have an exercise bike so it will be a case of ‘on my bike’ and watch the pounds fall off – and all this is going to start in the New Year, so the inevitable Christmas splurge will happen between now and then.

So wish me luck. It will be a temptation-filled exercise and I’m going to have to conquer my natural inability to stop myself when confronted with mouth-watering, fattening goodies. I’ll keep you posted.