Watching Us Stuff Our Faces at Shoneys Breakfast Bar

On the way from Savannah to Macon, I found a Shoneys about 9:30 AM. Their breakfast bar didn't have oatmeal - here in the heart of Georgia it was grits instead. Being a native Georgia boy, I had two bowls of southern style grits along with generous helpings of fruit and melon.

A father with an older and younger son sat at the booth next to mine. The older son who was in his late teens piled his plate high with bacon, fried french toast sticks, biscuits and scrambled eggs all topped off with a generous serving of gravy. Then he went back for a second helping of the same. He may have had more fat and salt in that one sitting than I'm likely to have the rest of my life if I follow through with this diet.

In general I was struck by how much everybody around me was stuffing themselves. Over and over young and old alike went back to the bar for more food. And by far the favorites were heavy in fat and salt. The fruits and melons didn't see much action. As I become more sensitive to the nuances of our eating behavior, I've convinced that most Americans are obsessed with stuffing their faces. Our national addiction may well be food!

For supper I had a large vegetable salad at a vegetarian restaurant. It was loaded with fresh vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower. I was left with two distinct impressions. First it took much longer to eat the salad than my typical meal of soup and greens salad - at least twice as long. Second after eating this large volume, I didn't have the heavy feeling that I would have had with a meal of the same volume but denser foods. I was full without feeling stuffed.