“America make you fat.”
Welcome back to another blog! I landed back into Hong Kong just yesterday after spending 3 weeks in US, Chicago specifically. As a result of my travelling, I was inspired to talk about how one can balance between healthy eating and indulgence (as one does in America). Every time I mentioned going to the US, all my friends and family associated the place with fast food and diabetes-causing sweets, but contrary to their beliefs, I didn’t gain any weight at all and instead built strength during my training. Of course, I enjoyed lots of yummy foods in Chicago but had specific strategies to balance health too.
The 80/20 rule
Many people have heard about this “rule” and it’s definitely not my first time mentioning it. But the core idea is simple: Have healthy whole foods 80% of the time, and enjoy your indulgences 20% the rest of the time. Now, saying it is easy, but following it is the hard bit because one thing I’ve noticed in the US is the sheer level of “temptations”.
Fast food and sweet treats are everywhere and will often times be more affordable than any protein dish or salad. The first thing I see in every grocery store is an aisle full of baked goods, and the second thing I see are the endless shelves stacked with every sweet and salty imaginable. Not only are they cheap, but processed food packaging are HUGE. It goes without saying that they’re addicting, but also not filling at all. How the 80/20 rule looks in practice differs from person to person, depending on one’s lifestyle and preferences. However, I think the non-negotiable aspect is sticking with whole foods 80% of the time. This means meals high in protein and fibre, the 2 elements essential for feeling full.
As I come to realize, it’s incredibly hard eating enough fibre in the US and hence why most of us feel hungry soon after eating a meal. While every Cantonese restaurant in HK has a whole section for leafy greens and veggies, the most one will get at fast food places are apple slices or a tiny serving of salad. Yes, romaine lettuce as a base is great to add volume, but they’re made of ~90% water and not fiber. Spinach or arugula, alternatively, are high in fiber but often very hard to get down without drenching them in dressing. They can be bitter and just painful to eat! Anyhow, try having main meals high in whole, unprocessed foods, but obviously sneak in the treats/outing with friends throughout the week to make staying healthy feel relatively effortless.
Prioritize protein & fiber
Why is protein & fiber so important? Protein and fiber helps me stay full and less likely to grab that packet of Nachos my friend is gobbling down. Before I share my hacks about how to spot where protein & fiber lies in specific foods, I must preface that I spent most of my time at the University of Chicago. I had a meal swipe 3 times in a day (Breakfast, lunch and dinner) and was privileged to have regular eating times and rotating menus throughout the week, which not everyone can relate to. However, there were certain tips that I adhered to so I didn’t grab every sweet thing I saw or order takeout daily:
Prioritize fats and protein for breakfast. Eggs, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt will be your best friend. Though I've begun to fast till noon when I was in HK, I knew this wasn’t realistic when I came to the US, where intensive classes took place every morning from 9am for 2.5 hours. I had to eat something, or I’d feel ravenous by lunch and also really distracted during class. The dining hall breakfast was certainly full of “traps” purely made of carbs, which would set my entire day off track. This is because the moment I begin having the croissants, waffles and hash browns, I would never stop. Having high volumes of carbs first thing in the morning will spike one’s glucose levels and lead to greater cravings for even MORE sugar throughout the day. Therefore, I never once grabbed the baked goods or fried foods in the morning and opted for high protein options as I mentioned. When I really wanted carbs, I opted for fruits high in antioxidants (blueberries and blackberries), and/or fruits high in water content (honeydew and cantaloupe). Yes, the fruits would still cause glucose spikes (since they are still carbs), but they’re definitely more satiating due to its high volume and fiber content.
High protein for lunch and dinner. Okay, maybe it’s true I’ve got an obsession with eating enough protein for every meal, but it’s literally a cheat code for staying food. If you give me 200 grams of cake, I can finish the piece within 5 minutes. But if you give me 200 grams of chicken breast/thigh, cutting and chewing the entire thing would take over 20 minutes and leave me feeling so full. That’s why for most of my meals, I ate mostly chicken breasts to get the protein for muscle retention AND satiation. Yes, not everyone can accept the dryness or chewiness, but I’ve found cutting the chicken into smaller pieces to have really helped. Alternatively, one can opt for fish or beef to spice things up, but note that beef patties served in most restaurants and dining halls are fattier, probably in a 60/40 protein-to-fat ratio. As for my fat source, I couldn’t say no to good old fries because I love the texture and having potatoes in general. However, I kept my portion of fries very small to just satisfy the savory craving and have a bit of fats.
High volume servings. From the dining hall pictures, you can see that I eat a lot. Like, often times 3 platefuls of food. It’s intimidating at first glance, but one should realize that it’s mostly high volume foods for very little calories. Though I eat 3 plates of food for most meals, 1 of them is guaranteed to be purely lettuce with some beets and chicken on top. The rest of the plates will look very similar: packed with protein, cooked vegetables and the occasional carb source. I don’t intentionally seek for fat sources because one, I’ve had 2–3 eggs for breakfast and more importantly, we have to be aware the protein and veggies are cooked in fats. Not only so, but the roasted potatoes and fries I get are also cooked in oil, so I’m definitely having fats throughout the day even without trying. My friends see the huge portions I get and wonder how I still stay in shape, without recognizing that the chocolate cosmic brownie offered at the dessert counter is most definitely more calorically dense than my plateful of salad. If I was to try the desserts, I’d definitely share with a few other people because one, I’m not used to just how sweet everything is in the States, and two, I know I’ll feel horrible finishing the treat myself.
Out of sight, out of mind. Even with temptations everywhere, I’ve recognized that if I don’t have it around me, I won’t think about reaching for the snack that I’ll end up finishing. For example, I couldn’t control myself one night at 11pm and ended up finishing the entire bag of Quest protein chips after buying it during the day. Thinking back, I was just bored/sleepy but seeing the snack lie at the corner on my table, my mind probably got confused with the sleepy/bored/hunger signals so I ended up finishing the entire thing. These occasions happened a few times during my time in the US, when I’d be playing cards with my dorm mates at night, and seeing the snacks they bought made me snack on them even when I didn’t feel hungry. So, when I recognized that this was becoming a tendency, I opted to close my eating window earlier at night, maybe like 8pm. Instead, I brushed my teeth early and got rid of any snacks in sight, so I don’t feel the urge to grab for them whenever possible.
Share everything. Joining a summer camp was amazing in lots of aspects, particularly the chance to share good foods and your fitness journey with your pals. I resonated with this notion the most this time around, where my friends and I would go to a restaurant, order whatever we wanted (pastas, steaks, desserts etc.) and shared everything. This narrowed the room for overeating since whoever still felt hungry can help each other finish the food (and whoever felt full isn’t pressured to eat everything) but also allowed everyone to enjoy the local specials. Going to Chicago for the first time, I couldn’t come and not try deep dish pizza, but I’m so glad I went with 6 other friends to share everything. Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria had great deep dish pizzas and huge servings of other dishes like BBQ wings and salads, but I certainly would have had a worse experience had I went alone. I probably could have indulged in 2–3 slices of deep dish pizzas (because I love cheese and the buttery crust), but I know it would’ve made me feel horrible after overdosing on cheese. Instead, we ordered two portions of salads to share and had a slice of deep dish instead. At the end, I still got to try what Chicago deep dish had to offer, whilst feeling satisfied by having the side salads to cut through the grease. Similarly with desserts, I would’ve felt pressured to finish the whole dessert by myself to reduce waste, but sharing one ice cream between a few friends was so much more satisfying because the whole thing was gone after a few spoonfuls.
Again, it’s not about what you eat, it’s about how much you eat. Sharing everything makes this whole process that much easier.
Conclusion
So, the notion of “[Going to] America makes you fat” doesn’t exist. Undoubtedly, you are exposed to significantly easier access to ultra-processed foods in America with affordable prices, but what makes one gain fat and/or fat isn’t the access to them, but the insufficient knowledge to healthy and satisfactory eating. Passing the baking or dessert aisle at the store doesn’t mean you HAVE to eat it or you’re missing out. Instead, ask if this is what you truly want at the moment, or is water or some fruit able to curb that itch already. For so long, I’ve feared eating lots of pineapples or melons because they’re “full of sugar”, but after 3 weeks of getting most of my carbs from fruits and potatoes, I can happily say that I will opt for them rather than chips anytime of the day.
I hope my tips can help anyone that’s feeling anxious about travelling or staying healthy in general. US is infamous for its unhealthy eating and I can definitely understand why. But with a proper mindset and core habits to sustain healthy eating 80% of the time, there’s no reason why having fried foods or desserts 20% the rest of the time will throw you off your fitness journey! I’ve learned so much about balanced eating during my past 3 weeks in the US and I look forward to visiting more cities next time to have even more baked goods, burgers and huge portion sizes!
Thanks for reading, and see you all in a bit.
-Winnie 28/07/2025
