Here are a few that have been most valuable to me. It so happens that most of these revolve around a high protein intake. This has been frustrating for me to achieve in Slovenia, as products low in fat are hard to get, and/or are insufficiently labeled. U.S. food, meanwhile, is a boon for people with my kind of dietary preference.
Contrary to what people think, obesity in the U.S. is not due to poor diet. A wider variety of choices and better labeling make it easy to maintain a fit figure through diet in the U.S., while doing the same is frustrating in Europe. Americans are obese because it's culturally acceptable, so many choose to be that way.
Cooking spray
You can avoid the mess, hassle and extra calories that come with oiling your pan by simply spraying it with this.
Never mind the "organic". Anything that says "organic" or "bio" is an attempt to bullshit you. Everything that's edible is "organic" and "bio". Things that aren't edible are poison. Most of those don't get on shelves.
Liquid Egg Whites
Eggs are an excellent source of protein, but too many egg yolks aren't good for you, chucking them away feels like an awful waste, and separating piles of eggs for an eggwhite omelet is a hassle.
Lo and behold, liquid eggwhites. Just open and pour into the pan. This being the result of an industrial process, I am 95% sure that the corresponding egg yolks are used for some purpose. This is probably a better use of resources than buying eggs and throwing yolks away.
Presliced Low-Fat Meat
Lo and behold, presliced turkey breast with tasty seasoning and almost entirely consisting of protein. In Slovenia, most meat products are 50% fat, and have double or triple the calories for the same amount of protein.
Fat Free Cheese
Lo and behold, cheese that is all protein, no fat. Top, pre-shredded Mozarella ready to sprinkle on your eggwhite omelet. Bottom, all-protein singles.
There's plenty variety of cheese in Slovenia, but it's all half fat.
TV Dinners
The ultimate in convenience as far as warm meals go, and some are very tasty to boot. Chuck it in the microwave and voila, a small meal is ready in 3-5 minutes. In addition, labeling makes it easy for folks like me to track their calorie and protein intake.
These are some of my favorites:
Canned Soups
My wife likes this kind of canned soups a lot - her favorite are Campbell's:
Protein Shakes
Sadly not available in St. Kitts, but you can get them in most every corner drugstore in the U.S. They beat protein powders as the taste is better, and they're easier to use since no mixing or weighing is required. I'd love for something like these EAS AdvantEDGE drinks to be available in St. Kitts.
Resealable Plastic Bags
How come this isn't available in Slovenia, I cannot fathom. These baggies are cheap, come in many sizes, and are easy to seal and reseal. Everyone who sees them for the first time wants them:
Showing 8 out of 8 comments, oldest first:
Comment on Mar 22, 2009 at 01:19 by verbatim
From your post it seems like fat is a root of all problems. I don't really think food we take matters that much or influence our figure that much. If I look around in my village there are plenty of 80+ years old quite healthy not really fat old people which had eaten a lot of fat in their life, they baked on pigs fat...
While I agree that obesity is culturally acceptable in US (and being slim is stupidly called anorexic), I believe the main problem is they are not moving. If they have to move, they use a car. Even if their destination is just across the street.
Comment on Mar 22, 2009 at 01:47 by denisbider
But there is demand. I want these things. People would buy them if they were available.
verbatim: "People are not even nearly as obese as people I saw in United States."
Obese people aren't exactly the market for these products. :) The products I listed are bought by people who want to be in shape.
Also, note that these products are just one small niche that I in particular find of interest. There are other products for other niches that are unavailable in Europe. How so? *shrug*
verbatim: From your post it seems like fat is a root of all problems.
Fat is not the root of all problems, but there's only so many calories you can eat per day if you don't want to gain weight. If you eat fatty products, then you aren't going to be able to eat chocolate.
I, for one, prefer to have some spare calories for the chocolate, so I avoid fat in cheese.
If you are okay avoiding chocolate, you can instead have fatty cheese, and that'll also work.
verbatim: "I don't really think food we take matters that much or influence our figure that much."
Ummh.... :) *smirk* Let me tell you... what you eat affects your figure very much. Suppose your energy requirements are 2,500 kCal per day, and you instead eat 2,750 kCal per day on average. With 30% digestion efficiency, this is going to accumulate to 9 kg of body fat per year.
I seem to be fairly adept, at this point, at maintaining my muscle mass and trimming fat with mere diet. I do so by restricting my calorie intake to what I need, eating a lot of protein to make sure that I have raw materials for repairing muscle in abundance, and by occasionally exercising the muscles I want to keep. This has worked well for me, and has worked much better here in St. Kitts with the products I have listed, than it ever has in Slovenia where half the products are poorly labeled and it's hard to get things that aren't full of fat.
It is even easier to do this in the U.S., where you have access to excellent protein shakes that aren't available here in St. Kitts. When traveling in the U.S., I can easily get a quarter of my calorie intake from protein drinks, half from restaurant food, and the rest from chocolate. Meanwhile, I lose fat and maintain muscle mass. It's awesome. :)
You can't really have a diet like that in Slovenia. You are sentenced to consuming fat that you don't really want to consume. You then can't eat other things that you would have preferred instead.
verbatim: While I agree that obesity is culturally acceptable in US (and being slim is stupidly called anorexic), I believe the main problem is they are not moving. If they have to move, they use a car. Even if their destination is just across the street.
Exercise is a good way to get slim and fit. However, proper diet allows you to keep muscle mass and not gain weight even when you don't have time for exercise. You can do that easily with products that exist in the U.S. It's hard to do that with the diet that exists in Europe.
Comment on Mar 22, 2009 at 02:14 by verbatim
Obese people aren't exactly the market for these products. :)
As people are not obese they are not really interested in all that calories info. The same goes for sport. People have enough free time for exercise so they are not interested in diet to stay fit. With sport they can easily burn all aditional calories.
But I guess there would be more demand for that kind of food if there were extended working hours.
Comment on Mar 22, 2009 at 02:56 by denisbider
One might simply prefer mental exercise to physical, which tends to engage the body but not the mind.
I, for one, prefer to spend my free time catching up on blogs and reading up on interesting topics, as opposed to swimming or hiking. Though I too need to get physical exercise from time to time. :)
One other thing. While America is indeed full of obese people, it is also full of beautifully sculpted people. I think more so than Europe, where everyone is average.
To sculpt your body beautifully, you have to get plenty of exercise, as well as eat right.
And again - it is easier to eat right in the States.
Comment on Mar 22, 2009 at 21:27 by verbatim
Depends where you are in America. There are many beautifully sculpted people in south Florida or California, but almost nonexistent in Alabama. Same goes for Europe. Many beautiful people in fashion centers such as Milano or Paris.
Comment on Mar 23, 2009 at 02:26 by denisbider
Comment on Mar 23, 2009 at 19:47 by verbatim
That's how it usually works. :)
But it's not even just Florida or California. We've seen beautiful people in all cities we've been in the U.S.
Sure there are beautiful people anywhere. But there are areas where there are above average numbers of people of particular characteristic. If someone just move from southern to northern Florida for example, one can easily notice the decline of small bikinis, beautiful and fit people and increased obesity.
Comment on Mar 24, 2009 at 00:00 by denisbider