The Junk Food Diet

I'm beginning to think that there is something VERY wrong with the food in the USA. I've been in Jordan for just under two months, eating whatever I want, and I'm losing weight.

One might make the case that tourism or an increase in activity is behind this... Not even close. I'm lazy my friends, very very lazy. I've gone to see one sight in Amman, Jordan. I walk for maybe 2 hours a week, to go get food mostly. Sure, some stores are uphill, I lose a breath or two... but that isn't it, I promise you.

Naw dawg, it's the food for sure.

Just look at this salad, piled high with deep fried pita bread. Sure, its mostly vegetables, but what makes it healthier is what is NOT in it.

There's no added nonsense in the bread. Likely it was made fresh somewhere nearby, that's the way it is around here.

In fact, good luck finding anything that was not made somewhere nearby that isn't 2-3x its value. An added bonus to being a thrifty grocery shopper here is you will end up not only buying local, but the food you bring home is almost guaranteed to be better for you.

Even when getting takeout, the ingredients are just better. This particular salad is called fattoush, and I'm beyond addicted to it. It has a homemade lemon-sumac-pomegranate dressing, and it's like getting punched in the mouth by god.

"Well that's it!" You may say. "You're eating salad all the time, fried pita or not, that's healthy!"

aggressive buzzer noises WRONG!

You know what I eat with this salad usually? Red meat. More bread. Half a liter of Pepsi.

OH! And don't get me started on the freaking Pepsi! No high fructose corn syrup? Real sugar? An entire 1.5 liter bottle is 189 calories, compared to 155 calories in a 12oz bottle from the USA! In case you were wondering (I was), there are 50.72 ounces in 1.5 liters! What?!

I didn't even consume soft drinks when I was still in the US due to their syrupy taste. Some sexy but very bad influence here got me to try the Pepsi, and now I'm a fiend for the stuff! Yeah, Yaz makes fun of me for it, but I can't help but to drink so damn much of it when we get a bottle. 😩

I've eaten plenty of really not healthy stuff in general. Just look at this!

Apparently it's normal when getting a shawarma sandwich for it to be filled with what psychos here like to refer to as mayonnaise. It's eggs and garlic, fine in moderation. But NO, they smear it all up in your bread like it's the main focus.

Then the damn thing is grilled and cut up into little pieces. I must be honest, I don't like the shawarma I've had in the Middle East at all, which is pretty funny considering...

The falafel is much more my speed, and that I've eaten MANY times here. And what's in that? FRIED chickpeas! If I even look at fried food in the states I have to go walk 5 miles to burn it off, what is going on?


Since you can snag a falafel sandwich for .50 Jordanian Dinars here (roughly .75 USD), I've eaten them dozens of times when cooking sounded super lame. Other times we've ordered out from the butcher shop around the corner. They have a varied menu, and the meat is FRESH.


Considering that hummus is legit FULL of olive oil, and red meat is supposed to be bad for you (especially when eaten with tons of bread), I'd say this is not healthy either.

Could it be that the preservatives, highly processed sugars, and odd dyes are what makes the USA have the highest rate of obesity? Yes, I think so. I've been reading labels here, and I've noticed a startling ingredient discrepancy.




Even pre-packaged foods and straight junk food have more forgiving labels than in the USA. Less calories, fewer ingredients, and usually no dyes.


I was shocked to see that the red/green dyes that crunchy people are always claiming make kids act out are actually labeled as such here. No kidding, it says it on the back of the package that it may have an adverse effect on the activity and attention span of children!

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Even the juice here is wild to me.

You know what's in it? Juice, water, and sugar. That's it.

I'm so used to "all natural" meaning that the preservatives are some kind of plant based gunk.
Or it means that yes, it is the juice you intend to buy, but also 70% apple juice from concentrate. Not here my friends, nope.

I couldn't make this any more natural unless I bought a pomegranate and juiced the damn thing myself sans sugar!

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How is it that I'm dropping pounds eating cookies several times a week with my coffee, cooking with butter and heavy cream, and eating things like these cheese filled fatayer?!

It felt like magic, until I looked closer at the processes and ingredients that make Jordanian foods the way that they are.

Watching my clothes get baggier, I realize that less is more also applies to food. Who would think that the way things are processed could have such a tremendous effect? Those X health junkies are on to something major.

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When I observe all of these details and differences, I see now why dieting in the USA was so frustrating. Why even working out daily and eating mostly veggies wasn't giving me the results I wanted. The processed salad dressings, canned goods, and any bread I ate were likely reversing the good choices I made.

Now I know, the obesity problem in the USA is not just some cultural tendency to eat too much. There is a lot wrong with the food being eaten, and perhaps it's time America addresses that.

^{All photos are my own.}