What's My Biggest Gripe Of The Week?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away: When it comes to your diet, making a healthy choice is always the right choice.

My biggest gripe this week? Receiving a letter from my health insurance company which stated"... after reviewing your latest health tests, we noted that you are obese and therefore you should take steps to remedy this problem...." After which they proceeded to list of the proper channels that are able to help. Why the gripe? Well, I am an older man who is 5'10" and weigh 160 lbs (11.5 stone to my Brit friends), and when I first arrived in New York I weighed 165 lbs. It's a miracle I lost 5 lbs and not gained 100 lbs considering the food consumption culture in the US!

Obscene, or just delicious? This 'cake' is made up of four layers of pizza topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms, bacon, truffle oil, goat's cheese, and mozzarella on each layer

In New York, we are surrounded by delicious food, and in every street and avenue, temptation cries out, "come on! make a glutton of yourself." I may have some health issues but excessive weight isn't one of them. I do love my milk chocolate for instance. However, I realized that moderation is my middle name, when it comes to that score. 

Below you'll find a series of "real" food sold to the naive public. Are they tempting? Perilously close to causing a heart attack would be my warning. By the way, if you live in the United States, make sure that your health insurance is up to date. You'll thank me later for that.

Jeremy from https://peepmyeats.wordpress.com came up with the idea of a deep fried Big Mac as he likes to indulge in a spot of deep frying. The burger contains 1,563 calories. Should be called a Deep Fry Heart Attack In The Making!

Would you use a doughnut as a bun? This fast food fan placed a piece of crispy fried chicken between two glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts. This head-shaking chicken doughnut burger is actually served at some restaurants in the UK and the US.

Carb-loading - but not as you know it. One fast food lover combined his two favourite foods in one meal: spaghetti and pizza. Wow.

This 'pizza' is divided into sections with individual toppings. Most are sweet, and use products  such as chocolate spread, nutella, peanuts, blackcurrant jam and almonds - but one slice is inexplicably covered in cheese.

Could you eat this much ice cream? One fast food fan's local gelateria serves an entire rub of salted caramel gelato covered in salted caramel sauce and an Oreo biscuit crumb.

One creative foodie covered his pizza in French Fries for the ultimate hungover lunch.

The fast food fan who created this monstrosity calls it The Gut Splitter. The creation is pulled pork, caramelized sweet onions, French Toast, sunny side eggs with strawberry-turmeric jam, hollandaise sauce, crumbled cotija and French Fries.

One fast food fan decided to take a break from unhealthy eating by making a salad - but topped his lettuce and tomatoes with a chopped up burger and plenty of ketchup and mayonnaise.

What's next? This isn't just a hot dog. It's a sausage cheddar bacon-wrapped pretzel dog. 

Dubbed the 'Big Ben burger,' this is a custom built double Big Mac that savvy fast food fans can create using the unofficial McDonald's secret menu.

A plate of fries topped with melted cheese, bacon and pieces of hot dog make for the perfect hungover lunch.

Too many carbs - or not enough? This foodie made himself a grilled cheese sandwich using macaroni cheese for the filling.

Quesadillas are traditionally filled with pinto beans, cheese and pork, beef or chicken. However, these wraps are filled with breaded chicken dippers, sweet peppers, ranch sauce, and sriracha. The quesadillas at the back meanwhile contain ham, pepperoni and cheese.

After a review of these over the top food meals, I hope that you do not be put off visiting New York or the United States. Believe me, there's a great deal amount of places to eat exquisite burgers and pizzas that are not over-loaded with calories. I would be more than happy to have you experience some of the best eateries in the world.