The all-you-can-eat-buffet and eating healthy

Does that title seem like an oxymoron to you?

When I started with Weight Watchers years ago going to a buffet scared the daylights out of me.  I automatically decided that I could only go to a buffet if I was willing to throw my "diet" out the window for the day.  Isn't that a great way to look at it?!  When a buffet was suggested on a day that I wasn't willing to throw out my healthy eating I looked like a deer in the headlights.  I was scared and didn't know how to possibly eat healthy at a buffet.  I would suggest as many other restaurants as I could.  If the buffet became inevitable I just quit my "diet."

I gave up so easily.  Why?  Well, first of all, if I ate all of the wonderful things that were being offered to me I certainly couldn't keep track of everything I ate, right?  Don't answer that;)  And if I could keep track of everything I ate, how could I possibly figure out the points to this large variety?  That would be way too time consuming to look everything up and I was sure I wouldn't find everything anyway.  Then of course is the best excuse of all.  There is no way I would have enough PointsPlus Values in a day to eat all of the stuff I want to eat.  So I would be better off just pretending that it didn't matter what I ate for that meal.  Isn't that a fabulous plan?  It sure sounds sad while I am putting it down into words but that truly was my mindset.

Then, after being a WW member for a while I realized that I could eat at a buffet without eating everything in sight.  The operative word there is could.  It was up to me as to whether I would.  A few years ago I was leading a meeting where we talked about the topic of "the dreaded buffet" and the point came up that a buffet is actually a great place to eat when you are trying to eat healthy.  Most buffets have an abundance of healthy choices.  They, of course, have an abundance of unhealthy choices too but they are choices so it's up to me to make the proper choice. That's the scary part.  It should never be up to me to make the proper eating choice.  Especially when I have to do it over and over again, plate after plate.

That's the biggest danger of the buffet.  I go up for the first plate to the salad bar.  I build myself a wonderfully healthy salad.  I may sprinkle a little cheese or a few bacon bits but I it's very healthy.  It has lots of great vegetables, a little lean protein, a little dairy and a little light dressing. It is low in PointsPlus Value and I feel great about my choices.  Then the second plate is where I usually eat some healthy, hot food.  It depends on the restaurant of course, but this may consist of some lean protein, vegetables and small portions of the good lookin' carbs.  Again I am feeling pretty good about my meal.  The third plate is the dangerous one.  By now, I am probably not very hungry anymore but there is all of that food that I haven't tried yet and everyone else at the table is still eating.  I'll just go up and get some more of the good stuff I haven't tried yet. It's all down hill from here.  I finish the plate knowing full well that I am not even close to hungry anymore.  I know the high carb load I just put on my plate put me over my points for the day and I might as well just give in and to for the good stuff now.......chocolate, ice cream, brownies, fried foods, cheesy potatoes, bring it on.  I'm ready for the food coma at this point.  It's a dangerous place to be.

This is an all too familiar story to me but I'm glad to say that it's not how I operate all of the time.  This was how I operated constantly years ago.  Then I started listening to my body's hunger signals and realizing that it is okay to say no to foods once in a while.  It's also okay to pick your absolute favorite foods on the buffet and decide to have a little of those foods and say no to the rest of the "good stuff."  It's perfectly acceptable to go to a buffet and leave still feeling comfortable in your pants.  It's also okay to leave without having tried everything that looked remotely good.  It's fabulous to leave knowing that you enjoyed your meal and took good care of yourself in the meantime.

I told you about my experience at a buffet just a couple of weeks ago where I decided on the way in that all bets were off.  That was a rough day for me. I'm glad to say that I have since been to all-you-can-eat buffets twice since and maintained control both times.  Last week I took my 2 nieces out for their birthday present.  Instead of giving them more "stuff" to play with we took them out for a day with my kids to have some fun.  I had a great time at Old World Wisconsin with 7 children. I was exhausted when the day was done but had a great time.  After OWW we went out for a late lunch/early dinner.  The kids wanted to go to Golden Coral.  I hadn't been there in years.  The kids were looking forward to their chocolate fountain and cotton candy.  I told myself that I was looking forward to all of the healthy choices that I would have.  I made lots of healthy choices.  My salad was wonderful.   I loaded up on fruit.  I knew that I would be tempted to eat more if the kids were eating and I was done so I took the baby to the bathroom to change him while the kids started eating. They were all on a second plate before I was even starting my first.  This worked to my advantage.

I wrote down everything I ate.  I ate lots of fruits, veggies and lean meats.  I also ate 2 chocolate covered strawberries and small piece of fudge. I made those choices very carefully.  I didn't eat anything that didn't look really good to me.  It wasn't worth is unless it was going to be good.  I got creative.  I mixed things from the mexican bar with the potato bar to come up with the healthiest but yummiest choices I could make. I left the restaurant with no points left but didn't need anything else to eat for the rest of the day.  It was a little earlier than I normally stop eating for the day but I filled up on lots of 0 PointsPlus Values fruits and vegetables so I wasn't hungry.  I was happy to be successful at a buffet.  I even texted my mom to tell her of my success;)

I hope you can all relate to both my "overdid it" story and my "in control" story.  I hope I am not the only one that has given in to the call of the buffet.  It's Friday and I'm sure many of you have plans for the weekend that include parties, restaurants or buffets.  What are you going to do about it? Which scenario are you going to play out.  Plan it now.  Going in with a plan is half of the battle.  The other half is the call of the buffet.

Have a great weekend.  I'll try to check in with you tomorrow on weigh in day.
Corinna

"Here, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way. Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness with clothe them with rags." -Proverbs 23:19-21