I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just today.w And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.
I am very focused on getting through today. We had kids and parents around to all hours last night and today it looks like more of the same.e It’s also my Boniva day, so I’ve had to sit around for an hour without coffee or food or lying down on the couch (I’ve still got 10 minutes of this). So, I’m sort of grumpy.2 And thinking that I need a reward of a fantastic breakfast.
But, I’ll probably just have cereal. In fact I am having cereal.
Some days I have to divide things so that I can claim the smallest activities as a success.r A year ago, I would have slid out of the house to find a breakfast buffet somewhere. And I’d have gotten my money’s worth out of it too.r And I could have done that today — I’ve never said I’m not going to breakfast buffets anymore.
But, some days are more of a risk than others. Although there are days when I could quite safely go to a breakfast buffet (without going crazy for food), today isn’t one of them.o Today is the sort of day when I’d better measure my portions. And just today, I’m going to ask myself, “Is this a meal?” and “Have I already eaten?” And just today, I’m staying away from buffet meals.
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I’ve been meaning to post an article about beating the buffet line; this looks like as good a place as any. I was thinking supper more than breakfast, but this applies either way.
Like you said, Katie, the first thing is the implied challenge: to get your money’s worth. I’ve always considered this a guy thing, but obviously it’s not our exclusive territory. The second thing is the selection — you gotta try a little of everything, right?
Fortunately, the nature of the buffet is one of the things that work in our favor: you have to get up, walk over to the buffet, get a plate, and come back. The other thing is that there’s quite a bit of diet-friendly things to select from.
So: your first trip is the salad bar. Lots of greens, skip the cheese and ham (the shredded carrots look enough like cheese to trick yourself). There are usually plenty of light dressings; put on just enough and mix it in. You can also make this the second trip if you really like salad.
After the salad, your next trip is the main course. Look for stuff that isn’t fried; Fire Mountain usually has salmon. A little fish, a little veggies, go back and eat that. Nothing says you have to overload your plate; you can always go back and get another!
But the thing is, your next trip is to the fruit bar. By the time you finish that, you’ll probably be full.
Congrats, you’re walking out without feeling stuffed, with your diet and dignity intact!
(Personally, I avoid breakfast buffets like the plague, too much cholesterol.)
Buffets are like kryptoniite for me especially when I go to Las Vegas, buffet mecca. The breakfast buffets really don’t do it for me mainly, it’s lunch and dinner buffets where I get into temptation overload. If I do the buffet thing, I’ll try and do it at lunch so I at least have the rest of the day to “burn” it off.
I know why the breakfast buffets draw me. I have freakishly low cholesterol (it hovers around 70 for the total) but we eat a low-ish cholesterol diet here at home. And after I go so long without a boost, I crave it. And when I’m craving it — there’s nothing more efficient than a breakfast buffet!
(but just because I feel the lure, doesn’t mean I think they’re good for me. I didn’t go to one yesterday. And it’s probably been 6 months since I’ve had an egg as a meal.)
Wow, must be nice to have 70 cholesterol. Sure, it’s hereditary and all — my mom weighs maybe 110 pounds, plays tennis a lot, and has to fight to keep hers in the borderline range. I’m trying to eat more fish to pull my LDL (the “good” cholesterol) up a bit. I figure farm-raised salmon doesn’t have the mercury issues that wild fish does.
It would be nice to have a cholesterol meter that works like a glucose meter — check it before & after meals to see if certain things affect you one way or the other.
Yes, it’s a good thing, I guess. At least it’s one issue I don’t have to worry about.
But, since it’s not something I worry about much, that leaves a bit of a gap here. If anyone wants to contribute a story about their struggle with cholesterol, I think it would be great.