Eight Buffet Strategies for Diet Sanity
Posted: Saturday, May 22, 2010
by Sanrda Ahten
The Reasonable Diet Institute
To say that I have always had some food hang-ups would not be a stretch. More than eleven years ago I decided to follow a calorie-counting diet to deal with an excess thirty pounds, that's when these hang-ups really became magnified -- and buffets really brought out my food eccentricities.
I remember going to go to a family reunion where I had devised a plan to help me "stay in my range." This included starting at the back of the pack when the buffet line started. But as the line formed, a mild panic set in: what if the best food was all gone by the time I bellied up?
Okay, so I've got a few hang-ups. But over the years, I've come to realize that my weirdness may be weird, but it is not unusual. Human beings are pretty much programmed to eat what is in front of them, and as Brian Wan sink in his book, Mindless Eating, points out -- we will as human beings, not just weird human beings, eat more when there is a variety of food to choose from. We'll even eat more if it is the same food, but a perceived difference ... we'll eat more M & Ms if they are various colors, than if they are all the same color. So I'm not the only one that has food weirdness.
A standard diet tip is to stay away from buffets. But whether the buffet is Sunday brunch at a fancy restaurant, six lines of food at a Chinese restaurant or a homemade spread at a family reunion, in this society you are not going to be able to avoid big serve-yourself food galas. So you are going to have to employ mindfulness strategies to help you manage buffets without having to loosen your belt.
Here are eight strategies to maintain some diet sanity in buffet situations.
1) Remind yourself, it's a meal, not an event . Leave your "all you can eat" attitude at home.
2) Begin with the end in mind . Start with a promise to yourself that you are not going to leave the table feeling too full and uncomfortable. Determine in advance how you are going to end the meal. It might be with an after dinner mint and a cup of coffee. It might be with a walk. (Just walk around the restaurant, if everyone else isn't finished eating yet.)
3) Stay at the back of the pack . Linger over pre-eating activities like hand washing, getting drinks and talking to kids while everyone else is getting their first plate. Have a cup of coffee while they are having salad.
4) See the big picture. Peruse the entire buffet before you begin, in order to see what really trips your trigger. Starting at one end and filling your plate with what you really "must have," is not a wise strategy.
5) Be choosy. Much buffet food might be of one or two star quality. If you are one lap behind the rest of the crew you can get a rating from them without having to try every dish yourself. Pass on anything that doesn't get three stars.
6) Start smart . Get 80% full on very healthful items: non-creamy soup, fresh veggies/salad and fruit.
7) Indulge with impunity. If you did "start smart"(#7 above) -- then allow your next plateful to be a treat. Fill your plate with additional healthful choices, but have a spoonful just a taste of a few goodies that you would never allow yourself, if you had to prepare it at home or order it from a menu. For instance I would never make macaroni and cheese myself or order a full serving of it from a menu, so a buffet is my chance to have one bite and get my fix.
8) Choose your final chapter wisely . Don't disillusion yourself -- once you start a nibble of this and a slice of that, you will be prone to eating more than if you have just one type of dessert. Take advantage of the fact that often you can choose the size of your dessert at a buffet, but think quality -- but not quantity.
And never forget the wise words of Julia Child, "Life itself is the proper binge."
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