Tomorrow we're going to a christening, and there will be lunch at a family member's home afterwards. I know there will be a ton of food...sigh...any tips for handling a buffet? I'm hoping there is a deli platter with turkey and some raw veggies, at least. I plan to try really hard to stick to healthy foods and hope there is some fruit out for dessert. I am trying not to eat cake/cookies because once I get the taste for them again I'm doomed!
Buffets are HARD! Is it a potluck? You are smart to look for deli turkey, veggies, maybe a deviled egg, fresh fruit. Fill up half your plate with naked vegetables or fruit (ie without butter or cream, etc.) Take a reasonable portion of a meat you can recognize (if it is in a thick bready/cheesy/rice-y/pasta-y dish and you can't even tell if there is meat in it, leave it!). Have a nice protein/fiber snack before the christening.
I also stick to a one plate rule....No seconds at a buffet, and that doesn't mean I can create a volcano of food on the first plate.
Drink lots of water or unsweetened tea.
And....it is one meal. Have a planned breakfast and a planned dinner and a planned exercise-time....shouldn't be a problem on the scale, as long as you can prevent triggering a sugar binge (I know how those go!)
I agree with midwife - one plate, once. To be honest, if I know I am going to a buffet, I eat ahead. Then I am not hungry, and the most I'll munch on is carrot/celery sticks - I've yet to go to a buffet that hasn't had these!
I once read some advice regarding buffets that I have used since and has served me well. It was geared towards restaurant buffets, but applies here too, I think. The advice was to first survey the buffet, without plate in hand, then walk away and take some time to think about how hungry you are, what you saw that you want to eat, and what would satisfy you. Then go back, one plate, one time, get only what you really want, and be done. This thoughtful approach has helped me a lot, as in the past I always felt like I wanted to have a little taste of everything.
One of the good things about buffets where everybody just mills around and eats when they want is that you can just skip it and nobody knows it. There have been several times when I've eaten something healthy before I went and then just munched on vegis. If somebody asked why I wasn't eating, I just told them I was already done.
I probably should work on the eating socially thing but I'm really not that comfortable right now with food that I have no idea what went into preparing it. (That's a really tortured sentence but you know what I mean. )
Agree on ALL of the suggestions, with the addition of picking one item that you think looks REALLY good (but might not normally be on plan for you), and just ONE (and then taking a small portion of that one thing). So maybe you just can't resist the chocolate cake on the dessert table. That's fine, have a small-ish piece, but everything else you get from that buffet needs to be close, at least, to on-plan.
if you know you're going to a buffet...
)
