Every Monday when my daughter gets done with gymnastics, we go to a local buffet restaurant and eat dinner. It's our "girl date" and we both look forward to it. I have been getting the soup and salad only buffet and eating healthfully while there.

This past Monday, I went out with a girlfriend for lunch and consumed most of my calorie allotment at lunch. I hate going over on a Monday because that's the start of my week and I don't have any calories in the bank yet.

DD and I get to the restaurant and I start with soup and a roll instead of salad. When I get done, I am full and satisfied. But I have it in my head that I must get a salad to get my money's worth.

Then it dawned on me. I can make food at home. By dining out, I am paying for the experience of dining out with my daughter. Not really for the food.

I left the restaurant with a new mindset. Dining out is paying for the experience, not for the food. I don't have to clear my plate to get my money's worth. If there's a lot, I can ask for a to go box. I don't have to make every stop at the buffet to get my money's worth. If I am satisfied with a cup of soup and a roll, that's OK.

For some it may be nothing, but this realization was HUGE for me. Hope it helps you, too.

I stopped going to buffets for this reason. You definitely feel like you need to eat more to get your money's worth. I normally eat like a bird and buffets are just a waste of money for my diet. I prefer to take home left overs.

But I love your thought that you are paying for the experience. That's a terrific way to look at it! If I could go with that mindset, I might just be able to go to a Chinese restaurant and stick with fruit.

I totally agree. I was raised in a family with the mindset that if you don't eat every last scrap on your plate, you're throwing away money and wasting food. My big epiphany was when I realized that the food is already paid for, and it doesn't matter if I eat it or not. If I don't really need it, it's just as much wasted in my belly (and on my hips...) as it would be in the trash.

I LOVE buffets! They are a damn mess though as you just want to eat everything! I have gotten better at eating at them..by taking tiny bits of each food. I also don't eat everything on the plate....for one most buffet food tastes like ****. So if I don't like it I stop eating it. And if I really like something I will go back for another small portion. I try to stay away from white rice and breads because they are fillers and you can eat bread any ol day.

As for desert I try to eat only half.

Great job realizing that You can have that dining experience at home.

I've avoided buffets since I started losing weight, but especially now that I just can't eat all that much any more. It would be a waste for me to spend all of that money on the small amount I eat! I could make my meal (and know how it was prepared) for a fraction of the price!

Friends of mine wanted to go to a buffet when we all went on vacation and I put my food down and said no. We wound up splitting into groups because of it, but I didn't want to spend all of that money for a small amount of food! I wound up going to Panera for a light lunch for a fraction of what I would have paid at the buffet!

First - I LOVE the typo in sontaikle's post: "I put my food down and said no." We all need to put our FOOD down and say NO! LOL Thanks for the unintended pun!

To clevergirl - I know what you mean. I really hate to pay for a buffet, though, if I'm not eating much. You made a great breakthrough in realizing you don't have to eat everything to enjoy the experience of eating supper out with your daughter. Maybe you can change it up and go to different restaurants instead of the same one every time. Places that offer a variety of reasonably priced meals. As the mother of a grown daughter, my best advice is to just enjoy the time with your child. Make memories and develop a bond. You'll never regret this time with her, and your adult relationship with her will be strong. That's a priceless gift.

Lin

sontaikle, I did the same thing in Vegas last June. I am tired of shelling out $40/45 to eat at buffets at the Wynn and Bellagio and the like because my friends want to get a deal. It isn't a deal for me. It's a serious waste of money and it tests my willpower when I'd rather just go somewhere cheaper and avoid that test altogether. So that's what I did this summer. I put my foot down—and my food down —and I said, "No."

LOL I didn't even catch that! Not going to fix it now, it's much too funny!

Petite Powerhouse - did your friends give you a hard time? One of my friends practically threw a hissy fit that I didn't want to go to the buffet. Luckily I'm not very sensitive; I just didn't care what she thought and went off to Panera with another friend.

It amazes me that our friends think nothing of encouraging or intimidating us into eating in ways that aren't healthy when I'm sure none of them would even suggest we miss taking a dose of needed medicine. To me, it's the same thing.

Lin