Another Look At Buffets

Day 15 of six weeks

Weight today: same

Total lost: 2 pounds in two weeks

1/2 cup of oatmeal:150
with 1 tsp o sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
15 plain pretzels :35
total:230

vanilla protein shake:110
1 tsp of flax seed oil: 40
2 1/2 oz banana: 62
total: 212
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running total:442

2 large eggs:140
1 lefse: 30
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese: 80
3 1/2 oz of sliced strawberries: 31
1 tsp of sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
1/4 sheet of graham cracker:15
total: 341
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running total: 783

1/2 cup of cinnamon toast crunch: 86
1/4 cup of 1 % milk:27
vanilla protein shake:110
2 oz banana:50
1/4 graham cracker:15
total:288
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running total: 1071

1 slice of Rotella Italian bread:70
1 tsp of Smart Balance light butter:15
2 tsp of peanut butter: 66
1/4 graham cracker sheet:15
total: 166
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running total:1237

2 1/2 oz of chicken breast:82
1 slice of Natural Ovens Bakery Bread Weight Sense:50
1 tsp of Smart Balance Light Butter:15
1 tsp of grape jelly:15
total:162
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running total:1399
Today's challenge: It's gray and cold outside...staying motivated.

Actual fitness: 3 mile run, 60 minute leg work-out, my abdominal routine once

Note on picture: I've been into cinnamon toast crunch lately. Pictured here is 1 cup of cinnamon toast crunch 172, with 1/2 cup of 1% milk: 55 total: 227

Another Look At Buffets

Since I've started my diet, I've pretty much crossed eating out off my list. It's just a little too hard to eat when you don't know for sure how many calories are in something.

But the thing that I really crossed off my list are those all you can eat buffets. I mean those places... you gain weight just by driving by them...right?

Well, the other day some good friends of ours decided to treat our whole family, all seven of us, out to eat at guess where? Old Country Buffet.

And since I wasn't going to turn down the offer of no cooking, no dishes for my little "no buffets" hang-up, we went.

Friends...hang on, because I am about to convince you all... that all-you-can-eat-buffets are a dieter's best friend!!

Allow me to explain.

Have you seen their salad bar? I get to choose from about healthy fruit and vegetables, and they even have light salad dressing.

Consider a restaurant where when you order just one thing, you get one thing. You don't get peas, tomatoes, eggs, sesame seeds, cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew, three different kinds of salad greens to choose from, olives, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes...

It's like the dieter's salad dream.

Then, they have several types of main dishes to choose from. After looking at it, you get to decide if you want it. Then, you get to choose how much of it you want. Then, if you don't want it, you don't have to eat it and can go back and get something else.

Consider a restaurant. If you order something, they decide how much you get. If you don't like it, too bad, you have to pay for it. Then, if you're lucky you only get to see a picture of the food before ordering it.

Then, Old Country Buffet had this guy who cut off slabs of different kinds of meat for you. It could be turkey, ham or roast beef. So, if you wanted 3 oz of lean meat for you meal, you could have it, and have a choice. Again you could decide how much is put on your plate.

The downfall here is that a restaurant may have a special way of cooking up that chicken breast that tastes more exciting than plain ole meat...but you don't always know what restaurants put in their meat. Although, some restaurants do have lighter choices too. But still, the buffets have healthy meat choices.

Finally, there's the dessert section. If you have enough calories left over from the awesome salad, meat and perhaps side dish, you could choose a dessert. There's ice cream with all the different toppings. You decide how much ice cream you put in your bowl. And the bowls are small I might add, maybe measuring a half cup. You can chose a dieter's cookie if you want. They also have sugar free ice cream.

With a restaurant, desserts tend to be large and full of calories. But I found these dessert choices to be small slices, smallish pieces. Also, they have some desserts in trays that you can dip out your own portions. Hey, being on a diet, it's hard because there's so many foods you can't eat, but if you've got a few hundred calories to spare for a dessert, you cold take one spoonful of several different desserts to make that dessert equal a few hundred calories.

As you might be able to tell, I was blown away by this epiphany.

The final persuasion, is that it's pretty inexpensive when compared to other restaurants. I just found a coupon for Old Country buffet where we could both eat for about $16.00.

At a buffet, you can be picky and no one even notices. What I also liked was the range of choices, and the fact that I controlled the portions.

So... guess where we're going to go out to eat for our eight year wedding anniversary?

Now I know why my grandpa always went there. I think we might carry on the tradition.