Monday, November 24, 2008

Battling a Buffet

Yesterday, I went to the Iron Ridge Inn, which is a quaint little restaurant in a quaint little village. My family celebrated Thanksgiving along with my Father's 65th Birthday! This is the first time that I have tackled a buffet since starting WW almost two years ago. I really can't remember the last time I have gone to one. I know my wife and kids have gone to a pizza buffet, Stone Fire Pizza, but I was busy doing other things and I know I have gone with residents to a Golden Corral, but since I was more concerned with making sure the residents had food, I ate very little. So this was my first test at a buffet.

How did I do? Well, how do you think I did? I went in with a plan. Two plates!! That's all!! I will not fill more than two plates and on those two plates I will allow for some "white space" meaning I will not mound oodles and oodles of food up just so I can state that I only had two plates.

My first plate ended up being a salad which included a lot of lettuce and veggies. The only thing that I counted points for was the olives and the lo-cal dressing that I added. I do have to admit that there was no "white space" on this plate, but I was not feeling bad about that one.

My second plate was a scoop of mashed potatoes, in the past I would have mounded at least 2-3 scoops plus loads of gravy. This time, just a small scoop of plain potatoes. A scoop of corn and a good sized scoop of beef tips. All in all not a bad showing from plate number 2. I passed on the rolls, but did sweep a piece of chicken and peeled off the boasted breading to give to my "bottomless pit" 7 yr. old. I also stole a few pieces of French toast stick from my 2 yr. old.

I passed on dessert, which was pumpkin pie, pumpkin torte or apple pie, and instead went to the salad bar and had a cup full of fruit. I did add marshmallow fluff, but I figured the small amount I added was still WAY better than the pie. I also snuck in some chili since I didn't mention anything about cups in my planning, just plates ;)

Hoping I can do just as well on Thanksgiving at my MIL's. My plan will be to eat one helping and one dessert. I'll get someone to go off for a good long walk with me too. My FIL made it 4 miles with me last Sunday, so maybe we'll venture even longer on Thursday.

Wishing you all a happy healthy week. The whole gang will be home the rest of the week, so my computer time may be limited.

7 comments:

Kathy said...

Have a great Holiday week and don't Gobble, Gobble,Gobble on Thanksgiving! Well, maybe just one Gobble!

Anonymous said...

Me and Cosmo will walk with you on Thursday, as far as you want to go!

Anonymous said...

for some reason Im FINE with meal buffets but notsomuch with BREAKFAST.

I lose all sense of control and clean when confronted with all the processed stuff at a breakfast buffet...

kborn said...

I'm sure Dad, Jen, Cosmo, & Hailey would join ya! Heck, convince everyone to go! :-) Dad and Jen did awesome here in NYC!! Your walk Sunday was good practice. :-)

john - from fat to fit said...

Sounds like you did great. Going in with a PLAN is so key!

Anonymous said...

I'll echo John's thoughts - planning is the key to success!

Anonymous said...

Hi There,
I'm here from Kathy's blog. Congrads to you for making tackling the buffet with a plan and sticking to it! I've supported my hubby with his weight loss goals. Two years ago Thanksgiving he began a low carb diet and exercise plan. A year later, he had lost about 70 lbs in a healthy manner, was up to walking aerobically about 10,000 steps/day.

Like you, he was determined and structured (from what I've read on your blog since I'm new here.) Poor guy has me, the slender wife who has a high metabolism, loves veggies and never had a weight problem, so I stuck by my goal of NOT nagging him, not even discussing food unless he needed a supportive ear. It worked, but I applaud him so much more than my small part.

He is a "plain eater" so he wanted to fix his own meals most of the time. He also battled the bulge of food he could not control while he was on business travel as often as monthly. The lunch or breakfast is ordered in and he is not allowed to leave the meeting. Talk about hard to not be hungry, but stick to one's diet. That was discouraging for him because of the calories piled on from needing to eat, not by choice!

Well, he stuck by this and several months ago, he wanted a bow flex workout machine. Our den is now not artsy (I'm an artist by profession), with the treadmill and the huge bowflex machine, but I am so grateful to have a healthy hubby who will be with me for many years.

He gets up at 4:30 a.m. to work out for over an hr every morning before work!We both have "pedometer" competitions. Keep it up! Best to you and you are setting a great example for your children, too!