Day 20 – I Fought the Buffet and the Buffet...

LOST! Yes, my friends, for Father's Day, hubby decided he wanted to eat at the local Golden Corral... or as my family so lovingly calls it, “The Trough.” We have gone to the buffet several times over the years to celebrate special days or when we couldn't agree on what we wanted for dinner. I remember what my meals would consist of on these nights... heaping mounds of stuffing and gravy, tortilla chips and cheese sauce, fried chicken, fried fish with tartar sauce, loaded baked potato, broccoli cheese soup, steak, and rolls with honey butter. Oh, and lots and lots of dessert... chocolate cake, peach cobbler, brownies, rice crispy treats, and soft serve ice cream loaded with caramel, hot fudge, M&Ms, jelly beans and whipped cream. And a diet soda.

This was my dinner... in ONE sitting!

I'll admit, I was a tad nervous at the thought of going back to the restaurant. I've been able to persuade my hubby from going on many occasions, but today was different. It was his day and I wanted to make it special. I knew I had the knowledge and commitment to eating healthy firmly in hand, so I agreed to go. Then I started working on my plan for the night.

Plan Phase 1: Get in a good workout.

I headed to the gym with a little over an hour before it closed. Plenty of time to walk my 5K and get my sweat on! I watched Man Vs Wild's Top 25 Moments to drive me on, though I did get some strange looks from the other women there. Oh well, Bear Grylls is hot and the show helped me shave 4 minutes off my 60 minute time. I'm getting faster! Finished with 3 minutes to spare before closing time. I was the last one there.

Secretly, I love closing the gym. I love being the last one out. Makes me feel like I'm really committed to this change in my life, which I am. Just great reinforcement!

Plan Phase 2: Choose well, choose wisely, and enjoy.

The buffet was packed! The line to be seated moved quickly and soon it was time to begin making good choices. I rapidly assessed the situation and found that breaking the buffet areas down in my mind made difficult decisions easier. Let me explain...

The buffet lines are broken down into three distinct areas: Veggie and Fruit, Main Meals (meats, steaks, sides), and Desserts. We were seated next to the Dessert area, so I decided to start at the opposite end of the restaurant and eat my way backwards, going to each area only once. This also made sense as I wanted to start off with a big salad to help curb any cravings or impulses. I picked up a plate and headed to the Salad station.

That walk... from the Desserts, past all of the yummy, fattening favorites I loved so much, all the way to the far end of the room where the salad bowls were... smelling all of those teasing, tempting smells... seeing all of my old “friends” waiting for me to come scoop them up onto my plate... It was a very long walk. But I did it. :)

I loaded up my plate with a great salad; lots of fresh veggies and just enough lite dressing for flavor. No cheese, no croutons, none of those calorie-laden trappings restaurants try to pass as healthy toppings. I ate every bite!

Next stop was the Main Meals and Sides area, but I modified this as I headed over. I opted to load up half of my plate with fresh fruit first, then use the remaining space for any meat and sides. It worked beautifully! I had 2TBS of the delicious cornbread stuffing (just a taste), a little BBQ pulled pork, 1/2 of a tiny boneless BBQ rib, a small baked sweet potato, 1/2c chili and 2 freshly made potato chips. A taste of only those items that I really wanted. No mindless eating tonight!

Third round, I found myself at the Dessert buffet line. I was determined to make a good choice in a sensible portion size. I was feeling great by this point and didn't want to spoil it. So, I chose a small slice of sugar free peach pie with about 1/4c of soft serve vanilla ice cream. I ditched the crust (saving a ton of points) and enjoyed the peaches and (ice) cream. Delicious!! A near perfect end to the meal, but I had one more item to finish off the night.

I indulged and had half a roll without butter. Golden Corral does have some phenomenal rolls and their honey butter is soooo good! When the rolls were first put on the table, I pushed them away and my family was wonderful about not asking me if I wanted any. I let those rolls sit there for the entire meal. Then, I made a decision. I checked the point count in my Weight Watchers Food Companion guide (4 points per roll without butter) and decided I would invest 2 points into this choice.

That half a roll tasted better than the dozens I have eaten in the past. Why? Because, to me, that half a roll was like an award; that I had reached a point on this journey where I am no longer controlled by food. I determine what food I eat, how much I eat, how often I eat, and that knowledge, that commitment empowers me. I chose to eat that half a roll. I wasn't overwhelmed by a need, by a desire to eat the whole roll (or the whole basket of rolls and butter). I chose calmly and rationally. I gave myself the information to choose wisely and I ate it with care. I tasted how good that roll was instead of mindlessly stuffing my face with as many as I could. It was my decision and I am proud of the one I made. It was yummy! :)

Plan Phase 3: Track everything, snack wisely, and sleep well.

As soon as we got home, I tracked everything I had eaten for dinner. Boy, was I surprised at the end result! I had eaten a good 7.5 point brunch earlier in the day, so I went into dinner with 22.5 points to spare. Even with all of my careful planning at the restaurant, dinner still came out to 20 points! I did figure high where I wasn't sure of the exact number, but my goodness! If today was 20 points, I can imagine what my “normal” dinner there was. Yeeouch! Scary!

Tonight was game night, so the guys and I loaded up on veggies and fat free dip. I did need some milk to meet my Good Health Guidelines, so 2 points of milk and 1oz of low fat chips (2 points) rounded out the evening. I still have a handful of Weekly Points to use tomorrow if I need to and I'm feeling confident in Tuesday's weigh in.

It just... feels... good... this place I'm in right now. My confidence is growing that I can succeed at last on this journey. It scares me a little, wondering if other aspects in my life will come crashing down, crushing this new-found sense of peace and strength. I hope not. I pray that it won't.

As always, thank you for reading. It means the world to me. :)

~H.