Dear Fellow Business
Traveler,
Whether it's your hotel's breakfast variety or you're at a conference
in Vegas and surrounded by them, buffets abound when you are
traveling. We've all stood there, thinking that it all looks so
good and wanting to try just a little of everything, only to leave
feeling completely full and bloated to a whole new level. In this
month's Newsletter, we
talk about buffets. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Be sure to check out our February 2007 Newsletter about International Travel
for information about traveling abroad.
To Your Health,
Healthy Travel
Network
 People really shouldn't eat all that they can eat.
buf·fet
(n.)
1.
A large sideboard with drawers and cupboards.
2.
a. A
counter or table from which meals or refreshments are served.
b. A
restaurant having such a counter.
3. A meal at which guests
serve themselves from various dishes displayed on a table or sideboard.
(adj.)
Informally served: a buffet luncheon.
The idea of a buffet is
not a bad thing at all. It usually
offers a much wider variety of food than one can find on the menu as a
meal
option separately. And even the American
Dietetic Association (ADA) says that there are no bad foods. Well, if there are no bad foods and
conceptually buffets are not bad for you, then what is the problem?
Problem 1. What we choose.
Why does all of the
fried food and starches at the buffet look so good?
When faced with the choice, most people will
dive into the mac & cheese and mashed potatoes before going for the
grilled
veggies and salad. At the buffet it’s that
much easier to rationalize and indulge on impulse than when you are
ordering
off of a menu. Since everything is there
for the taking, we allow ourselves to go for it.
Problem 2. How much we take.
Ironically, one of the
good things about a buffet is that they have really good portion sizes. The problem is that we end up taking so many
of those little portion sizes, filling up our plate until it is
spilling over
and then going back for more. I think
part of it comes from our being hardwired to take advantage of a value. Since we paid a flat price, we think should
get all that we can out of our few bucks.
Problem 3. How much we consume.
Even though a lot of us
grew up around the “Clean Plate Club” mentality, we really don’t have
to eat
every last bite on our plate. Certainly,
grandpa was right when he said that we should, “take what we want and
eat all
we take.” That’s a great philosophy that
really implies we shouldn’t take so much in the first place. But, our eyes are often much larger than our
stomachs and we end up with way more food than we should consume.
Here are a few tips to
help you survive the buffet.
- The body is not meant to
consume such large numbers of calories at one time and if too many are
consumed
in one meal the body automatically starts to store them as fat.
- Make it a point to start
with salads, fresh fruits and vegetables (wet carbs) as these are not
only
lower in calories and fat, but full of vitamins and minerals. If you can fill up mostly on those, you won’t
be as tempted to dive into all of the bad stuff.
- Try and stay away from
the fried foods and empty calories, such as butters, oils, condensed
sugars,
etc.
- The serving spoons at
buffets are a perfect portion size for trying just enough of something. You should only dish one spoon of anything.
- Use the dessert or
smaller plate as opposed to the large dinner plate.
- Be sure and
eat as
slowly as possible. Taking your time
when eating will allow your stomach to catch up with your mouth and let
you
know when you’re full.
Just remember it’s not
the buffet’s fault. Enjoy the food and
take it easy.
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