Day Three: A trip to the buffet

At some point I knew I would end up going out to eat for dinner. Time constraints, working late, lack of forethought, pick a reason. Eventually I wind up with not enough time to cook a meal and get everything else done that I need to do before bedtime.

I'll admit it too: I'm a sucker for a good buffet. Okay, I'm a sucker for any buffet. Usually it's bad Chinese food but tonight it was Ryan's. I don't know why I like buffets so much; maybe because I used to go to them with my dear grandparents or maybe because I like all the choices. Or maybe I don't like being bothered with waiters.


Nevertheless, I find eating at buffets quite doable on a low-carb lifestyle. For example tonight I had: salad (lettuce, cheese, cucumbers, mushrooms, olives, eggs, bacon bits and ranch dressing), green beans, steak and sausage. None of these are really taboo on low-carb and it gave me a good chance to eat my fair share of protein.

Eating at a buffet stirs that subconscious urge in me to eat as much as I can. But if I eat the "right things" I know that's not too big a problem: your body essentially doesn't store extra protein and extra fats don't trigger an insulin response. The hard part obviously is walking past all of those other items you can't have: the starchy vegetables, fried chicken, tacos and, of course, the desserts; in other words, you have to consciously avoid the carbs. But if you have a bit of willpower and some long-range goals, it's not impossible.