I'll take the buffet!

We went to the $1.00 theater on Sunday to see Herbie Fully Loaded, (cute!) and then out to an early dinner at a local family style chain restaurant, which sports a fairly large buffet. I gotta tell ya, I sure do love me a buffet! It's funny too, knowing the risks and temptations that come along with eating buffet style, and the fact that sooooo many of us food addicted fat chicks simply cannot handle this kind of situation. But after years of seeing buffets as an excuse to gorge myself, then some time spent being weary and anxious of them while losing the weight, I've now come to appreciate the buffet in a way I never thought I could before. Instead of seeing the deep-fried, fat-filled food free for all that I so happily partook of to the point of physical pain for most of my life, I now see it as an opportunity to enjoy very small amounts of several different types of foods that I wouldn't normally have in my every day life. Stuff that I would never order a full entree of in regular restaurants, I can now enjoy in very small quantities without remorse. It's wonderful!! Two or three bites of this, two or three bites of that, along with a ginormous salad, and I'm one completely satisfied happy camper who can stay on plan and not feel the least bit deprived. I think every place should have a buffet!! I'm guessing, once I resolved the fact that I could no longer eat the type and amounts of food I was used to, I was able to let go of the "eat as much as you can for the price" idea. And you all know how much I love a bargain, so not feeling like I'm getting my money's worth was a huge thing to let go of. But I do feel like I'm getting my money's worth, just in a different way. Just because all that food is there, it doesn't mean I have to eat all of it for the $8.99 I spent. The money is spent either way, so what I choose to spend it on is completely up to me. And now that I am no longer giving in to the gratuitous whims of my inner (spoiled, fat) child, and can actually hold myself accountable for the types and amounts of food that I allow to pass these lips, I think I can truly enjoy a buffet for it's originally intended purpose- a diversified, satisfying meal. Plus, you gotta love the salad bars at these places! Whoa baby! Spinach, cucumbers, broccoli, tomatoes, you name it, they got it! And you can come back and get as much of it as you damn well please. No piddly little, pre-made dinner salads, the likes of which you get at those overpriced sit-down joints. No, I'm talkin heaping mounds of fresh veggies and yummy fixins, YUM! You just can't beat a really good salad bar!

You know what I just realized? I'm talking about a freaking salad bar like I used to describe my famous chocolate chunk, walnut, caramel brownies! (No, I will not post the recipe, I refuse to be an enabler!) How huge is that?!! I gotta tell you though, I really love the food I eat now. So much so, that I almost feel guilty, like I'm cheating sometimes. Is that messed up, or what? I actually prefer to eat the food I prepare over almost any restaurant we can go to, which really bugs the shit out of Bub and Em since they are total junk food junkies. I almost never want to eat out anymore. But the way I figure it, there is no way I could have stuck with this if I didn't absolutely love the food I eat. So, I feel lucky that I have been able to acquire a taste for things that I never would have considered before. Oh god, I think I've turned into one of those "health nuts" who actually likes rabbit food and enjoys exercise. Crap! I hate those people!!

Anyway, I saw this on the boards at 3fc, and didn't think it got nearly as much recognition as it so rightly deserves (just because it's fun and motivating). So, I'm gonna post it here so even more fat or formally fat chicks can partake in the fun! The idea behind it is that you do a little calculating to figure out how many or much of your favorite foods has or will be burned off according to the pounds you've lost or want to lose. Gosh, I hope that makes sense! Oh well, just read on, you'll figure it out.

Directions:
1. pick a food that you used to eat a lot.
2. search the web to see the calories for that food (take note of serving size). Calorie King is good for this.
3. multiply the pounds you've lost times 3500 to come up with the total CALORIES you've burned to lose your weight.
4. divide total calories burned by calories for your chosen food.
5. Viola! You've burned that much food!

I did 190 (lbs. lost) X 3500 = 665,000 / cals for chosen food

So, all together, I've lost:
96 pints of Ben & Jerry's Coffee Health Bar Crunch +
637 Cadbury Cream Eggs +
968 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups +
464 Almond Snickers +
792 Toll House chocolate chip cookies +
616 chocolate chunk brownies

or... 8,313 of my new favorite healthy snack, Blue Bunny Lite 85 black cherry yogurt!

Holy crap! That's an eye opener, isn't it?