Going to an all-you-can-eat buffet at a casino on Friday....Need suggestions on food choices

I'm really good at limiting my calories during the week but on the weekends I sometimes go WAY over (parties, cocktails, etc). I seem to have a lot of difficulty when I don't prepare the food myself.

I did REALLY well this week but I"m going to a casino on Friday and we are eating at the buffet. I have never been to one before - I figure it will be relatively nice with lots of food choices.

Before I go to restaurants I try to look at the menu on-line to help make better food choices - The casino restaurant doesn't list any menu items.

Has anyone been to a casino buffet? Any suggestions? I'm nervous I'm going to negate all of my hard work this week in ONE MEAL!!!

It doesn't matter what you eat. It just matters how much.

Eat no more than 2 plates, no cheating by heaping them up, and make at least half of each vegetables or fruit. That should be enough to limit it..

Those buffets are tough! When I am "being good" and have to attend a buffet like that, I go for the vegetables and seafood. I know seafood is high in cholesterol and no "free limit food", but most other dishes are either very high in fat and sodium. If available at the buffet, (and if you like it), sushi can be a good choice. Fruit for dessert is almost always available. Good Luck!

 

Green salads and vinegar balsamic dressing if they have it.  I'd stay away from anything fried, or anything with a lot of sauce.  They usually have some kind of fruit and cottage cheese which are also great choices.  Desserts are abundant but I always try to sample a little bit just to enjoy it.  If they have grilled chicken that's a good choice. 

Those are what I've chosen to eat the last few times I've visited a buffet.  Hope you have fun.

I am the same way. During the week I am great but once the weekends roll around the beer starts flowing. I try to avoid buffets because what's the point if you can't sample the different dishes. The only thing I  would suggest is try to find the lean proteins and vegetables as long as they aren't covered in butter and cheese. Hopefully they will have a salad bar and maybe some type of broth based soup you can fill up on before you hit the main entrees at the buffet. Good luck walking into the Lions den.

It's only a problem if you take the 'all you can eat' description literally. :-)  It's all down to self-discipline and commonsense, really.   Vegetables and salads are the ones to fill the plate with.  Add anything else you choose in moderate amounts.  Probably best to avoid pastries or anything that's been obviously deep-fried.  Grilled meat/fish... bean salads... baked potatoes.... bread rolls... I'd say all those were OK.

And once you've made your choice... sit down far away from the buffet table and resist the temptation to go back for seconds.  Sipping water as you eat, enjoying the atmosphere and savouring your food will mean you eat more slowly and therefore have time to register that you've had enough.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll stick to the veggies and some seafood! Hopefully they will have crab legs - or other labor intensive food to keep me distracted!

Another tip... Wear snug-fitting, tailored clothing!  Attending an all-you-can-eat buffet in elasticated garments is rather asking for trouble....

Exercise today (friday) - even if it is just a long walk.  No matter what you choose, you have no idea how the food was prepared and most buffets utilize more fat and flavorings that we would use at home so that the food tastes better and does not dry out on the buffet line. Since it is a given that you will likely consume around 1000 calories even being good, the exercise can help you offset some of those calories. 

The other thing is that I am convinced that our bodies can handle a day or two of high calories. I zig-zag my calories regularly and am steadily losing weight. The buffet is tonight? Choose wisely and enjoy. Tomorrow you'll want to be a little more strict with your choices.

Skip getting a plate first, I say get your cup first and fill up on water or a diet drink before you even get your plate.  Make sure to eat a decent lunch and remember as long as you haven't deprived yourself throughout the week, you should be fine.  If you set boundaries, such as I get a plate of food and one dessert then you can reward yourself with a yoga Saturday, and if you don't stick to the plan, then perhaps a penalty system of running an extra 30-45 minutes will provide incentive.  Just a thought... But, I'm a bit hard on myself these days as I'm know to sabatage myself. 

I'm not endorsing this or anything, but a friend and I planned ahead and had fun.  We each went up and filled plates with all the different desserts.  We got back to the table and each took a bite of every dessert.  It was a really fun way to deal with it.  We just ate properly all weekend. 

This was at a work conference, and we had a couple of people ask us how we could eat like that and stay in shape.  I didn't tell them that we had been at the hotel gym at 6:00 am!

i go once a month or so, to the best one evveerrr.

 

all i can say, is just enjoy yourself, and don't eat fruit and yogurt, because that will only add up calories. you'll sit there with your "healthy stuff" and see all your friends pig out on yummy things, and you'll eat your healthy stuff AND and up caving in to the yummy stuff, eventually leading to more calories.

that's just what i've experienced out of my life..haha.

So....  how did it go and how did you do?

I did really well!!! To prepare, I cut back on calories during the day. At the buffet I filled a plate with steamed seafood (crab legs, peel and eat shrimp, and muscles). It took me a while to peel everything so I finished around the same time everyone else finished their first plate. Also I skipped the drawn butter, just a little cocktail sauce for the shrimp.

 Next I had 1/2 a roasted cornish game hen (w/o skin, and I didn't eat the whole thing) and small spoonfulls of tabouli salad and corn and black bean salsa. For dessert a few bites of bread pudding and chocolate cake.

After dinner, one gin and tonic.

I went over my daily calorie goal by just a little, and I didn't eat many veggies (see below) but I don't care, considering how bad it COULD have been. Here are a few things I noticed that helped me make my choices.

I saw them pouring the soup in pots from a bag - I figured too much salt and probably doesn't taste good b/c not homemade. All of the hot veggies were cooked in butter and most of the pre-made veggie salads were soaked in oil (they were actually shiny!!!). For salad, they just had iceberg lettce (which gives me heart burn - weird I know) and not many fresh veggies for salad toppers so I completely skipped the salad.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!!!