Preparing for cheat day/meal/buffet
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Lots of good advice here, the most important being eat like a normal person. Just because the food is there doesn't mean you have to stuff yourself. Also, remind yourself that the food at a buffet isn't that good -- it's mass produced, it's been sitting there under heat lamps growing bacteria, and people have been breathing and sneezing on it for hours. LOL5
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0somuchbetter0 wrote: »Lots of good advice here, the most important being eat like a normal person. Just because the food is there doesn't mean you have to stuff yourself. Also, remind yourself that the food at a buffet isn't that good -- it's mass produced, it's been sitting there under heat lamps growing bacteria, and people have been breathing and sneezing on it for hours. LOL
Second the bolded. Also, any Chinese buffet I've been in has pretty crappy quality food.8 -
6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.10 -
6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.
2000 would be a pretty steep deficit for some people (myself included), maybe OP maintains at 3000-4000 so 6K that is not far off plan. I have had many days where I eat a significant amount of calories and I would not call it a binge, I was in control and never felt I overdid it.5 -
Just stop at one plate and avoid the fried stuff4
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PlasticGains wrote: »Theres this local chinese buffet and my neighbor helped me paint my house so I wanted to treat him to a meal and he said he wanted a buffet. Now I know theres a concept of weekly calories and even monthly. How should I prepare my meals before the cheat day considering i go ham wild at buffets?
Should i just eat minuscule amounts of carbs and just do protein and veggies or should i just eat 70% or some percent less than maintainence calories the days before the buffet?
Also this buffet meal will be on a rest day so is this bad? I hear something about having cheat meals right after exercising a lagging body part so the calories go to more muscle than fat. So if it's a rest day will the calories go to fat?
Having just taken a week off trying to do a maintenance average, I say don't go crazy. Stay on your normal plan, and on the "cheat day" up your calories to maintenance level. Don't feel obligated to use them all. It's not worth it. One day I felt sick after going over maintenance level. Just enjoy and eat "comfortably". One day isn't going to set you back that much. A week, that's another thing as I've learned.3 -
6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.
2000 would be a pretty steep deficit for some people (myself included), maybe OP maintains at 3000-4000 so 6K that is not far off plan. I have had many days where I eat a significant amount of calories and I would not call it a binge, I was in control and never felt I overdid it.
I'm not suggesting to eat 2k the whole day. I'm suggesting to eat 2k on that MEAL. 6k at one meal is unnatural to all but a small percentage of people to which I'm sure the OP does not belong.
6k in one go IS a binge unless you ran a marathon.
Please do not put words in my mouth which I didn't say.3 -
6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.
2000 would be a pretty steep deficit for some people (myself included), maybe OP maintains at 3000-4000 so 6K that is not far off plan. I have had many days where I eat a significant amount of calories and I would not call it a binge, I was in control and never felt I overdid it.
I'm not suggesting to eat 2k the whole day. I'm suggesting to eat 2k on that MEAL. 6k at one meal is unnatural to all but a small percentage of people to which I'm sure the OP does not belong.
6k in one go IS a binge unless you ran a marathon.
Please do not put words in my mouth which I didn't say.
Thanks for clarifying I must have missed that. There are some people that eat all their daily calories in one go, people who are bodybuilders or bulking sometimes do this (I believe OP is on a bulk from past posts). Some have very high cal intakes and 6K might not be far off. I have spent hours of a holiday meal and can easily achieve 4-5K (and I am a normal sized female). I don't consider it a binge for myself. If you do then then we have different definitions of what a binge is.2 -
Remember the first bite tastes the same as the last....2
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Interesting discussion and opinions!!!!0
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6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.
Buffet foods are usually high in calories. For example a serving of orange chicken may seem small but you can probably eat 3 chicken breasts worth of orange chicken within 10 minutes. That's about 1500 calories. That's basically nothing when I eat there haha3 -
pinggolfer96 wrote: »Remember the first bite tastes the same as the last....
Very very true1 -
pinggolfer96 wrote: »Remember the first bite tastes the same as the last....
Actually, it doesn’t. You only get “full” flavor from the first few bites of a food before your palate adjusts. You can go through the whole rest of the plate chasing the deliciousness of those first three bites, or you can accept that it’s not coming back and eat to satiety.
At a buffet, I personally would get just a few bites of...well...everything. A huge portion of anything offers only diminishing returns.2 -
PlasticGains wrote: »6000cals in one go is a binge. Why are you doing this? Can't you just eat like 2000? There's plenty of food in 2k cals.
I've never had 6k cals in one day let alone one meal. Sounds monstrous to me. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal thing to do unless you're running a marathon. If you plan on changing your lifestyle I'd start at forgetting about 6k meals. It's way out of proportions.
Buffet foods are usually high in calories. For example a serving of orange chicken may seem small but you can probably eat 3 chicken breasts worth of orange chicken within 10 minutes. That's about 1500 calories. That's basically nothing when I eat there haha
I think it bears repeating that no, this is not normal and what everyone experiences. I could not eat 3 chicken breasts worth of orange chicken in 10 minutes. Most people would not eat 6000 calories at a Chinese buffet.
The advice you've been given is solid. Look at this like any other meal. You are in control - you are serving yourself. Serve yourself proper portions, enjoy your food, and try not to overdo it. Eat light for the rest of your day and maybe take an extra walk. Then get up the next morning and get right back on plan.
Part of making weight loss stick is working towards being able to find the happy medium between an overly-restrictive diet and mindlessly stuffing yourself every time lots of food is available. Taking responsibility for what you choose to eat and making mindful, educated decisions. Do the best you can and consider it a learning experience.9 -
its a one time thing, go enjoy yourself. If you've been losing weight for more than a month, this means you're eating less which means your stomach has been shrinking and you'll naturally eat less (or get sick of you don't). Pay attention to your body signals. Below is my list of stay away from foods at a chinese buffet:
- anything raw
- that "happy family" crap (its mostly fish and octopus parts with a little rubbery calamari thrown in)
- egg rolls (opt for the spring rolls)
- the "american" stuff (pizza, etc) that they always put out
- unless its steaming, the egg drop soup
- the ribs coated with the red candy looking sauce
Instead go for:- spring rolls
- anything beef with vegetables
- California roll sushi
- steamed crab claws (if they have it)
- wonton soup
- any hot chicken and vegetable dish
- Enjoy one or two almond cookies
This is just an IDEA, nothing in grail because all buffets are different. though I have to tell you, I don't do buffets for health reasons (compromised immune system here). Maybe your friend would rather be waited on at a sit down Chinese establishment that's cushy? Like say, one of those hibachi grilles? Just a thought. You could ask if there's one in your town.2 -
You could spend some thinking about a buffet strategy. Take smaller potions than usual and take only your favorite dishes. Don’t stuff yourself with food you end up not loving. That will do a lot more for you than eating x before you go.2
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It sounds like from your post that buffets are a trigger for you. Think of this as an opportunity to employ some new strategies. Instead of resigning yourself to eating everything but the kitchen sink, pick a few foods that are “must haves” and take small portions of those. Don’t feel like it has to be a pig-out fest just because you’re allowed to take multiple trips.
Also keep in mind that Chinese food found at the buffet is notoriously high in sodium. I don’t know about you, but I often feel like garbage after eating too much food like that.2 -
its a one time thing, go enjoy yourself. If you've been losing weight for more than a month, this means you're eating less which means your stomach has been shrinking and you'll naturally eat less (or get sick of you don't). Pay attention to your body signals. Below is my list of stay away from foods at a chinese buffet:
- anything raw
- that "happy family" crap (its mostly fish and octopus parts with a little rubbery calamari thrown in)
- egg rolls (opt for the spring rolls)
- the "american" stuff (pizza, etc) that they always put out
- unless its steaming, the egg drop soup
- the ribs coated with the red candy looking sauce
Instead go for:- spring rolls
- anything beef with vegetables
- California roll sushi
- steamed crab claws (if they have it)
- wonton soup
- any hot chicken and vegetable dish
- Enjoy one or two almond cookies
This is just an IDEA, nothing in grail because all buffets are different. though I have to tell you, I don't do buffets for health reasons (compromised immune system here). Maybe your friend would rather be waited on at a sit down Chinese establishment that's cushy? Like say, one of those hibachi grilles? Just a thought. You could ask if there's one in your town.
Based on what? Nutrition? Calories? Safety? Personal preference? Aside from the spring rolls, I would be profoundly disappointed with that meal
My only buffet rule is that I want what I eat to be worth the calories (to me). There are a handful of things I generally enjoy and I stick with those. I also try to limit the fried foods, because if you have reduced or eliminated such things, too much doesn't go over so well.3 -
Buffets to me can be a challenge....
And what I mean by that is challenging myself to eat as much of my money’s worth regardless of calories😝💪🏻💪🏻 #buffetgainsss4 -
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