do you avoid tempting food places like buffets

I don't... but I don't usually eat that much compared to what others can pack down at those places... unless it's Chinese. Anyway... Eat Salad and maybe some fruit first, drink some water and you won't have so much room for all the other stuff.

If someone else is paying, I am there! Otherwise, I will probably choose something else. I do find a lot of commercial buffets have food that I would eat, and then it's all about portions.

I don't avoid them because I can't. Family and social gatherings always involve food (at least mine do). So I either pick the best options available and keep track of calories mentally (or pull out my phone and get on MFP and tally them up really quick) or I always have a protein bar stashed in my purse that I can eat in an emergency. For me if I have one "bad" meal its like falling off the wagon and I loose control. So if I don't allow myself to cheat at functions like that and it keeps me on target.

I avoid them like the plague. I get physically ill just thinking about all of that food and the gluttony that goes with it. UGH.

I simply seldom patronize them as the tendency can be to completely overdo it. However this upcoming Easter Sunday it looks like our extended family is going to spend the day visiting the zoo and then probably hitting a local buffet for dinner afterwards. If we do hit the buffet, I'll first hit the salad station, make myself a very large salad with lots of veggies and a small amount of lite dressing (avoiding toppings like cheese and meat as well as passing on side salads that are likely swimming in mayonnaise). After that perhaps see what grilled meats they have and remove the skins from any chicken I take. Will completely pass on dessert.

i don't avoid them. we never went that often to begin with and when we go now i enjoy myself and record everything i ate. if i know in advance that i'm going i'll do some extra workouts before and after to minimize the additional calorie load for that day.

I try to avoid them during my P90X workout and only had been to the sushi buffet twice. In the past few weeks, I've been going to golden corral like once a week or so. It’s a matter of knowing what your body needs, what your calorie budget is and staying accountable. I know that my body needs 50% protein (about 235g) , 30% carb (about 125g) and 20% fat. I made sure I stayed away from the fatty food and food with high sugar content, as usual. And I can proudly say that "I go to buffet and still lose weight/fat"! LOL

I don't avoid locations because I'm able to control myself. Stop blaming buffets, they have done nothing to you.

..and as a side note from some of your other posts, you seem resentful of a lot of people that eat yummy food. Just in general. That's no good either.

I have to accept my genes and I will always have to watch my weight

lol

I must have missed something. What's funny about that?

I have discovered that if I start out with a good 8-12 oz. of whatever decent protein I can find at such events and take my time eating it, by the time I go looking for anything else to finish off the meal the sweet treats and pastas and breads and such are no longer singing a siren song. Then I can pick and choose what will best fit the rest of my macros and be really satisfying. And I'm ok with not having any of the rest of it, because my own meal was not only good but good for me.

Little known word fact: "Buffet" is French for "Do not enter".

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/nehushtan/view/-buffet-is-french-for-do-not-enter-71981

It depends how much food I'm used to eating.

We go to the same place one night a week to get together as a family and visit/catch up. Everybody gets to have their favorite foods, as much or as little as they want, and no one has to cook or clean up. For me, it's easier to take a small spoonful of seafood salad, or a single piece of cake (mmm, cake!) and not have the leftovers in the fridge to nibble on later. Plus, I prefer having a small amount of a variety of foods rather than a giant serving of one thing.

The first few times I went there, I overdid it, but now I know I don't have to eat it all because it'll be there again next time. If I don't like a particular dish, I don't have to finish it and I can go get something else. .

Calorie counts are posted online, but I end up eating about the same number of calories every week.

I have to accept my genes and I will always have to watch my weight

lol

I must have missed something. What's funny about that?

the OP has a bad relationship with food.

good habits will do a LOT to manage your weight.. a lot more than blaming your genes.

"this side of my family is predisposed to be fat."

....etc.

From what I read (maybe my English is slipping?) she said that she "will always have to watch her weight."
Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

"accept my genes"

translates directly to "I'm going to blame my genes."

check her profile and a lot of her other forum posts, then check back here with your findings. She shamed the entire forum for people that are able to eat yummy foods, post pictures of it, and still lose weight.

not very reasonable.

understanding and developing a working and healthy relationship with food is important, and seems to be a vital missing component.

I don't avoid them but we just don't happen to go to them very often anyway. As someone else said, sometimes I eat whatever looks good and sometimes I control myself by sticking to the salad bar, veggie dishes, non fried stuff, etc and keeping my portions under control.

As far as pot luck type stuff goes, I try to bring a dish that I know is healthy and low cal (like my famous pasta salad) and mostly eat that and just get tastes of the other things people bring so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.

OP, try not to be jealous of other folks - you have no idea what their lifestyle is. I've done a lot of observing in the past few years since I started with my weight loss and realized that most of those folks you think are "lucky" or "have good genes" work a lot harder to look they way they do and be able to eat they way they do than you know. For instance one of the managers in my department seemed like one of those folks to me before. She always partook of the goodies brought in and went to happy hour a lot. Then I started talking to her more and learned that most of the time she eats really well and exercises a lot and is active with her kids. THIS is what allows her to be able to have some drinks on the weekend or go to happy hour and not worry about what she's eating or drinking. If she ate like that all the time, she'd be fat too.

I thought I was cursed with bad genes too because just about everyone in my family is overweight. As you can see by my ticker, I was quite wrong. It just takes time, patience and a little work and anyone can be healthier.