How in the world do you calculate "all you can eat " restaurants

jaymikhail69
jaymikhail69 Posts: 40 Member
edited November 13 in Food and Nutrition
It was my aunts birthday and we went to a seafood restaurant buffet. I did pig out ofcourse and have a couple drinks. How do I calculate that?

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,988 Member
    You don't. Put in a high number and just call it a day. Something like "Meal- 2500 calories"

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You don't....

    When you go to a place like that, you just chalk it up to you ate a lot...
  • Leana088
    Leana088 Posts: 581 Member
    Times like those I quick add 1000 calories. And I make sure I don't go crazy at them. My "portion control" is making sure I only eat as much as I can carry. Litterally. It needs to fit in the palm of my hand. (Not the whole meal, just the individual elements.)

    But other than guessing, I don't think there's an accurate way.
  • Pootler74
    Pootler74 Posts: 223 Member
    HappyCampr1 wrote: »
    Sometimes I take pictures of my plate to help with estimations later (if I know what each thing is).

    Yep, I do this. And even when I am careful, eat lots of salad and lean meat, moderate portions, it still always comes out at more than 1000 calories. :( Because no way am I going to those places and not having some of the good stuff too. But after a few goes, I've learned to take a small amount, and put sauces mostly over veggies instead of over rice or pasta. And adopt the mentality of "I'll have the cake today. The sweet and sour pork will still be there next time."
  • lngrunert
    lngrunert Posts: 204 Member
    Last week my hubby and I went to a fantastic restaurant and had the 6 course chef's tasting menu with a wine pairing for each. I quick added 3000 calories and called it a day. One of the best meals of my life and I don't regret it in the least. :)
  • greaseswabber
    greaseswabber Posts: 238 Member
    When I look back at my highest calorie days, they are usually around 3500 calories. There are some outliers beyond that, but 3500 is most frequent for days when I let go but still managed to track. So that's my "I don't know how much I ate but it was a lot" number.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    edited March 2015
    I do all-you-can-eat buffets all the time and I just try to estimate as close as possible based on what I'm eating and some references. There is a large margin of error but I'm pretty sure I'm getting close since I'm not gaining weight.
  • Dragn77
    Dragn77 Posts: 810 Member
    Same here...I'd quick add 2500 calories and not stress over it. It was a one time special event, so there you go.

    In other news...I hate buffets because all I can think about are all these strange people breathing all over the food Im supposed to eat and how its been just sitting out like that in the open for who knows how long. So whenever I do end up having to go to buffet for whatever reason, I barely eat anything. Just thinking about it makes me lose my appetite! lol Even as a kid, I would literally cry when we would go to the all you can eat Chinese buffet for dinner after church.

    Yes I know..Im all kinds of special lol
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    I went to an all you can eat Chinese buffet just the other day. There was so much variety in my meal that even if there were trustworthy entries available in the database for everything on my plate and if I knew the weight of it all, unless I had taken a picture it would be impossible to remember everything to log. Add to that the fact that there aren't trustworthy entries available and what is available would be just a shot in the dark, I just gave up on the idea of getting anything close to accurate, a quick-add {insert arbitrary guess here} is what I ended up doing.
    The scale went up the next morning by 2 lbs, then down 3 lbs the next morning after that.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    jaymikhail69 wrote: »
    It was my aunts birthday and we went to a seafood restaurant buffet. I did pig out ofcourse and have a couple drinks. How do I calculate that?

    You don't. All you can do is guess.

    Pick a number.

    Then add a few zeros.

  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 318 Member
    You would log it as "epic fail" and move on.
  • amandarunning
    amandarunning Posts: 306 Member
    SweatLikeDog wrote: »
    You would log it as "epic fail" and move on.

    Ha ha - we could do with that in the food database!

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I typically log it as I go and just try to estimate everything, which is a PITA, but next time I'll take pictures of the plates I think!
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    I actually make a stab at logging along the way on my phone....for a seafood buffet like you went to, I'd just select the types of food and a guess at how much...so, 6 fried shrimp/prawns, 4 T butter, 3 oz crab, etc. Even if I haven't weighed the food at the buffet, I've been weighing at home and gotten better at eyeballing. So, I run with it...and I try to be WAY under calorie goal the next day.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    I use the assorted buffet entry, and enter how many plates I ate.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    Two choices..neither one can give you calories but, they have different mindsets...

    1. Just eat, enjoy, and don't worry about it. If this is a rare occasion...no problem. Just be extra vigilant the next few days to stay the course with your calorie goal.

    2. Be picky about what you choose from the buffet, pick only foods that look like lower calorie options such as grilled whatever and salads, and give it your best guess. If you've been doing this long you can probably come up with a reasonable estimate. Hard part is if the veggies have butter or not added to them...

    If it were me I'd just chalk the day up to a "Have no idea how much I went over goal," enjoy my time with my family, and be back on track the next day.

  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    1,000 calories...per moderately sized plateful. That's my personal rule of thumb for banquets. Hasn't steered me wrong yet! (PS, I'd have eaten the crap outta that buffet, too--3 plates for me, please :D ).

    And this is why I visit such restaurants only on very special occasions (less than 3 times per year ;) ).
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    SweatLikeDog wrote: »
    You would log it as "epic fail" and move on.

    Or epic win.
  • kittycatsinunderpants
    kittycatsinunderpants Posts: 43 Member
    Wait a minute, did you just copy and paste my wall? This was my yesterday! Ha ha. So much fried food! I looked for a "lost my mind at the buffet" calorie entry and didn't see one. Quick adding 3000 calories seems like a reasonable place holder to me.
  • WVprankster
    WVprankster Posts: 430 Member
    Honestly, I'd log it as something ridiculous, just so when I review it I can catch it as "oh, feces, I ate all the things that day" and move on. One day of such behavior didn't lead you to find this site; one day won't wreck the progress you've made.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited March 2015
    If it were me I would probably just not log that day. Assuming I'm eating a little of like, everything. If I Just had a few different items I might just guess. Type in the name of whatever it was into mfp and pick one.
  • kruuTahn
    kruuTahn Posts: 55 Member
    970Mikaela1 wrote: »
    SweatLikeDog wrote: »
    You would log it as "epic fail" and move on.

    Or epic win.

    Yes.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I only go to two types of AYCE.

    Brazillian steak house
    Sushi

    and I eat pretty much the same things every time.

    Being said- I have absolutely taken my food scale to the brazillian place to get a better idea- I pretty much just ballpark high and call it a night.
  • Dragn77
    Dragn77 Posts: 810 Member
    WVprankster wrote: »
    Honestly, I'd log it as something ridiculous, just so when I review it I can catch it as "oh, feces, I ate all the things that day" and move on. One day of such behavior didn't lead you to find this site; one day won't wreck the progress you've made.

    For whatever reason that made me laugh so hard, and you made my tum hurt. I'm still sore from my workout this morning Lol

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