How to enjoy that buffet AND feel in control of your eating
Let’s talk about how to feel in control of that buffet eating, but still enjoy yourself. It IS possible, when you ditch the dieting mentality!
Watch the video below to check out my tips on this. Or keep scrolling to read the full blog.
Buffet meals can be quite popular this time of year. It can also be quite popular at work meetings or when you go to parties with friends. But they can be a nightmare if you’re trying to feel in control of your eating. The kind of foods at buffets and all the party snacks are often really salty and fatty. They’re really tasty and moreish so you can end up eating loads without actually feeling satisfied. Then you can end up feeling sluggish later or beating yourself up for overdoing it
If you’re dreading buffet eating and want to feel a bit more in control, then this is for you. Here are a few of my tips to help you ditch the guilt & feeling rubbish:
1. Remember you don’t have to eat everything
Before you start putting food on your plate, just press the pause button. Take some time to consider what’s available. Ask yourself if you really need to try everything that’s there. What’s more important to you? Trying everything, or listening to your body and eating the right amount for you and your appetite? There’s no judgement either way. Some days it might be more important for you to have a little bit of everything – that’s absolutely fine! Just try asking that question, do you really need to have everything? Or could you prioritise your favourite things?
Also try and remember to aim to eat a range of different foods as well, to nourish your body. Include a variety of different food groups on your plate – find out more about this with my downloadable guide here. There’s hopefully usually some fruit or vegetable sticks at most buffets. So try and have some of those as well as something protein-rich and some starchy carbs. That way you’re getting a variety of different nutrients. Then you’re more likely to feel satisfied and less likely to keep going back for more.
2. Think about your portions
At buffets it’s really tempting to pile your plate high. Or it’s really easy to stay near the table and end up picking and grazing. Remember it can really quickly add up, yet you don’t really notice how much you’re eating until suddenly you feel bleurgh later on. Try and listen to your appetite. Again, pause before you start putting food on your plate. Have a think about how hungry you feel. Then try and choose the right amount for how you feel. Put your portion out on your plate and then walk away. If possible try to sit up too table to eat, so you’re more likely to be able to eat mindfully, then stop when you feel satisfied.
When you notice when you’ve had enough and it feels like you’ve had the right amount of food, put the plate away. Ask yourself do you really want to go back for more or could you wait until the fullness kicks in? Unless you really want to have a second helping – no judgement! But it’s all about how you feel and what’s important to you.
The most important thing you need to remember about food.
3. Draw that line
Even if you overdo it – that’s OK! There’s no need for any of that guilt. Feeling guilty about your eating just leads to more overeating. Then you get stuck in that guilt-binge cycle. If you know that you’ve had a bit too much to eat – it is what it is and nothing more. If you’ve had more than you need one day, then listen to your body over the next few days. Try to follow your hunger cues and you’ll notice you won’t need to eat as much, so then it all balances out. Remember it’s just one meal and it’s just food. You’re not a good or bad person depending on what you’ve eaten.
Remember the bigger picture – healthy eating is all about what you do most of the time. There’s no good or bad foods and you absolutely CAN enjoy the buffet/party foods. Even if there’s no fruit or veg and it’s all just sausage rolls and crisps. Or you want to have a taste of everything – go for it, it’s it’s fine. Just try to listen to body, follow your appetite as much as you can.
Remember I’m here if you need help with any of this. For more help to eat balanced meals and ditch dieting, download my free guide to making healthy eating easier here.
Ditch dieting forever, because you absolutely deserve better and you CAN enjoy that buffet with zero guilt.
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Freebies!
My Weekly Round-up! AKA; what I’ve been up to recently…
- This week’s blog has been brought to you by the classic Earl Grey – it’s always the one I go back to!
- I’ve been keeping up the walking and exercise routine at least 3x per week, so feeling pleased with that. Been trying some other yoga videos by the same person whose video I’ve done a few times, as well.
- At the weekend we went to the local Cruelty-free Christmas fair. It’s always a good chance to try yummy foods and we came away with a load of fudge. The cherry chocolate fudge was to die for and well worth checking out Middle Wich Crafts if they’re at a fair near you sometime!
- It’s been another quiet week really. So we’ve been doing a bit of sorting stuff out in the attic. Sam put a load more boards down up there so we have more floor space for storage. So we went up in my parents’ loft to collect a load of stuff to bring round – still loads more to collect up there! Will need a massive sort out sometime I reckon.
- How is it December already?! I’ve been enjoying the autumn colours and not ready for winter, but you can feel that winter is on it’s way – brrr! Check out my autumnal spider web I found on one of my walks the other day in the photo below.
- Bird Nerd Report: It’s been another good week for bird spotting. I saw a kingfisher one day and the other day I saw a black cap as well as a nuthatch – haven’t seen either of those in ages! One day I saw a load of birds I didn’t recognise. I looked them up in my big book of birds and they looked like a redwing to start with. But actually after listening to a few bird calls on here I realised they must’ve been fieldfares. Both of these actually could’ve been there as there was quite a flock of them and they’re both winter visitors to the area, but I’d never seen either before!
