The 2,236 Calorie Buffet

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, while celebrating the Vernal Equinox, my youngest son and I went to a restaurant that was, for us, new. It's in a small town about 12 miles north of the smallish town we live in. I had purchased a $30 coupon for the restaurant for only $9 and, well, I HAD to use it or lose it! We went to the Sunday brunch buffet. Do I sense an "Oh, oh"? My fear was not great because I felt confident in my method of averaging.

I expected to give myself a food treat on occasion, and realized that it would throw off my average. But here's the fact: It wasn't thrown off much at all. Because I ate 1 french toast; 3 breakfast links; 1 slice of bacon; a large serving of cooked vegetables; a small serving of mashed potatoes with a bit of gravy; mixed fruits; 2 pieces of chicken; a slice of ham; 1/2 a cinnamon roll; a serving of carrots; an average slice of lasagna; vinegar-dressed cole slaw; a small cheese sweet roll, and 2 servings of scrambled eggs; my calorie total for one meal came to 2,236. That added with the 361 calories I had already eaten came to a grand total of 2,647 calories. That sounds very bad, and it gives you an idea of what I actually used to eat before I started my diet.

A look at my calendar entry for the day reveals that my brunch buffet excess has not irreparably ruined my diet; in fact, it was easy to bounce back today.

+ 2697= [I add to this my previous 41 days' total calories]

65,803 / 42 =

1567 [the average daily caloric intake over the 42 days of my dieting]

(81,606 ) [the calories I would have eaten for maintenance in 42 days of not dieting)

So, today I ate less than 1550 calories, and that will begin to bring down my average again. 

In about two weeks I'll be eating out again, but will not have a buffet! It is much easier to count calories when I make the food at home than when I go to a restaurant and do not know how much grease and sugar are added to the food. Because of this, I overestimate rather than underestimate calories. I also don't like to consume much salt, and was pleased that the food I ate at yesterday's buffet definitely tasted unsalted. I drank only water. By the way, as my stomach and guts are now used to much less food than that, I experienced, shall I say, a sudden weight loss about 90 minutes after consuming that meal.

I will have a weigh-in at my hospital this week and will report on my weight loss.

I'd like to note that an elderly lady played the piano at the restaurant. She is a widow who brought herself up from depression after losing her husband by delving into her music. She played the pop of her day: Ramblin' Rose, Tie a Yellow Ribbon to the Old Oak Tree, I Love You Most of All Because You're You, etc. I told her that my dad  used to play those tunes on his harmonica and that his favorite was Red Sails in the Sunset. She played it for me. What a charming lady she was.