Slimming Buffet Strategies

What are the best weight-loss options at a buffet?

Need ideas for coping with restaurant buffets? Want some good snack ideas? In our Q&A series, WeightWatchers.com nutritionist and food editor Leslie Fink, MS, RD, answers questions about food, nutrition and weight loss.

Q: What is the best way to tackle a restaurant buffet?

A: Stop, look, and listen to your stomach!

In other words, don't take a morsel until you've looked over all of your options and determined which foods really appeal to you. This way, you're less likely to fill up your plate halfway through the buffet only to realize that a few of your favorite foods are at the other end of the table. Once you've eyed all of the goods, try the following tactics:

* Make sure not to arrive on a totally empty stomach. A little food in your belly should help squash uncontrollable temptations.
* Fill up your plate with a respectable amount of healthy foods: fresh vegetable sticks, lightly dressed salads, shrimp cocktail, freshly carved turkey breast, fruit.
* Then round out your plate with a few foods that you cannot, or would not, make for yourself but that you enjoy. For instance, would you like to have an ordinary baked potato and eat the whole thing, or would you rather splurge on a few spoonfuls of praline-topped mashed sweet potatoes?
* Sit and digest for 10 minutes before you go back for round two. It takes a while for your body to know it's full.
* Scratch the I-must-eat-my-money's-worth attitude. Yes, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet, but if you go overboard, the physical (and for some, the emotional) cost of going off your plan can be costlier than the value of any uneaten food.
* Consider ordering à la carte. Although your meal may end up costing as much as—or even more than—the buffet, you're paying a premium for built-in portion control.
* If sweets are your weakness, plan for them in advance with smart planning and by engaging in extra physical activity. Pick out your favorite dessert or two, but make sure to cut each item in half at the buffet table, or ask the server to slice it smaller for you—mega pieces of cake often lurk at buffet tables.