How to conquer the buffet
Your stomach is about the size of a fist.
Yes, it expands as we eat, but there is a limit to how much we can eat and still feel comfortable and well in the hours after a meal.
When faced with the enticing abundance of the breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet, a holiday might turn into one long food hangover with disturbed sleep, night sweats, constipation and a bloated, uncomfortable tummy.
Is it possible to try everything we want and still feel great, returning home energised and happy with clear skin and a spring in our step?
Yes, I believe it is.
The secret is to tune into our hunger signals and the feedback from our taste buds.
“We are not cows. We do not have to graze continually… we are not snakes – we can’t ingest an enormous meal and spend days digesting it” – Dr Helen McCarthy.
Earlier in the year, I had the privilege of attending a two day course given by Dr Helen McCarthy, the Appetite Doctor, called “The Psychology of Weight Loss: help your clients change their eating habits”.
Dr McCarthy highlighted the simple truth that we are designed to eat meals with gaps between them to allow for proper digestion, repair and intestinal cleaning before the next meal.
So, buffet guideline no. 1: eat three meals a day with (at least) a 4 hour gap between the end of one meal and the start of the next.
“The best seasoning for food is hunger, for drink, thirst” – Socrates.
The 4 hour gap facilitates optimal digestion and intestinal housekeeping, but, crucially, also allows for the development of hunger.
The second simple truth is that everything tastes better when you are hungry.
If you go bonkers at the breakfast buffet, you’ll hit the sun lounger feeling stuffed and you won’t be properly hungry for lunch and, therefore, unable to fully enjoy the delights of the luncheon buffet.
So, buffet guideline no. 2: embrace the sensation of hunger as the next meal approaches.
“If it doesn’t delight you, stop eating it” – Me.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that most things don’t taste as good as they look. If it’s not delicious, stop eating it. There is no need to finish everything on your plate. If you overdo it at lunch, you will spoil your enjoyment of your dinner. If you overdo it at dinner, you’re likely to sleep badly and spoil your enjoyment of the following day.
So, buffet guideline no. 3: leave the table pleasantly full (not stuffed).
I have very deliberately avoided any reference to the nutritional value of the buffets here. My boys were very clear that no one is interested in that on holiday. The photo is of my favourite pudding from my holiday in Greece last week – I didn’t eat it all as I could feel myself going beyond pleasantly full, but I really savoured and enjoyed what I did eat. (The filling was a chocolate hazelnut cream. Yum.)
In an everyday setting, the nutritional value of your meals is vitally important to your health and well-being. If you would like my support in overcoming unhelpful eating habits (cravings, eating when you’re not hungry, skipping meals, carrying on eating when full, eating when stressed or bored etc.), please do book a free 30 minute Zoom session and we can discuss working together:
If you would like to read more about Dr McCarthy’s approach to appetite retraining, this is her book:
Leave any questions or comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
