Day 49 The Buffet Showdown

Day 49

The Buffet Showdown

I made sure I made it to the YMCA today in plenty of time to work out. I tried something new this time. I tried programming the treadmill. I quickly figured out that I'm not quite ready to have a computer control my workout. It started out really slow and then quickly climbed up to around 3 mph, but then out of the clear blue it jumped up to 3.4 mph! I guess the computer calculated that I could handle the extra pace. I sincerely appreciate the treadmills confidence in me, but really, right now 2.9 mph is more my speed. And no inclines! Not yet anyway. I turned off the machine and turned it back on, then manually set my pace at 2.9mph. After a brisk mile, I hit the racquetball court for some back and forth action. It was a good workout!

When I got home it was time to make a decision on where we were going to go out for our birthday celebration in Stillwater. We decided on Charlies Chicken, a decent choice, because they have different options that would make calorie counting really simple. At the last minute we made a change, since a few in our party really preferred Chinese over Charlies, we would go to New China Super Buffet. Brace yourself! Yes I said BUFFET. I knew someday it would happen. I knew someday I would face-off against a buffet like two gunslingers standing on Main Street in the middle of Dodge. The showdown was set. As we approached the scene of the dual I kept remembering all of our previous trips to this same locale. This was the place that made me like Chinese, mostly because they have a bunch of non-Chinese items. Did that even make sense? Anyway...They have amazing food! Their coconut shrimp is the best ever, I've had an entire plate before. The little stuffed mushrooms are incredible, the deep fried everything is amazing, and they have a nice big selection of fruit and deserts. I knew going in what I was up against. I was armed with my desire to stay true to my mission and a 49 day perfect record. I knew they would beat me financially, because there was no way I was eating the $7.95 worth, but they had a really tough opponent as far as will power was concerned. As we arrived I made some game time mental adjustments. I reminded myself of what I had to do and what I couldn't do. I had a cocky confidence walking in and then it was like everything was in slow motion. I made eye contact with the man at the register and he glared back. His stare told me that he's seen my kind through those doors many times. Really big guys like me that go in and pay $7.95 for $30.00 worth of food. I don't know for sure, but he probably alerted the kitchen of my arrival. But my opponent wasn't any one individual in that restaurant. My opponent was five hot lines, two cold lines, a desert line, and a sushi line. My first strategy was ordering a big tall glass of ice water. Then, without hesitation, I gave one last pre-showdown look at my family and headed straight for the battle. Like an old west gunfight, we (The buffet lines and me) stared each other down. I had my plate ready in my trembling hand. Then I started evaluating everything in front of me. It never took this long to decide before. Usually I would load up pretty quick, and head back to my chair, knowing that I would go back for more later. But this time was so different. There would be no going back this time. To win this fight I had to get in and get out as fast as possible, and never return. If you know me well, you know I'm not a big veggie person. I have tried a few things in the last 49 days that was way out of character because I was looking to maximize flavor, but really, I'm a meat and potato kind of guy. And a coconut shrimp kind of guy. I had a little coconut shrimp, a stuffed mushroom, some kind of mystery meat on-a-stick thingy, a few fried shrimp, a little sampling of pepper steak, a spicy chicken drummette, and a potato wedge topped with cheese and bacon. I over estimated calories on everything and concluded the plate (pictured below) was safely 500 calories. For desert I had some soft serve ice cream, that added some extra calories, but not too many. I enjoyed the meal real slow. When the dust had settled and the forks were put down I had won the showdown. No problem at all. I still say I have no use for buffet restaurants, I mean why put myself through all that mental preparation? I just wanted to enjoy a nice meal with my family, and of course we did enjoy the meal and the visit with everybody! But wow, I'm mentally exhausted!

I left enough calories just in case I wanted to enjoy a Snickers Bar later. And I did! A real regular size Snickers Bar...all 280 calories worth! I've talked about Snickers so much in the last few days, I thought... “hey, I can have anything I want on this plan, so bring on the satisfaction!” It was so nutty delicious! It's packed with peanuts! And I was packed with a wonderful feeling of victory over this celebration day, and I still have 20 calories left! It wasn't so bad after all! The big Day 50 is tomorrow...can't wait! 'Till then, Good night and...

Good Choices,
Sean