So much delicious food. And so beautifully laid out too! No wonder the party season makes you freak out. That’s why we came up with a guide to buffet management. Take these tips and you’ll emerge in the New Year with your waist intact.
When Hyatt Regency (Mumbai) sent out an invite to sample their much recommended International buffet at Glasshouse, the promise was that it boasted a whole section of health foods and waist friendly desserts. A sucker for anything that says ‘Lite’, I handed straight for the spread like a homing pigeon. It was only after I staggered out an hour later, feeling like an overstuffed turkey, that guilt pangs started churning my already uneasy tummy. Just how much had I taken in? (Apparently remorse is a common emotion following a pig out.) I turned to H&N panel nutrition Niti Desai, for a ballpark figure. Her estimation nearly brought out the baked saffron yogurt I have relished just an hour earlier: 1600 calories!
I had consumed a full day’s worth of food in just one sitting! I was lucky, said Niti, that I hadn’t wandered into the Sunday special brunch where the free drinks a pint of beer or Pina Colada would have earned me another 300. Buffets, elaborated Desai, are dangerous for several reasons:
(a) the sheer quantity and variety, which research show, persuades people treat more.
(b) the visual and olfactory cues warm lighting heady arms form the hot bar all activate your tastebuds .
(c) the relaxed environment and convivial atmosphere that make you loosen you belt and lower your guard.
To avoid being a buffet pig, learn form my experience.
SOUPS
The choices: Wild mushroom; clear chicken with veggies
Stay clear of: The cream in wild mushroom. Saves 40 calories. If you must have soup, setting for half a bowl of clear chicken.
SALAD
The choices: Now Veg Cold cuts; steamed chicken; backed fish with alfalfa sprouts; shredded roast lamb with plums.
Veg: Silken tofu (bean curd); vegetables; buckwheat noodles, raw papaya, mixed lettuce; marinated olives; feta cheese in virgin olive oil, snow peas, American corn kernels. Dressing: Caesar, balsamic, Italian (olive oil, chilly flakes and honey)
Stay clear of: Cold cuts, salami, et al (high in fat, calories, cholesterol). Just half a tablespoon lands you 40 cal and 12 gms of fat.
Settle for: Backed fish steamed chicken (meat eaters.) Vegetarians head for the Feta (good source of calcium and lower in fat than Cheddar) if you hate tofu. And the whole range of green veggies, beans, sprouts, corn with balsamic vinegar dressing, not olive oil. Why? Because oil is oil, 9 Kcals per gram, heart healthy or not.
BREADS
The choices : Garlic croutons lavosh (Armenian unleavened flat bread), grissini (pencil-sized sticks of crispy bread), buns, sandwich bread, pita, roomali roti, tandoori roti, naan.
Stay clear of: Garlic croutons, sandwich bread, naan.
Have instead: Lavosh (whole wheat with butter milk and sesame), Pita or tandoori roti (relatively les fat)
CHAAT
The choices: Dohi wada, curd rice, raita, kothmir wadi, masala idli , papdi + sev.
Stay clear of: The whole section. Even the innocuous raita and curd rice are transformed into cholesterol and fat-laden dynamites here. And the masala idlis are not worth wasting precious calories on.
STARTERS
The choices: Murg tikka, paneer zafrini tikka, hara-bhara kebab
Avoid : using a plate to handle these caloric hand grenades. (Don’t let the bite-sized portions fool you; they’re dripping in fat.) Rather, sample using toothpicks and cocktail napkins. The messier the job, the fewer you’ll eat.
ENTREES
Indian: Jeera pulao, dal masoor, lauki tamatar, tadka paneer, murg tariwala, nihari gaosht, mixed vegetables.
Stay clear of: Anything that’s gravy laden, which indicates deep fried onions or cashew paste.
Settle for: One ladleful (25 gm) of murg tariwala (minus the gravy) or tadka paeer (5 pieces, no more) and mixed veggies.
Continental: Roast loin of pork with pineapple barbequed pork, roast chicken; roast leg of lamb; baked jacket potatoes; poached salmon; assorted grilled vegetables; stir fried cabbage, book choy, shitake mushroom.
Stay clear of: The pork and lamb roasted or otherwise. A tea coaster size is worth 120 calories and that’s not including the fat laden sauce that goes on top.
Settle for: roast chicken a card deck size serving carries 80 to 100 cals and 9 gyms of fat. Chicken breasts are even better at 41 cals for 2 slices, while a slice of poached salmon equals a lean 60 cals. Throw in two servings of assorted grilled veggies and you get oodles of protein, vitamins, antioxidants, and calcium for just 275-300 cals.
PASTA & PIZZA
The choices: Spaghetti with pesto sauce ad chicken; penne primavera with white sauce and smoked salmon; arugula and caper pizza; garlic, chilli and basil pizza.
Stay clear of: The whole section. It’s a carb and fat mine. Can’t resist it? Have a slice of garlic, chilli and basil pizza for the calcium in the cheese. The damage; 180 cals.
DESSERT
The choices: Ice cream; baked cheese cake, fresh fruit gateaux; Belgium nougat; poached pear in spiced orange syrup; saffron backed yogurt; white chocolate whiskey cake, fresh fruit tart, pear and blueberry oatmeal crumble, butter scotch nut slice, apple and rhubarb tart, vanilla mixed berry honey chocolate sauce and toasted nuts.
Stay clear of: Surprise! The fresh fruit gateaux; a single slice equals a whopping 340 calories. (It’s 3 layers of cream beneath the fruit which, sadly, is merely decoration.) White chocolate whiskey cake, Belgium nougat and butter scotch nut come at 185 calories per slice + artery clogging fat.
Settle for: Saffron baked yogurt, pear and blueberry crumble; fresh fruit tart with yogurt and dark chocolate or poached pear in spicy orange syrup. While the first two are healthy, the pear pudding is self-limiting: the syrup is a tough bargain even for a rabid sweet tooth. Total caloric debt to burn: 545 plus.
Lean Tricks
Invited to a buffet? Here are a few ways to avoid pigging out
Prepare in advance. Eat like a saint the day before. “And work in an extra 15 mins, on the treadmill in the morning to offset atlest some of the damage,” advises fitness expert Vinata Shetty.
Don’t waste precious calories on stuff you’d get at hone. Like dal, bread, papad and white rice. Nixing these would garner you about 500 calories, which roughly translates to an extra piece of chicken plus dessert or some dum biryoani.
Experiment. You’re les likely to splurge when you’re testing the thing on your tastebuds.
Play pretend. Imagine you’re dressing you plate for a photo shoot. Make it colorful with all the veggies you can find.
Eat your meal with a glass of dry wine. They says Niti, “psychologically elevates the buffet experience from an ‘all-you-can-eat’ gluttony spree to fine dining..”
Tour the whole table. So you what’s on offer before you start piling. Fill it up with veggies and fruit and ten leave a little room for what you really and truly want to eat.
There’s Meat In This Story
FLESH FEARS. Women whose highest calories intake was from animal protein had twice the risk of endometrial cancer as women who consumed the fewest calories cancer as women who consumed the fewest calories from animal sources, says a report in the International Journal of Cancer that analyzed more than 2,000 women’s diets. The greatest risk of endometrial cancer was found in women who consumed the most calories overall. Higher intake of saturated and mono-unsaturated fats also increased the risk. On the other hand higher intake of vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene and fiber was associated with a lower risk of the disease.
