Buffets. A truckload of calories.

WHO LOVES BUFFETS???

(hanging my head low) I’m actually one of them, guiltily. I used to eat them a lot. Like, as much as 4 times in a week! *JAW DROP* That was when I weighed 58kg. Thankfully I’m not that heavy anymore! Now I probably eat it what, once in…3-4months? Or less.

But you know what irks me the most? Sometimes I just can’t shake off the Singaporean mentality of “EAT-ALL-U-CAN” at buffets. And I end up walking out of the restaurant feeling like I’m about to be rushed into the emergency ward for pre-mature delivery.

Buffets are not cheap, I can tell you that much. The one I went to was Himawari Japanese Restaurant (the Alexandra Rd branch) and this was one of the slightly more expensive ones because they also include the steamboat portion in it. So what do we Singaporeans do? We ‘make our money’s worth’. Correct?

NO! WRONG! Big fat red ‘X’ on that!

How about we try stepping into a buffet restaurant, with the mentality of enjoying the variety of food that’s available to us? And not make-sure-i-eat-my-week’s-worth-of-food-so-i-can-starve-myself-for-the-next-3-days?? 

Just for fun, I decided to calculate the number of calories that I consumed that evening. And mind you, I’m already considered a ‘small eater’. Imagine those people who are always labeled ‘bottomless pits’?!

These were the things I ate:

• 2 swordfish sushi (140kcal)
• 1 x salmon sushi (64kcal)
• 3 pcs deep fried cuttlefish (150kcal)
• 4 small pcs soft shell crab (180kcal)
• 1 cup cooked veg from steamboat (30kcal)
• Golden mushrooms (enoki) (22kcal)
• 7-8 slices beef (130kcal)
• 1 cup chawanmushi (100kcal)
• 1 gyoza (55kcal)
• 3 prawn tempura (130kcal)
• 1 golden mushroom tempura (100kcal)
• 2 sweet potato tempura (148kcal)
• 6-7 pcs sashimi (salmon, swordfish &yellowtal) (272kcal)
• 1 pc deep fried chicken wing (103kcal)
• 1 egg soup (60kcal)

Okay. *sits back and looks at list*.

THAT’S ACTUALLY A LOT OF FOOD!!!! 

Buffet at Himawari Japanese Restaurant.
The things I ate.

Thinking back, I did feel very uncomfortable after dinner. Aiya, too much food lah! I should just eat till comfortably full. Sigh!

So… grand total of all that I ate was…… *drum rolllllll*

1690 CALORIES!!!!!!

OH. MY. GOSH.

No way I ate that much! That’s even more calories than I need in a DAY!!! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh *starts frantically scribbling down exercise plans on mental notebook*

According to the Health Promotion Board, I only need 1628kcal PER DAY. And look at the amount of food I ate in A MEAL!

HPB's calorie calculator.

I am such a bad example. Don’t follow me ah!!

But what really surprised me was also the stark difference in calories between vegetables and meat (including fish). Seriously. I'm contemplating turning myself into a vegetarian (perhaps in my next life).

Anyway, if you’d like to find out the amount of calories you need in a day, check out HPB’s calorie calculator at http://goo.gl/lYnnY.

Okay. That was fun. Now I’m depressed.

Well, hope this gives you a bit more insight to how much you actually down at a buffet sitting. Beware!

   

Credits: Caloric information from www.myfitnesspal.com