Year 2, Day 89: I Renounce Minado

Let me start by saying that many of my most favorite brunch memories are from being seated at an "All You Can Eat" buffet. Why just thinking about the phrase practically brings a tear to my eye. The Blue Room, the Hong Kong, The Spinnaker, Aku-Aku, all of these places in Boston and their surrounds were regular on my non-stop tour of SEW— Simply Eating Whatever I wanted to. I even dragged a bunch friends to "The Olde Country Buffet," which is populated by octogenarians and basically serves the menu of a hospital cafeteria.

In those heady-buffet days there were many discussions about how many times to go back to the bar, or whether you would mix with appetizer fare with entree fare; whether to mix sweet with savory; whether to let foods mix or to keep them separate. Many great weddings too, have featured at least one segment that features an 'all you can eat' component. Lastly, my ole' buddy Courtney and I used to frequent a place called Redbones in Somerville, MA where lunch was an all you can eat affair. Imagine if you will, having that "Thanksgiving Feeling" once a week, and then having to go back to work— real work, not just desk-jockey stuff. That's what I did. When you are on the SEW program, and your wallet is the lightest thing about you, "All You Can Eat" is music to your ears. It helps to be young, and to be active. When you're an older, slightly more affluent, suburban-drive-everywhere kind of guy who absolutely MUST watch what he eats, there really is no room for this kind of establishment on your dance card. There is just too much temptation, and even at my best I realize that I may be committed to the diet, but I remember Dale Carnegie's advice: "The best way to win an argument is to avoid having it." That's how I feel about that situation. I'm better off to avoid it in all reasonable ways. Obviously, I'm not going to avoid weddings, but I don't have to 'borrow trouble' by seeking out the endless buffet.

This dinner at Minado (which by the way is a fine place and apparently, a regional chain) reminded me that my next trip to Vegas will also be sadly disappointing; there are "All You Can Eat" buffets behind nearly every slot machine and degenerate out there. I suppose I'll just have to stick to losing at the poker table, if I'm committed to losing at the scale.

[long audible sigh]

I renounce you Minado, and all the "All You Can Eat Buffets" in America.

Breakfast
1 Egg
1/2 Chicken Sausage
Cheese
Green Tea

Snack
2 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar
10 Grapes
1/2 oz. Boston Lite Popcorn

Lunch:
Pastrami, Corned Beef
Cole Slaw
Sour Tomatoes
Pickles
Peppadews

Dinner: Minado (again)
Salmon/Yellow Tail Sashimi
Chicken/Shrimp Yakitori
Seaweed Salad
Spinach Salad
Assorted Other Proteins and Vegetables
Shrimp Cocktail

Of course the only reason I could even GO to Minado is that I did 55 minutes on the elliptical, starting slow, around 4.5mph and getting it up to the 7's by the end. According to the LifeFitness machine, which for all I know is as unreliable as all Diebold voting machines, I burned off 550 calories. However, I probably consumed an extra 550 calories today with the deli meats and "All You Can Eat" buffet, so the day, at best, was a wash.

Today at the gym I thought I would only make it for four miles, but an amazing thing happens when you're working out. Aside from my aforementioned predisposition to get choked up when I hear the queerest pop songs, I'm often calculating the time and exercise in my head, like so:

First Five Minutes: I'm only going to do a half hour today.

First 20 Minutes I think I'll be able to do the whole thing today.

35 Minutes: What the hell, I can push it.

45 Minutes: Limits, what limits!