Doing Brunch Sensibly

Barbara Bova - Scripps Howard News Service

It doesn't take a nutritionist to figure out why people are getting fatter. Just walk into a restaurant serving a buffet Sunday brunch and there lies the answer. There, for all the hungry brunchers, are tables overloaded with an endless amount of food. There's no dearth of patrons who willingly pay to gorge themselves. This kind of decadent brunch is a sample of the wealth all of us take for granted in this country. It's something we show off to our favorite guests when they come to visit. Eating is a national pastime, even on Sundays.

Just such a tempting occasion happened to my husband and me one recent weekend when we were invited to "do brunch" with friends. We're both trying to shed some extra pounds. But one look at the marvelous variety of tasty treats and we could feel our resolve melting away. If only we could melt the accumulated fat on our bodies so easily.

Traveling always brings extra pounds. We eat too much, don't exercise, and generally avoid healthy foods like salads. They were usually available in the restaurants we stopped at when we were hungry, which was far too often. I have come to believe that boredom must have something significant to do with eating. Riding in a car for hours on a highway is not exactly stimulating.

Since I learned that the fast-food dressings we get for salads served in roadside restaurants are far from calorie-free, it's an easy excuse to avoid eating salad. So, when it comes to choices on a menu, I end up ordering that tried-and-true tummy filler, a juicy hamburger with fries. This is the marvelous meal that clogs the arteries but tastes so very good.

But back to our brunch buffet and our moment of truth. Most of us perennial dieters know in our hearts that it's oh-so-easy to convince ourselves that we'll not go back for seconds and we'll avoid the dessert table. All around are people with plates piled high, and they're not all fat.

Rationalization is the next step on the road to obesity. It's only logical to believe, when looking at those around us chomping away, this kind of eating doesn't affect some people's girth as much as it does others'. Of course, there are always those noble and strong-minded individuals who are more conscious of their diet than others, so they select fruit for their first course. But even fruit has calories and that's what weight is, an accumulation of excess calories.

Fortunately, at this restaurant we found there was a choice. You could avoid the buffet and just order from a menu. One look at the list told us we had a big decision to make. The answer to our dilemma wasn't a simple one. Everyone else in our party was marching on the food tables, while we sat rooted to our chairs thinking: Could we go for the buffet and just not overdo it? That would mean avoiding the dessert table entirely, something almost superhuman in my mind, especially when you can make your own hot fudge sundaes.

"The menu or the buffet?" the waitress asked. My sweet darling and I looked deeply into each other's eyes, seeing the future there. "Menus, please," we both answered, in unison, feeling awfully proud of ourselves.

We probably saved 1,000 or more calories when we decided right. Another 2,000 or so to go and we might just lose a whole pound.

(Write Barbara Bova at the Naples Daily News, Features Department, 1075 Central Ave., Naples, Fl 34102 or e-mail babova(at)naplesnews.com)