Buffett??

What do you do when you go to a buffet and you are not allowed to take home anything to go? This seems like it would be a waste of money but I know this will be a situation that I will encounter.

I used to hate going to buffets because I felt it was a waste of money but now I enjoy going because I can take a small amount of different things that sound good.  I am satisfied with a bite or two of each thing I choose.  
The other day we went to a Mexican buffet.  It turned out to not be the greatest but I just choose a piece of the different meats and some beans.  The buffet cost $8 and even though I didn't get  my money's worth, the truth is you rarely get your money's worth in those places no matter how much  you eat.  They aren't in business to lose money.
I guess it's just your frame of mind.  For me I think I'm worth spending the money to get exactly what I want and no one will kick me out if I don't finish my plate.  While it is more cost effective to spend $10 to get two or more meals out of it, it still is OK to spend that much and just get one meal, but one with variety.

Buffets will never be worth the money, even if you do take stuff home. I know I get tired of eating it after a while and depending on the buffet the stuff might make me sick. If it's a family event or whatever, you sometimes have to suck it up and pay the price, just as you would as a non-op if your family was going to a restaurant you don't like. I go, I pay, I eat a half a cup of cottage cheese w/ Splenda and fruit.

Sucks...but it is what it is.

Yep, it's a frame of mind thing. I go and enjoy the EXPERIENCE. Time with friends or family, conversation, and choosing exactly what I want to eat. Even when I go to a restaurant, I never order exactly what I want because it is often not worth the price even if someone will eat the leftovers. So, instead of getting the appetizer I want to taste AND the entree that sounds so delicious AND the dessert I will just have one bite of, I just get the soup. At a buffet, I get it all! In ridiculously tiny amounts at a ridiculously painful price...LOL.

Thank you for the suggestions/info!!!

At first it bother me when I went to my first Buffet after WLS, because my mind was thinking like it use to, I was use to getting my money worth, and that meant going back at least 3 times, So at first I just circle the buffet like a cat lol. just looking at all the stuff, I had a right choice angel on one shoulder and a wrong choice angel on the other lol, So both  was talking. But after a while of looking at all that food and looking at other people piling up their plates, I thought what have I learned all these months, i don't need to fill up my plate like before cause I don't eat like that anymore, this is the new me with my new body and I love it. so I started with protein first there is all kinds of meat you can eat, baked, broiled, I had some fish and chicken, then I hit the veggies, I had one small plate of food and I was full and I had eaten healthy, so the right choice angel won lol. Then when I sit back and looked how I use to fill up my plate just because, and the way I eat now it is worth it, we do not go out to buffet a lot anymore, just because we don't eat like that, but when you get invited out to one, just make right choices it all works out for the good, when I can get into a size 16 now instead of a tight 6x. It is all a mind game.. You are in control now  take care and enjoy. ( I don't do good with taking food home, cause I do not want it the next day anymore) I tried it one time and I got sick, so that was it for me..

I haven't tried yet. But according to the bariatric foodie, Golden Corral has a reduced rate for gastric surgery patients. Just present your little card from your surgeon. They also have calorie and other info posted with healthy items. They also have sugar free desert items.

You just made my Christmas.

~Nik

Have to be careful with sugar free items, some have a lot of sugar alcohol in them and that can make you dump or have diarrhea  just something to think about, take care

Thankfully though...Golden Corral posts their nutritional stats online so you can check them out...which is what I advised folks to do in that article on Bariatric Foodie!

But you're right. Some SF stuff has a lot of sugar alcohols and you do have to be careful about them.