Winning at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

248.0 pounds, - 0.5 pounds today, - 85 pounds overall, 15.0 pounds from my goal of losing 100 pounds! 

Last night I went to an all-you-can-eat restaurant…and I actually lost 0.5 pounds. That’s a huge win for me!

How did that happen? I was in Ocean City, Maryland, and I ordered all-you-can-eat blue crab. It was delicious. Normally, a situation like that—endless servings and no real stopping point—would mean a 5-pound gain overnight.

But here’s the thing: if you’ve ever eaten blue crab, you know it’s very labor intensive. I probably had a dozen or more crabs, but they were on the smaller side. Cracking them open takes time, and each one doesn’t give you a ton of meat. That turned out to be the key. The meal was mostly protein, it took me well over an hour to finish, and that gave my brain plenty of time to catch up with my stomach to tell me I was full. If I had to guess, I probably didn’t even eat the equivalent of a full plate of crab meat.

I didn’t get my 2-mile walk in yesterday, but I did skip a meal before breakfast, so that helped balance things out too.

The result? I lost weight instead of gaining—and I’m thankful for that. Today I’m back on the road traveling, which is usually a tough recipe for weight loss. My goal is just to minimize any gain and stay consistent. We’ll see what happens, but for now, I’ll celebrate this little victory.