# Buffet Nutrition **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669 "2013-10-19T19:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/21 "2013-10-20T22:04:36Z")
Fat. I’m not seeing enough healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats there. Daily olives are good, but not enough. Most men need about 40-45 grams of fat per day to maintain excellent health. Got any olive oil on that salad bar? One Tablespoon has 14 grams of fat, almost all of it polyunsaturated. Your body needs fats to build and repair cell membranes, as well as to absorb the fat soluble vitamins from your other foods. Without enough fat in your diet, your body will scavenge it from your cells - first the fat cells, then the cells that line and support your nerves, then anywhere else it can find it, and things start not working right. Nutritional deficiencies in those fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) will happen, even if you’re eating them, because your body won’t absorb them well. ---
**Author:** ![Cerridwyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Cerridwyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerridwyn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/22 "2013-10-20T22:07:25Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Okay, I eat in a buffet style setting… > > 1. … > 2. … Cerridwyn is jealous because I have no discipline to eat like that & I need it bad because I need to lose 100# to get on the Kidney list. Can I hire you to whip me into shape? Then again, I like being whipped. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/23 "2013-10-21T04:53:50Z")
It’s really about whether you have convenient access to food; just today I ate two cookies since they were free and given to me … usually I refrain from frivolous sweets especially if I’m paying for them. If you stock your fridge with healthy foods you’ll eat healthy. Well, it makes it easier, since you won’t have much of a choice. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/24 "2013-10-21T04:57:32Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Fat. I’m not seeing enough healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats there. Daily olives are good, but not enough. Most men need about 40-45 grams of fat per day to maintain excellent health. > > Got any olive oil on that salad bar? One Tablespoon has 14 grams of fat, almost all of it polyunsaturated. > > Your body needs fats to build and repair cell membranes, as well as to absorb the fat soluble vitamins from your other foods. Without enough fat in your diet, your body will scavenge it from your cells - first the fat cells, then the cells that line and support your nerves, then anywhere else it can find it, and things start not working right. Nutritional deficiencies in those fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) will happen, even if you’re eating them, because your body won’t absorb them well. Ah. I’ve been refraining from fats on purpose to accelerate weight loss and if my scale is correct and accurate I’ll have lost eighteen pounds to date. I’m not sure if I believe my scale at this point … I’m actually in the process of finding another scale. I’ve almost started knocking on neighbor’s doors. The scale was accurate to the pound when I put a fifty pound dumbbell on it but still …eighteen pounds. I used to be 180 now I’m apparently 162. Is this real?? ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/25 "2013-10-21T04:59:10Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > As a side note, drinking a lot of water does not necessarily prevent you from losing water weight. I am not a doctor but I 'm pretty confident that the human body has a natural system which decides how much water to retain; if you go over that amount, you just pee more. > > So for example, let’s suppose you eat a big deli sandwich every day for lunch full of rather salty meat. This will cause your body to retain quite a bit of extra water. If you then start substituting something low in salt and carbohydrates for lunch, you will drop weight – even if you drink lots of water. Because your body will retain less. > > I’m not so sure – your body had roughly 120 pounds of water to begin with. If you lost 2 pounds of fat and 10 pounds of water, you might not notice it. Besides which, some of the water you lose might be a product of combustion of sugar you have floating around in your system. > > Keep in mind that when you have a caloric deficit, i.e. you start a diet, your body burns through a good deal of its readily accessible sugars before it starts converting fat. Burning through those sugars necessarily causes you to lose weight, either in the form of water which was used in connection with sugar storage or water and other stuff which is a product of oxidation. Or both. > > I am not a nutritionist or doctor, this is just what I’ve pieced together over the last year or two. But if you ever fast for religious reasons, you can verify this effect by weighing yourself numerous times throughout the day. Even if you drink water, you will see that your weight drops pretty quickly – much more than it would if you were simply burning fat. Right, I remember someone saying for each gram of carbohydrate there is also some water being used with the carb or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/26 "2013-10-21T05:06:06Z")
Also regarding my weight loss I wish more weight came from my stomach since there is still a bit of fat lingering on the bottom where my pants end up top. That bit of fat is making the six pack a lot less impressive. I know that weight loss generally isn’t targeted but I wish I could lose that. I also started weight training recently with running, and I’ve always been doing plyo with running; could some weight loss be attributed to muscle gain? Which one weighs more? I’m not much of a distance runner as I do have rather big and muscular thighs. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/27 "2013-10-21T05:13:49Z")
I don’t see any nuts or flax seed there. You need the “good” fats like omega-3. Almonds and/or brazil nuts are really delicious and will provide those oils. Toasted flax seed is actually pretty yummy as well, and adds a nice crunch on top of a salad. You might suggest these to the cafeteria manager. Most salad bars include sunflower seeds, add those for a start, but try to push for healthier choices. You could also get those by adding some tuna or other ocean fish into your diet. ETA: Muscle is heavier than fat. It’s possible to get trimmer without losing any weight at all. It’s a specialty of mine in fact. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/28 "2013-10-21T05:20:21Z")
I wouldn’t expect there to be much difference, protein-wise, between the typical vegetarian diet and the typical vegan diet. Most of the vegetarians I know get most of their protein from assorted legumes, which are of course also an option for vegans. Now, B12 is a real issue for vegans, and a healthy vegan lifestyle would probably be impossible without modern supplements. But the OP is getting a fair bit of mushrooms and cheese, as well as the veggie burgers which are probably supplemented, so that’s probably not a problem. And overall, I’m seeing a lot of variety in general in the OP’s diet. With a list of (non-junk) foods that long, it’s pretty hard to end up with any major deficiencies. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/29 "2013-10-21T05:31:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I wouldn’t expect there to be much difference, protein-wise, between the typical vegetarian diet and the typical vegan diet. Well then you’d be quite surprised to find out there is. How can you _not_ expect a rather big difference in complete protein sources in diets that contain no animal products whatsoever vs diets that simply contain no _meat_? It’s easy being a vegetarian, even a healthy one. It just takes a little bit of knowledge and planning. Being a vegan, at least a _healthy_ vegan, can be a **real** challenge. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669/30 "2013-10-21T10:19:05Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Ah. I’ve been refraining from fats on purpose to accelerate weight loss and if my scale is correct and accurate I’ll have lost eighteen pounds to date. I’m not sure if I believe my scale at this point … I’m actually in the process of finding another scale. I’ve almost started knocking on neighbor’s doors. The scale was accurate to the pound when I put a fifty pound dumbbell on it but still …eighteen pounds. I used to be 180 now I’m apparently 162. Is this real?? Yes, it’s real. No, it’s not safe. Your body is cannibalizing itself for fat. That’s what weight loss is, but in your case, it’s doing it too quickly to be generally recognized as safe without close medical supervision. There’s a reason that all those extreme weight loss shows have doctors on the set - people on very low calorie diets are at increased risk of heart and kidney failure. > [@IceQube](#): > > Also regarding my weight loss I wish more weight came from my stomach since there is still a bit of fat lingering on the bottom where my pants end up top. That bit of fat is making the six pack a lot less impressive. I know that weight loss generally isn’t targeted but I wish I could lose that. > > I also started weight training recently with running, and I’ve always been doing plyo with running; could some weight loss be attributed to muscle gain? Which one weighs more? I’m not much of a distance runner as I do have rather big and muscular thighs. Is there a health clinic on campus? Or do you have a doctor? See if you can get hooked up with a Registered Dietician for some customized diet and healthy weight loss advice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffet-nutrition/671669.md?page=1)