---
title: All You Can Eat Buffets: how to survive them
description: Redefine your experience at a buffet to avoid emotional stress 
canonical_url: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/cultural-and-media/all-you-can-eat-buffets-how-to-survive-them
language: en-GB
date: 2022-02-05T03:48:00Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/cultural-and-media/all-you-can-eat-buffets-how-to-survive-them. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1024
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/cultural-and-media/all-you-can-eat-buffets-how-to-survive-them. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


![buffet-food-ray-yu-flickr](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/buffet-food-ray-yu-flickr.jpg)

  
**If you have an eating disorder** all you can eat buffets can seem a great binge bonanza or a nightmare. Here’s a way to redefine your experience, eat well and claim your personal power.

When you are at such a buffet, stop and look first. Don't pick up a plate. Slowly walk through the entire line, and evaluate your choices. Make your decisions without a plate in your hand.

Then start the line again. You now know what and how much to put on your plate. No surprises are ahead. You are aware of the presence of your "trigger foods" and you can choose to bypass them. You know what’s being offered and how much room to leave on your plate for what you have chosen to eat.

By following this procedure you eliminate that sudden urge to impulsively grab what seems to magically appear on the buffet.

**There’s no magic. The food just lays there. You can make healthful and caring choices once you get past that sense of 'grab it now'.**

You can even leave a small place on your plate to taste something new.

You don't need to run away from buffets, and by so doing, feel your only safety is in flight. You can make a plan that's good for you.

You skip the embarrassment of returning to your table with one or more plates overloaded with food.

**And yes, learning that you are free to choose wisely is great for developing your self esteem and awareness of your genuine power in this world.**

Good luck!

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421"
            },
            "dateModified": "2022-02-05T03:48:00Z",
            "datePublished": "2009-12-21T18:50:45Z",
            "description": "Redefine your experience at a buffet to avoid emotional stress ",
            "headline": "All You Can Eat Buffets: how to survive them",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/images\/buffet-food-ray-yu-flickr.jpg",
                    "caption": null,
                    "description": "buffet-food-ray-yu-flickr",
                    "width": 200,
                    "height": 133
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/cultural-and-media\/all-you-can-eat-buffets-how-to-survive-them"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/cultural-and-media\/all-you-can-eat-buffets-how-to-survive-them"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Joanna Poppink",
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Eating Disorder Recovery and Woman's Power"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "",
            "width": "",
            "height": ""
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->