Never Fuller

Now is the time for seasonal weight gain. Thanksgiving is around the corner, and it’s important to make sure that you are prepared before you sit down for such a massive family meal. I suppose everyone’s preparations are different. Some might need to go into psychotherapy in advance of the date. But I advocate for freeing the shackles of healthful eating.

There is so much butter and cream in a typical holiday meal, it’s not even funny. And people die at the table every single year. For real. I’m of the belief that their bodies just weren’t ready for the onslaught.

My advice is to not be a statistic, and start getting into holiday eating mode early.

Thanksgiving is just the start. After that is Christmas, and don’t forget New Year’s Eve which can also be cause for great feasting. Then in February we have the Super Bowl. It never ends. But what I’ve learned in the past couple of days is that if I plan to survive Thanksgiving, I’ve got a lot more work to do in the weeks to come.

Last night I had to skip dinner. I was just too full. I couldn’t eat a thing until well after nine o’clock at night when I ate an apple. It was less about hunger and more about the desire to put something in my mouth.

The culprit was a combination of The Hollow’s new menu tasting followed by an Indian Buffet lunch at Nirvana. There was so much food at Tuesday night’s tasting that I wasn’t even hungry when I sat down to lunch the next day. However, I had made plans with an old friend, and I wasn’t going to break them.

As it turns out, Indian Buffet is one of the most dangerous things for me to eat.

You know why? Not only are there typically a lot of dishes to sample, but each one is fairly heavy. They are heavy with starches like beans and potatoes. And they are also heavy with fats like butter, oil, or cream.

However, part of my madness is that when I’m confronted with a sampling of food, I am compelled to try it all. And that’s what I did at Nirvana. While this was my first trip to this Guilderland restaurant, it was not my first dance at an Indian buffet.

You would have thought that I would have learned by now. But I haven’t.

Every. Single. Time. I overeat. And it’s not just full. It borders on sick full. Without fail. Even when I was living out on the West Coast and didn’t have to pack on a winter coat, I still ate more than was either reasonable or comfortable.

What’s funny is that one might think that stories like this would keep me away from Indian buffet. But really, it’s quite the contrary. I can’t wait to return to Nirvana again. That buffet was seriously good. Not only was fresh naan brought to the table, but the waiter brought over a sizzle platter with a piece of tandoori chicken for each person. Plus yesterday the buffet had a goat curry and a tangy beet pickle.

And it may go without saying that by coming back to Nirvana soon, I’ll be helping to ensure my physical well being during the actual holiday eating period. It’s not gluttony. It’s preparation. And dammit, it’s an important part of the process.