Here, we enter into Buffet Psychology 101. Smaller plates help keep food costs down by limiting how much people eat while still letting them feel like they're indulging.

GREENSBORO, NC -- Buffet restaurants always have stacks and stacks of clean plates and bowls so we can pick up clean ones when we make a second and (cough, cough) third trip through the line.

The table is glorious, like a potluck at a Southern family's reunion, but bigger. It's all there, as much as you want, gorgeous and glistening: Okra. Fried green tomatoes. Collard greens ...

The buffet might look tempting but the perfect number of plates to eat is two. First plate - Tom recommends starting with hot food such as bacon, sausages, beans, eggs and toast.