Need a little help kick-starting my weight loss!

[S@ssen@ch 745]

Jodie,

I eat out almost every day due to my job. I travel. I've found that I make certain rules for myself. I NEVER eat anything that is deep fried or breaded. That only packs on the calories and fat. I remember that I must get some Protein in with my meal. If I get a sandwich that has a bun, I either eat the insides or eat only the bottom portion of the bun. Otherwise, I make selections based on what I know I can tolerate. If my co-workers go to a place where the choices are poor, I usually choose Soup. Yes, it's not as filling but it's a healthier choice than french fries and chicken nuggets. I don't eat a lot of salads unless they're packed with specialty greens and other veggies because iceburg really doesn't have much nutritional value. My band helps me with my portion sizes. I eat slow enough to listen to it's subtle signs of "you're done now". When I get those signals, I stop. I have never PB'd, my weight loss (up until my recent plateau) has been rather steady and I feel good.

Since you can't eat white meat chicken, it might be really hard. I eat a lot of chicken. Maybe you could try all kinds of fish or seafood. tuna, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, crab, lobster. All good Protein choices and good to eat.

I really enjoy Bob Evans pot roast sandwich. I get the 2-fer special with a cup of coup and half pot roast sandwich. I eat the soup then pick the insides out of the sandwich. Great meal. The meat of the sandwich is very moist and juicy.

BTW, the kids menu is a good place to look but BEWARE most places offer lots of fried foods or high carb items on that menu AND I have found that sometimes they won't let adults order from the kids menu. Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel are two that I know have healthy choices and allow you to order from the kids menu.

Good Luck. Once you know what you can and cannot eat, that's half the battle. Make wise choices and you'll do just fine.

[GeezerSue 7]

Thanks you guys! I still need more suggestions, but this is helping! I can teat the chicken, I dunno why I try and try and end up in tears no matter how much I chew and chew and chew, it still hurts me sooooooo bad!

You are NOT alone. White meat chicken (and turkey) can be the source of a major plug for MANY banded people. Along with bread, breading, bread crumbs inside of foods (such as meatloaf, crab cakes and such), rice, Pasta, leafy things (as in salads) and potatoes. (One of the meds my never-obese husband now takes gives hime a dry throat. So now that I can eat white meat chicken again, HE can't.)

Depending on how you are with celery (and how much mayo you can handle) tuna sandwiches might work. Soups and stews (again, I'd eat around the potaotes), chili (like from Wendy's, but that might be part of a "soft food symdrome" behavior, so watch out), refried Beans (also known in some parts as Taco Bell's "Pintos and Cheese"), and the inside of many burritos.

Do you know Cobb Salads? I have ordered Cobb Salads (if they are NOT tossed and they usually are not) and asked them to put the lettuce on one plate (because lettuce was NOT easy for me with the band AND because it's important to have access to the protein) and the other stuff on another plate. That leaves you with the Cobb salad "innards," which includes: tiny, chopped tomatoes; small chopped eggs; crumbled bacon; some chicken or sometimes turkey (probably white meat, so you have to eat around it); maybe avocado and crumbled bleu cheese.

http://www.goodcooking.com/ckbookrv/ghouse_04/cobb.jpg

[j_war06 0]

Do you know Cobb Salads? I have ordered Cobb Salads (if they are NOT tossed and they usually are not) and asked them to put the lettuce on one plate (because lettuce was NOT easy for me with the band AND because it's important to have access to the protein) and the other stuff on another plate. That leaves you with the Cobb salad "innards," which includes: tiny, chopped tomatoes; small chopped eggs; crumbled bacon; some chicken or sometimes turkey (probably white meat, so you have to eat around it); maybe avocado and crumbled bleu cheese.

I tried this Cobb salad one time before I was banded..........didnt turn out so hot. I dunno why, but it made me soooooooooooooooooooooo sick for like 3 days, I swore I had food poisoning lol! I dont eat them anymore because of that one experience, I just cant bring myself to, lol. Oh I dont eat Bacon (or much pork at that, I used to show hogs and now the meat just smells like a dirty hog and tastes like a meat locker to me) I dont eat the yolks out of eggs either, so anything that contains yolk I cant stomach it (i dunno I always think of baby chickens, and I HATE CHICKENS)lol I dont eat tomatoe because ewww ok I cant get past the slime to eat one. It feels bad on my tongue. Im not trying to picky or make excuses I just thought I would add a little anecdote.

I need some more small town suggestions, we DONT have Crackerbarrel or Red Lobster or Applebees or anything like that all we have is in my previous post. This information is useful when I go out of town on the weekends, but for everyday I know that I can eat fajita meat.....thats it.......I need to know what is healthy at a Chinese Restaurant like tofu and stuff, I want the caloric amount if anyone has it (tofu vegetable stir-fry). Everyday we either eat Tex-Mex or Chinese, or I starve because they go to get fried chicken (ewwwwww never was a fan, felt bad in my mouth). Okay and yes I admit im OCD about some stuff. But im trying to break the food OCD habits, I really am...............I have gotten to where I eat more seafood than I ever did (I just cant eat shrimp, doesnt go down easily and neither does catfish anymore) So I ate at Applebees the other night and order the Talapia without the rice pilaf, and it was marvalous. I wish they sold that stuff down here, we have catfish, crawfish, shrimp, and some crabs........unless you drive over an hour and get it.

I really live in the sticks, we have nothing here.......lol

Thanks all of you for the help keep um coming:biggrin1:

[j_war06 0]

Have you and your friends ever planned a brown-bag lunch in the park rather than buying out every day? Would your friends agree to one or two days as "bring your food to work" days?

Well we would have to be cooped up in the college for an additional 45 minutes longer than usual and thats no fun at all ya know? Its a great idea except for that and we would get done so quickly there would be nothing to do for about 30 minutes or so.......We cant eat at the park because its usually just girls, and it is known in this town that young females do not goto the park without a male because of the location of the park (its in one of the worst, no the worst parts of my town) There was in fact (no lying or exaggerating) a madman hiding in the woods around the park last week, and the week before that a woman left her kid at the park alone, at dark, and went to a bar and when she went to pick her child up at 2 am, she found her daughter surrounded by cops and she was taken into custody. There are always assaults and stuff that happen there. Oh btw, I eat my salads without dressing (just lemon juice). I like the freshness of the vegies and I hate to weigh them down with dressing, but that is an excellent idea