How do you feel about eating out after weight loss surgery?

[kayzoog 129]

Sounds like outback! I love their wedge salad and 6 oz steak. Oh god, now I'M dreaming about it. Yum!

Yes, it was definitely a special occasion. I think it's the first time I've ever gone there without ordering the Bloomin' Onion. And the portions are huge, which I never realized until I was monitoring my food. I knew exactly what I wanted, and I had the right portions. I have lobster maybe once a year, so the drawn butter won't be a recurring thing. LOL.

I recently went to Outback. Didn't order the Blooming Onion and it was definitely strange to not have that. But, I did enjoy steak (split with my boyfriend) and actually had my first broccoli since being banded. It's still delicious to go and savor every bite!

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I'm only 6 days out, but LOVE going out to eat. What suggestions do you guys make for different restaurants? I typically love Chinese but worry since everything seems to be cooked in oil.

I dreamed about this meal (DINNER) while on my six-week post-op liquids phase. Granted, it's double the calories what my recent meals are lately (I'm trying to stay under 800 per day and usually succeed), but for the day yesterday, this brought me to 1,062, which I consider okay. This meal itself was 621. A lot? Yes. Worth it? Yes. I also brought home more than this as leftovers. My point is, if you use MyFitnessPal, just about everything is in there and you can easily plan ahead. This is steak and lobster and a wedge salad. I had moderate portions of each. I obviously will only be eating this way once in a blue moon, but yesterday the moon was blue, so there you go.

(Note: the drawn butter killed the counts, but made the meal.)

That's quite a meal for 6-8 weeks out!

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

Yes, yes it was. Delightful.

[KeeWee 470]

I'm loving the idea of being such a cheap date. Now my husband and I can spend money on an activity after dinner.

I wanna use my card given.by the surgeon that asks a manager at a food restaurant to allow me a kids meal even without children. I believe this works for buffets also. But I won't mind an appetizer instead of a full entree. Or splitting an entree with friends. Luckily my friends always get multiple appetizers anyway to share...now I just don't have to buy a meal to go home with. I'm cool with that.

[dylanmiles23 2,198]

Your entire way of eating needs to change after weight loss surgery. Your diet is high-protein, low-calorie, and carefully measured. There may be a lot of foods that you can no longer eat, such as bread, pizza, and French fries. Following your weight loss surgery diet can be hard enough at home, and eating out can be even tougher. How do you feel about eating out after weight loss surgery? If you haven’t had surgery yet, how do you approach restaurants? I won’t go near a restaurant under any circumstances because I can’t or won’t stick to my diet. It depends on the restaurant. I check the menu to see if there is some sort of lean Protein that I can order. I don’t like to go, but I will if everyone else goes. I just do my best to pick out the parts I can eat and to eat only a few bites. I will go, but I bring my own food while everyone else orders from the menu. I go and try not to worry about it. As long as I don’t get sick afterward, it can’t be that bad for me. Other (tell us below!). Mark your answer and explain it below in the conversation. You can also tell us if your attitude towards restaurants has changed since getting weight loss surgery!

I think this week I had at least one meal a day in a restaurant. Yes I ate too fast at least 3 times and had to walk until I felt better. Today I had lunch and dinner out. My husband and I love eating out. Tonight I had wonderful grilled salmon. My son finished it after he ate his. Then finished my husbands fish and his wife's. Yes he is obese. At least everything was fish.

[redlove1446 42]

I agree with the poster who said you need a positive choice in the selections. I love going out. Today is my first day of solid foods post-op and I went out all during my liquids phase. I can tell you who has the best Soups in town. LOL. You can always find something. Most casual restaurants wil serve Breakfast all day, so in a pinch, get eggs. My "normal" friends eat breakfast out a lot for dinner. I'm going out tonight, in fact, with my normie friend. We do every week before our exercise class. It behooves us to not overeat because we'll be exercising right afterwards. I also look online if it's a restaurant I've never been to before, but I've done that for years. Restaurants are a big part of my life, and that won't change. But there is more selection than ever, so I don't feel it's a problem. The only caveat to that would be during my liquids phase, a family member wanted to go to Red Lobster. I didn't want to go, only because that's a place I really used to overindulge on fried food and biscuits, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to have a normal Soup. Plus, that family member doesn't know about my surgery and I didn't want to draw attention having only soup. Lucky for me, the outing got cancelled anyway. Dodged a bullet there. So I guess it depends on who's your dining companion. For me, it's almost always the five people who know about my surgery, so I'm cool. For other outings it might get tricky, but I've found that most people don't really give a flying fig what you're eating. They're focusing on themselves.

please share your insight on who has great soups!! I start cream soups for two weeks on Tuesday and I'm hoping I can find some tasty options. I will love you forever!!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

i chose "other" because I'll go wherever the group wants to go. I go out at least once or twice a week, and I enjoy it. I can't say I don't worry about it, though, and since I never get sick, that's not a measure of success for me. I will usually make the best choice I can from what's on the menu, and manage my portion size. I also remember to count all the calories I've eaten, but even when making the best choices I can, I find my calorie intake is usually higher when eating out.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

@@redlove1446

Soups: I live in the Chicago area. I went to a few local restaurants in my neighborhood, but also some fast food places. Also, a few grocery chains have some good Soups too. The key at lunchtime for me was even If I ordered a Soup with chunks, I didn't eat the chunks. At home I could puree anything in the blender, but on my work lunch break that wasn't an option. So I had to exercise self-control and only drink the liquid and discard the solids for fast food lunch takeout.

Here were my staples for six weeks, pureeing when possible to avoid waste:

Buona Beef cheddar broccoli

Subway cheddar broccoli

Mariano's lobster bisque (high in calories - be careful)

Mariano's potato bacon

Jewel (Albertson's) Culinary Circle soups

Panera bread Tomato basil

Local restaurant's lentil soup taken home and pureed

Local Greek deli cream of chicken with lemon

Potbelly tomato

Progresso New England clam chowder

Whole Foods tomato basil

Whole Foods roasted corn poblano soup, pureed

Local Chinese restaurant hot and sour soup

Local restaurant's split pea

My NUT said any soup pureed was allowed. Progresso had several more I like. Just experiment!

[Cookiesgotthis 50]

I drink a Protein Shake before or a Greek yogurt and just take a small portion of my husbands Protein or veggies and fresh fruit.

[Mississippi Girl 124]

Your entire way of eating needs to change after weight loss surgery. Your diet is high-protein, low-calorie, and carefully measured. There may be a lot of foods that you can no longer eat, such as bread, pizza, and French fries. Following your weight loss surgery diet can be hard enough at home, and eating out can be even tougher. How do you feel about eating out after weight loss surgery? If you haven’t had surgery yet, how do you approach restaurants?

• I won’t go near a restaurant under any circumstances because I can’t or won’t stick to my diet.
• It depends on the restaurant. I check the menu to see if there is some sort of lean Protein that I can order.
• I don’t like to go, but I will if everyone else goes. I just do my best to pick out the parts I can eat and to eat only a few bites.
• I will go, but I bring my own food while everyone else orders from the menu.
• I go and try not to worry about it. As long as I don’t get sick afterward, it can’t be that bad for me.
• Other (tell us below!).

Mark your answer and explain it below in the conversation. You can also tell us if your attitude towards restaurants has changed since getting weight loss surgery!

[Mississippi Girl 124]

Most restaurants today have a low calorie section on menus. I don't find it fair to expect my loved ones to never eat out because of bad choices I've made in the past. Now I have a wonderful tool (sleeve) that helps me make good choices on food I always have a take out box....but that's ok. I will get it eaten sooner or

Edited April 27, 2014 by Mississippi Girl

[redlove1446 42]

@@redlove1446 Soups: I live in the Chicago area. I went to a few local restaurants in my neighborhood, but also some fast food places. Also, a few grocery chains have some good Soups too. The key at lunchtime for me was even If I ordered a Soup with chunks, I didn't eat the chunks. At home I could puree anything in the blender, but on my work lunch break that wasn't an option. So I had to exercise self-control and only drink the liquid and discard the solids for fast food lunch takeout. Here were my staples for six weeks, pureeing when possible to avoid waste: Buona Beef cheddar broccoli Subway cheddar broccoli Mariano's lobster bisque (high in calories - be careful) Mariano's potato bacon Jewel (Albertson's) Culinary Circle soups Panera bread Tomato basil Local restaurant's lentil soup taken home and pureed Local Greek deli cream of chicken with lemon Potbelly tomato Progresso New England clam chowder Whole Foods tomato basil Whole Foods roasted corn poblano soup, pureed Local Chinese restaurant hot and sour soup Local restaurant's split pea My NUT said any soup pureed was allowed. Progresso had several more I like. Just experiment!

I think you may have just saved my life!! Thank you so much for this!! <3

[Teachamy 1,042]

I have learned not to order sides in restaurants, even if they come with the entré. If I ask for potatoes, for example, they make far too many and I don't know how they were prepared, so I have to estimate the calorie info. The vegetables usually are useless to order too, so I stick with my Protein and do a lot better. I did have a soft chicken taco at a Mexican restaurant last week though, and it was a nice change! 100% corn tortilla--edible for Celiacs like me!

[phatmom7 10]

I would probably order a grilled fish like salmon and bring home any more than 3 oz.

[CowgirlJane 14,260]

And...you know what. ..food just doesn't matter that much! I need it to maintain physical health. Some flavors and textures are more pleasing than others. ..but it really is not the center of the universe.