Eating healthy foods at restaurants

Hi everyone, I’m working on a project and would love some feedback from everyone - especially for those of you that are 1+ year out of surgery:

1. How often do you eat out or order food delivery from a restaurant?

2. When ordering food at a restaurant or ordering restaurant food online, how difficult do you find it to know which foods they are offering that are “bariatric friendly”?

3. When you see the calorie content posted on a restaurant menu, does that influence your decision-making when ordering food? Do you find that to be a helpful resource that you’d like to see posted in all restaurants?

4. How many of you post-ops are still strict about counting calories, carbs, etc like you were in the beginning? Do you use (or at least would be interested in) a resource outside of the restaurant menu - such as a website, app, ebook, pamphlete - that helps make it easier to select healthy foods from restaurants?

5. Are you pre or post-op? How long ago did you have WLS?

Thanks for anyone who submits a response.

HI jazzygurl. Its an interesting question. I assume you are in the US. I don't find it a problem as I normally go for grilled salmon and veg, or potatoes or chips depending on my mood. I will then bring left overs home for another meal. At some places if they allow me to order off the kids menu I do that as well. I don't fret that much as I see the sleeve as a tool and we still have to enjoy life. I will have a bite out of my husbands starter if it is something that takes me fancy. Sometimes I can eat more than other times. I had my surgery 21/2 years ago.

We seldom eat out now, I prefer to cook at home

cook at home.

I love to eat in resyaurant

Well, those question you brought up here is really interesting. I will answer them in the order from 1 to 4.
1. I often order food from restaurants during the COVID-19 lockdown. I was ordering food every day.
2. Hard enough, some restaurants don't provide the needed information.
3. Definetly yes, the number of calories is important to provide. In my area, only a few restaurants have this information on the menu, for example, this one https://opaorlando.com/catering/.
4. I am still counting the calories, my operation was in 2021, and I'm pretty strict about what I eat. Often I consult with the restaurant I am ordering from.
5. 1 year ago.

I've not had my surgery yet but to answer your question, I think majority of people will be aware of their calorie intake even if the restaurant doesn't include calorie amounts on their menu or website. That's one among the major points of gastric sleeve