What do you do at a restaurant?

[AllieGator]

Given how little you are going to be able to eat....what do you do at a restaurant or a dinner party if you don't want to announce your sleeve (mine is 7/2) - do you share a plate? do you order an appetizer only? I'm most concerned about what my PSYCHE is going to feel when I watch my husband eat appetizer, meal and dessert across from me and I can have one pea and one bite of something. Any insight as to how to handle the social eating situations and/or to adjust psychologically to these new changes of not being able to enjoy food like you used to...would really be helpful. THANK YOU!

[Green rider]

I haven't had an issue with that other then buffets. Most restaurants have a senior or child's menu to select from. If not, I take leftovers home for the next day.

[RehabNurse]

1. Sometimes I'll order a bowl of soup. I'm usually able to eat anywhere from one-third to one-half of the bowl of soup before calling it quits.

2. Other times I've ordered small-portioned appetizers such as chicken wings or egg rolls. I can comfortable eat about four chicken wings or about 1.5 egg rolls before calling it quits.

3. I ordered a small club sandwich the last time I ate out. I slowly ate half the sandwich, became full, and requested a to-go container so I could take the remaining half-sandwich home.

[Tee35]

I'm 9 mos. out and I still get a tad freaked out when eating at restaurants with people who don't know that I've been sleeved. What they can eat does not bother me at all. Just the other day I had a business lunch and ordered grilled wings w/cucumber salad. The wings were pretty large, so I decided to offer some of them to others at the table, saying they were really good and you should have one. lol. I was able to eat maybe three. Not full wings, but you know how they are served in a restaurant. Geez, but they were so large. I ate maybe two small bites of the salad. When I was only a few months out, I would order french onion soup at restaurants without the croutons, or some other soup. But you still can't eat much of it. Other times I share a salad with someone, or take most of my meal home. I'm up to about 4 oz or so at a meal. Hard to gauge when out, but I try to measure out a half a cup to see if I can consume it all. Often depends on the item. Sometimes less, sometimes a tad more. But I definitely cannot eat 4 oz of pure protein. I can eat maybe 2 to 3 oz. of chicken breast, ground turkey, etc. Quite a few people on my job know that I've been sleeved so eating around some of them is pretty easy. They are quite curious sometimes and talk about how little I eat. A few others have had WLS so it's not an unusual or secretive thing for the most part. But I don't make it a habit of telling others. If they don't have a clue, I just accept their compliments on my weight loss and say I'm eating very little and exercising when they ask how I lost the weight. Definitely true! You'll figure out what works for you as you go along. Good luck!

[BreakingUp4Good]

I usually do a bowl of soup, a small dinner salad, or an appetizer. However, even apps can be huge!

[klecko]

If you were on a diet what would you order? Something healthier or smaller portion? If not get what ever you like. Good thing is you have lunch the next day, make sure you like it.

[ACE]

In the beginning for me It was hard to just watch my hubby eat any meal because he ate SO much and I was so limited in my thoughts then i startted reminding myself that He can have all those extra calories and all that stuff I didnt need and for me that helped a huge amount. Also reminding myself not to eat until the food was ALL on the table (so no piking at appetizers for me) and remembering in those moments to SLOW down on my food take a bite and set down the fork in between, count your number of times you chew do what ever you need to to take your mind off the idea that you cant have something and savor the things you will have.

[didishae]

I'm lucky in that I have my toddler with me to share all the time. So I order something for us to share together, sometimes even a child's plate and even between the two of us it usually doesn't get finished. As for me, it never bothers me what others eat. I CAN eat whatever I want, just the amount is different. I agree with what everyone was saying here.. go very slow, no snacking on appetizers before the real food gets there or else you will be stuffed and not able to eat your meal. And of course order water and don't drink it. It still amazes me that I can eat so little but sometimes take even longer than everyone else at the table to eat. I go very slow and pace myself. A to-go box is usually a necessity but I get to enjoy the leftovers again for supper or the next day so I see it as a win-win situation. I haven't been secretive about my surgery so everyone that I go out to eat with knows but I can imagine that if I was in a situation that I wanted to keep it secret and someone mentioned how little I was eating I would say something like, "I had a HUGE lunch and am not that hungry." Simple.

[shila]

I'm 15 months out from my surgery. I still can't eat a lot of dense protein. When we are out with friends I will usually order 1/2 lbs of crab legs. They look like a lot of food to those looking. They take time to crack so I can eat slowly and usually come with a veggie. I just leave the potato alone!

[AlwaysVSG]

Now that I've been eating healthy portions for over a year, restaurant portions seem insanely huge. I often or just a protein-rich appetizer, share a meal, or take alot home. As I got closer to my goal weight, I became much less self-conscious about what others might think or say. Who questions a healthy person eating a reasonable portion? For me, being self-conscious was a fat mentality, but not anymore.

Eat slow, enjoy the taste, feel satisfied.

[jonit123]

Whatever I feel like having! Others really don't care (or notice) how much you eat. Once you're full, you'll have no interest in what others are eating. I do try to select something that re-heats well, since I always take home leftovers.

[sraebaer]

Well first of all, you will be eating more than a pea and one bite of food. You'll eat delicious food, won't stuff yourself, and will totally enjoy the dining experience. Not to mention you'll look cute in your new regular-sized outfit watching someone eat an appetizer, huge meal, and dessert. Believe me, you won't miss eating everything in sight.

I do many different things when eating out.

1. If it's say pizza, I enjoy one slice.
2. Often I'll order a healthy appetizer, like tuna or shrimp.
3. Sometimes someone will want to split a meal with me. (Not hubby, sorry to say, but typically any girlfriend will do this.)
4. Order what I want and take the leftovers home with me.
5. Kids menu sometimes, but typically that's crappy food.
6. Order a side salad with some type of protein to go on top. (A favorite place adds $3.00 for chicken breast.)
7. If I crave something, like a chicken tender, did you know you can order just one chicken tender at Chick-Fil-A?
8. Order something separately, like at a Mexican restaurant you can typically order one taco.

This weekend at Bonefish Grill I ordered the Tuna Bowl, ate all the tuna, all the avocado slices, and some of the veggies. Left the rice on the plate. Delicious!

I'm a rebel, I also enjoy a glass of wine when we go out.

[AllieGator]

Thanks for your insight and congrats on your amazing weight loss!

[AllieGator]

Thank you and congrats on your great weight loss so far!

[AllieGator]

Thank you so much for your reply and congrats on an AMAZING transformation!