Life After WLS - Dining Out

How long before you can begin going out to restaurants and what do you order?  I know dining out has been part of my weight problem but I'm ready to make smarter choices and control portion sizes.  Do you find that restaurants are easy to work with when ordering things prepared a special way?  Can you ever drink with a meal or do we always need to drink 30 mins before or after? 

I'm so ready to make this change in my life but I also want to be completely prepared for what's to come.  I'm sure I will learn a whole lot after my visit with the NUT but that isn't until January 29.  I would love it if some of you could provide some time frames of when you begin bringing new foods in - I know it's different for everyone but I'm just looking for a general idea.  For instance:

• Pre-Surgery Week - clear liquids
• Post Surgery - 3 weeks clear liquids   *I don't know if this is right but you get my point*

Any input you can provide would ease my anxiousness.  I'm ready to start this exciting journey with all of you.

Thanks

My first time eating out was about a month after my surgery.  Went to a great diner and had a cup of their famous homemade tomato soup; and added my unflavored protein to it.  I managed a good 3 or 4 teaspoons before I was all done!  Just keep in mind that Protein is Primary!  Eat only what you are allowed at each stage (your surgeon and/or nut will let you know), but keep protein first and foremost.  Now that I am 10 months out I order a few shrimp or a couple of scallops, or steak bites and occasionally will include kale or whatever green looks good.  I still have a nice box to take home for lunch the next day.  And while I let sip water while waiting for my order, I drink nothing during the meal and for about 1/2 hour after which is not a problem.  I have never felt it necessary to point out that I have had surgery, just place my order and they take care of it. 

Good luck pursuing your goals!

I was on full liquids until 3 weeks post-op. It was the worst part because I hate shakes.  Purees followed, then soft foods - final clearance at 12 weeks I think.  Take new foods slowly.

I don't ask places to work with me -- because I go places that have stuff I can eat.  I don't use the WLS "card" or order off the kids menu. I just split with my husband or get a to go box and have lunch tomorrow.  I have asked places that have a salad bar or a buffet I have been stuck at if I can have a to-go box, and I tell them why. No, I don't pick buffets -- but if the office is meeting at the local indian buffet, then that is where we eat.

Things I ate early out (around 3 months).

CRAB LEGS!! My favorite and super easy to eat.

Grilled chicken.  I did not have any issues with chicken - many do so tread lightly. No new foods in public is a good idea.

Grilled shrimp is awesome too. I have more issues with FAT than anything else, so I ask for no butter. That is pretty easy.

MEXICAN!! Fajita meat and grilled veggies.  Refried beans.  

Now that I am 10 months out I can eat just about anything, but I avoid a lot of bread and try to always eat a protein forward meal. I don't eat pizza, fried foods (like breaded and fried... I have had a french fry here and there), sweets, things with a lot of skin...

Drinking with your meals is never a good idea. It washes the food down and you have room for more.  

 Good luck!!

I was 4 weeks out the first time I ate in a restaurant. I ordered plain grilled chicken.  I ate two ounces. One chicken breast fed me for 3 meals. I still order grilled or baked proteins and I still have lots left over. 

Restaurants should be than willing to work with you on ordering foods certain ways. 

You absolutely have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you drink. Otherwise, the food will get flushed out of your pouch. This is a life-long rule. You really don't HAVE to wait for 30 minutes after you drink to eat a meal. Fluids pass right through like a funnel. 

My surgeon required me to do 30 days of Optifast, but it seems to be more common to have a two week pre-surgery liquid diet of whichever protein shake you choose. 

I left the hospital on full liquids. I was on full liquids for two weeks, I think. I know I only did puréed foods for a week, then two weeks of soft solids...and finally progressed to normal foods. 

You are so right about everyone being different! It still amazes me to read about how different plans are from each other. 

Quick tip...don't think you have to take a Bariatric vitamin. Centrum or the store brand equivalent work fine ( you take two multis a day ). Chewables or tablets you swallow both work. Don't take Flintstones! They don't give us everything we need. 

Good luck! 

THANK YOU so much for the information and advice.

 

 

I have found that boiled crab and shrimp are my go to items in a restaurant now and if I am at a steakhouse, filet or pork loin are my top choices. Sometimes I am dining with others who are not post-op and I offer up my side dishes that come with my meal and they are always happily enjoyed by others. If my son is with me, he sees it as bonus time to get mom's side dish, lol. 

Last night we went to the Chinese buffet and I had four large boiled shrimp, half a boiled egg, one grilled button mushroom (they do hibachi as well) and one crab leg. Not a cluster, a single leg. I did not fini**** all, but that was what went on my plate. 

I have found there really is no place I can't go unless it is a place that does only fried foods, but I did not eat there pre-op so it is not a big deal for me not to eat there now. 

Many places will do a split plate for my husband and I. A few charge a fee and frankly, I have stopped going to those places.  We do tip as though we each ordered a meal, the server is not doing any less work to get a split meal brought out correctly, as far as I am concerned. We have always loved places like Morton's, Ruth's Chris and Sullivan's. The great thing about those places now is that I can order just the meat and it is AOK. Sides are not included and RC will do their steaks without the butter they are famous for them swimming in if you ask. My husband will order a salad with fat free or low fat dressing and we share a steak. I also find I can order a shrimp ****tail just about anywhere and that is an easy go-to item for me. I tolerate shellfish very well. 

I have several plastic measuring cups and carry one (whatever size I am eating at the time. Right now I am working towards 1/2c volume) in a baggy in my handbag and I measure my food once I have cut it up (I can't very well put a whole piece of filet in a cup for example) and then I take whatever did not fit in the cup and put it in a to-go box and return it the food in my measuring cup back to my plate.  My husband, who can eat more than I can, will measure things out differently. So he might have a 1/4 cup of a vegetable and 3/4 cup of protein. Right now, I am  almost 100% protein when we go out. It was a big deal to eat part of that small mushroom last night for me. 

As far as my surgeon and nutritionist are concerned, the 30 minutes of not drinking after eating is FOR LIFE. And actually, that is considered the minimum. The advice given to me was that if I still had a sensation of fullness, to wait until 30 minutes after that subsided to drink after eating. So I sometimes go an hour after a meal before drinking. I do, however, drin****il my food order is placed. That is AOK per my surgeon and nutritionist as liquid drains quickly. 

One rule I do not see me ever changing is this: NEVER try anything for the first time while out and about. When I wanted to see if scallops agreed with me, I did so at home several times before ordering them out. For me, I never know when something will turn out to be a bad choice and the last thing I want is to be holed up in a public bathroom and then have to get myself home. Trial and error in my own home is something I'd rather do 100 times than once out and about.

HTH!

You can begin going to restaurants as soon as you want to.  You just need to pick restaurants that have something that is on your plan.

I went to a restaurant when I was one week post op.  My entire extended family was going out for someone's birthday and I wanted to go, too.  I ordered a side dish of mashed potatoes and ate about three bites.

These days, I eat out at all kinds of places. Last night I went to Pizza Hut.  I eat at Subway, Chipotle, Panera, etc.  Sometimes I get a big salad, sometimes I eat soup, last night I ate a slice of pizza.

It was about 2 months before I ate out - but that was mostly out of fear - but I quickly learned that there is nothing to fear

I ask for what I want if they don't have anything that works for me and I haven't had any problems.  Sometimes I explain that I have had "stomach surgery" and that I am really sensitive to some foods - that's probably overkill though.

So typical American-style restaurants present a problem, if you decide you need to eat all of what you are served.  The portions are huge for someone who has had RNY.  So if you like that sort of food, just eat only what you need and take the rest home - or don't - you don't have to eat it all.  Chain restaurants go for large quantities of high salt, high sugar and high fat food because the food is not meant to be savored, but simply "tasted" as it is consumed in large quantities.  People equate value in these types of restaurants with quantity.

You might also consider restaurants that serve tapas, dim sum, "small plate" cuisine - things that come in small portions.  Sushi is great - you can sit a a sushi bar and order small portions, one a a time.  Also great are "tasting" menus that feature several small courses over a long period of time.  The resident chef will prepare a series of flavorful, but very small courses (sometimes one or two bites each) and serve the them to you over a multi-hour period.  High-cuisine French and French fusion restaurants are great for this.

Fat, sugar and salt are great, when combined with other things, and consumed in small quantities.  Now that you won't be eating as much, you can afford to pay more for higher-quality food and a much higher quality dining experience.

Thank you! These are great suggestions and will be new adventures for my hubby and I.