Banders & eating out
I am scheduled for my lapband on July 5th with Dr. Ehrlich. I was wondering how post-ops handle eating out at restaurants? Do you order children's portions when it is available or do you order an entree and just eat the protein & disregard the rest? I also understand that reheating meats in the microwave dries them out too much and makes them hard to swallow easily. Anyone experience this? I would appreciate any helpful tips...
-michelle
Michelle,
Dr. Ehrlich is great! Dr. N Floch did my surgery and I love the practice and the follow up care! I am only just over a month out so I can relate to worrying about eating out. I will tell you that I have been out to eat and either just order a small portion (like at a diner, just eggs) or eat what I can and take the rest home, even if someone else eats the leftovers! I went to Ninety-Nine with friends last night and had the seafood chowder, and ate the seafood first (ok and some of the potato) and then the rest. I have had one fill (1cc) and I am back on soft foods right this moment. I was very full just on the soup, I figure going forward I will order something like an appetizer (if I can find a fitting one) or a soup or, like I said before, just take the remains home or offer it to whomever is there with me! (I have re-heated chicken and other things and if I feel they are too dry I add some type of light sauce...fat free cream of mushroom soup is a favorite, this moistens it up well for me!)
Good luck, dont worry about things like this because once you are in the situation you will just figure it out!
~Meg
Hey Michelle! 
Congratulations on making such a life-changing and life-affirming decision, and congratulations on getting your date. I know it seems a hundred years away, but the time will fly by.
The "eating out" thing can get a little dicey at times, I will admit. 
It's just not as easy as it used tobe. There are a lot more things to consider besides just finding something tasty on the menu, ordering it and putting in your face. And I will admit that there have been times when eating out was far more of a chore than it used to be.
The things I find I now have to take into consideration are things like:
-Will it "agree with me"?
-Will it be far too much food?
-Will the leftovers reheat well?
-Is there the possibility that it will be too dry to too doughy?
-Can I order from the kid's menu?
-Where's the bathroom, just in case?
I find that I'm thinking about ordering the way that people who eat properly do, meaning that I actually THINK about the food now.
I just want to start off by saying that I HATE throwing away food. Maybe it's that I still can hear my Mom telling me that I have to finish what's on my plate, that there are people starving in (insert country here.) It tiook me a long time to lose that mindset.
So the first thing you have to do is abandon your membership in the "Clean Plate Club." You DON'T have to finish everything. In fact, trying to will make you sick. If there is no more room in your stomach and you try to eat more, chances are pretty good that you will throw up.
It can be extraordinarily hard to find smaller portions to suit our new lifestyles. Restaurants are giving people what they want, for the most part: large portions at a good price. If it WASN'T what people wanted, they wouldn't sell like that. But let's face it: in our "old lives", that's what we wanted.
Now, however, it's hard to avoid getting a humongous plateful of food. For example, you just CAN'T get a regular-sized burger in a restaurant, it has to be 8 ounces.
I will try to order from the kids' menu, but VERY FEW restaurants will allow that, for reasons that I consider to be bulls**t.
The only places that have agreed (all both of them) are places we go all the time. Very few will do half-portions, either.
I'll try to find something I know that I can order small (like a one-egg breakfast, one slice of toast, hold the homefries), or a cup of soup instead of a bowl. (Although I went to one place that said they only had bowls. Guess they didn't realize that I knew they had coffee cups that were perfectly good for soup...never went back.)
I also sometimes try to order an appetizer, since the portions are usually much smaller than an entree.
Another thing I try to do is ask the waiter/waitress to bring a takeout container when the food comes. I immediately pack up half of the plate so I won't be tempted to pick at the extras when I'm full. I also have learned to put my napkin (only if it's paper) in the middle of the plate when I'm full. That, in my mind, tells me it's garbage, and I won't pick.
To be honest, the easiest place I have eaten post-op has been McDonald's. They don't care if an adult orders a Happy Meal: they're happy to sell it to me. I'll get the 4-McNugget meal (sometimes the burger meal) with apple slices and skim or lowfat milk (I'm not sure which they have.) I can usually eat the nuggets or about 2/3 of the burger. The apples and milk come home. The dogs share the apples with me (I kid you not) and the milk I either have later that night or with Instant Breakfast the next day. The whole meal is less 500 calories.
I've also had really good luck with Chinese food, since they offer most of their dishes in small and large portions. I've been learning to like things I scoffed at before, like Egg Drop Soup, and entrees with tofu. Now I love both!
I always loved sushi, but now the rice and seaweed are too much for me, so I only do sashimi, which I honestly like better anyway.
Like I said, eating out can be tough, but not impossible. It's just a matter of taking the time to THINK about what your're ordering and eating: something we might not have done before. And it's a matter of adapting to your new life. It's really not that hard.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, PLEASE feel free to email me!
Bette
Congratulations on making such a life-changing and life-affirming decision, and congratulations on getting your date. I know it seems a hundred years away, but the time will fly by.
The "eating out" thing can get a little dicey at times, I will admit. It's just not as easy as it used tobe. There are a lot more things to consider besides just finding something tasty on the menu, ordering it and putting in your face. And I will admit that there have been times when eating out was far more of a chore than it used to be.
The things I find I now have to take into consideration are things like:
-Will it "agree with me"?
-Will it be far too much food?
-Will the leftovers reheat well?
-Is there the possibility that it will be too dry to too doughy?
-Can I order from the kid's menu?
-Where's the bathroom, just in case?
I find that I'm thinking about ordering the way that people who eat properly do, meaning that I actually THINK about the food now.
I just want to start off by saying that I HATE throwing away food. Maybe it's that I still can hear my Mom telling me that I have to finish what's on my plate, that there are people starving in (insert country here.) It tiook me a long time to lose that mindset.
So the first thing you have to do is abandon your membership in the "Clean Plate Club." You DON'T have to finish everything. In fact, trying to will make you sick. If there is no more room in your stomach and you try to eat more, chances are pretty good that you will throw up.
It can be extraordinarily hard to find smaller portions to suit our new lifestyles. Restaurants are giving people what they want, for the most part: large portions at a good price. If it WASN'T what people wanted, they wouldn't sell like that. But let's face it: in our "old lives", that's what we wanted.
Now, however, it's hard to avoid getting a humongous plateful of food. For example, you just CAN'T get a regular-sized burger in a restaurant, it has to be 8 ounces.
I will try to order from the kids' menu, but VERY FEW restaurants will allow that, for reasons that I consider to be bulls**t. The only places that have agreed (all both of them) are places we go all the time. Very few will do half-portions, either.
I'll try to find something I know that I can order small (like a one-egg breakfast, one slice of toast, hold the homefries), or a cup of soup instead of a bowl. (Although I went to one place that said they only had bowls. Guess they didn't realize that I knew they had coffee cups that were perfectly good for soup...never went back.)
I also sometimes try to order an appetizer, since the portions are usually much smaller than an entree.
Another thing I try to do is ask the waiter/waitress to bring a takeout container when the food comes. I immediately pack up half of the plate so I won't be tempted to pick at the extras when I'm full. I also have learned to put my napkin (only if it's paper) in the middle of the plate when I'm full. That, in my mind, tells me it's garbage, and I won't pick.
To be honest, the easiest place I have eaten post-op has been McDonald's. They don't care if an adult orders a Happy Meal: they're happy to sell it to me. I'll get the 4-McNugget meal (sometimes the burger meal) with apple slices and skim or lowfat milk (I'm not sure which they have.) I can usually eat the nuggets or about 2/3 of the burger. The apples and milk come home. The dogs share the apples with me (I kid you not) and the milk I either have later that night or with Instant Breakfast the next day. The whole meal is less 500 calories.
I've also had really good luck with Chinese food, since they offer most of their dishes in small and large portions. I've been learning to like things I scoffed at before, like Egg Drop Soup, and entrees with tofu. Now I love both!
I always loved sushi, but now the rice and seaweed are too much for me, so I only do sashimi, which I honestly like better anyway.
Like I said, eating out can be tough, but not impossible. It's just a matter of taking the time to THINK about what your're ordering and eating: something we might not have done before. And it's a matter of adapting to your new life. It's really not that hard.
I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, PLEASE feel free to email me!
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