My first dinner out since surgery

Ok I am laughing here cause it was kinda funny we decided to go out to dinner, and I have clearance to try a bit of salad and veggies sooooo I thought this will be good. ( yes I remember don't try new foods out, but I was less than a mile from home and wasnt worried ) We were gonna go to Applebees, but it was a ZOO, so we went to Friendly's instead. The waiter looked at me like I had 3 heads when I told him I didn't want anything to drink So I'm looking at this menu trying to decide what I want and I think of chicken ceasar salad might be nice, has protein etc. Holy moley, the salad came and I swear it was being served in a trough! They should have called it Trough - O - Salad, it was HUGE. Never eat anything you can fit your whole head into lol. It had some chicken sliced on the top and I took a nibble and it was very moist and went down fine, however the rest of this thing was toooooooo much. It had dressing glopped everywhere ( I forgot they come already dressed ) thousands of croutons and big giant gloppy hunks of cheese. I ended up eating maybe one of the chicken strips, one bite from the rib of the lettue ( forgot romaine tendsto be floppy ) and one crouton LOL. All that for a grand total of $7.00. I swear all i could do was notice how much other people in the place were eating. I have never noticed things like that before....probably because I was too busy shoveling it in too I didn't bring it home because it was already a gloppy mess and I could imagine what it would have been like later lol. Anyway I had fun and it was really no big deal that I didn't really eat. I just could have ordered alot smarter but the choices weren't all that great. Anyway it was good for a laugh! Hope you're all having a great weekend . Linda

Linda- Welcome to the other side. I am 14 months post op and I still sit back and watch on how much others can consume. It is amazing to me. Yes, it is not worth taking home. As time goes by you will get smarter at ordering out. Hugs Nicki

Make sure you record your first dinner out in your journal ... think this is one to remember!!! *grin* Like you, I find myself people watching, even though I try hard not to do it ... I am afraid my mouth is hanging open while I watch them consume so much food. I have to be real careful at my own table that I don't say anything to my family either. But I simply can not even begin to imagine how I ever used to eat that much. Hubby and I were talking about this yesterday ... He was talking about how hard it is to go to Pizza Hut and stop at 2-3 pieces of pizza ... I told him I can not even begin to think about eating that much even though I could do it pre-op and more if I really wanted to. Now I am lucky if I can eat 3 or 4 (small cut up bites of a piece) And it truly has changed for me too, it is no longer about the food, but now it is about the company. Nice change!!! Glad you had a memorable experience ... and I sure hope Nicki is right and we make better choices as we get further out!!! Sometimes my eyes really are bigger than my belly these days!!! Hugs, Tammy

Sounds like you had fun & I think you made a good choice - you ate chicken! and a "bite" of lettuce & one crouton? Who cares that it had a little fatty dressing on it if it went down & tasted good in the process? Sometimes the take home of the leftovers just isn't worth it & that is often the case with any salad. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it while you are there. You guys are all so "well behaved" I'd hate fro you to see my menus when I eat out. Of course the portions are never very big but they are anything I want & usually include iced tea. Congrats on a great milestone & a great job. You are human!