Just starting to eat out again...tips?

Its been a little over a month since my VSG.  J am on ground foods and will advance to the final stage in 2 weeks.  Last night I had my first dinner out since the surgery.  I ordered a chicken quesadilla and just scraped the grilled chicken and cheese out and got rid of the tortilla.  It came with 4 triangles and I only ate the insides of one!  Crazy!  I'm wondering if any more experienced VSGers can share restaurant tips and faves to order??  I enjoy eating out but really want to stay on plan!  Thanks in advance!!

Tomorrow is 6 weeks post op for me, and we just got back from going out to dinner. I ordered a house salad with grilled salmon. I only ate about 2 small bites of salad and 1 oz of the big piece of salmon. I'm also still learning, but enjoying taking leftovers home. The salmon will probably be my lunch and dinner tomorrow too. 

My plan didn't have a ground stage, so I'm not much help there. The other time we went out, I just ordered soup, and took a small bite of my hubby's chicken. 

Looking forward to some people who are much further out than us answering :) but we always loved dining out, and still enjoy it! 

If we go out, I try and find out where we're going & check out the menu online beforehand. If it's a chain restaurant, I use MFP to account for the calories/carbs. If it's not, I'll find something comparable and use those stats. Most of the time, I will order either a seafood appetizer or a cup of soup, like seafood gumbo without rice, or an entree (either fish, poultry, or beef) and ask the waitress if I can have a salad or 2nd veggie instead of the potato or rice. With an entree there's always leftovers for the next day's lunch. I especially like a restaurant that serves breakfast because I'll order either an eggwhite omlette with veggies (hold the toast & potatoes or grits) or two sides (an egg and a serving of bacon which my husband shares). I'm cetainly not an expert, but this is what's been working for me. Hope this helps! 

I'm surprised you tolerated grilled chicken at just over a month off - I was still of full liquids at that point, moving on to pureed foods.

I am now almost 6 months out and we go out to eat once a week or two. I usually order baked/broiled seafood and a veggie for my side instead of potato. We also go out for Chinese - I usually get almond chicken and don't eat the rice. Last night we went out for Mexican and I got shrimp and scallops and refried beans (no rice) and ate a little of it in a 4 inch corn tortilla. Chipolte or Qdoba burrito bowls with just the protein and veggies and beans are pretty good too. Almost all restaurant meals will be 3 meals for me and that doesn't include the bread, potato or other starchy choice that usually comes with the meal.

I'm 10 weeks post op today and I've been out to eat maybe twice.  I always order the kids meal. Some type of chicken and veggies and I can't eat all of it.  It saves money and the portions are small.  I also have problems with dry meat.  Just starting to get chicken down. I go for the drumsticks because it's a little more moist.  

Goodness, the most important thing is to ALWAYS check the nutrition info online whenever possible. It is bat**** crazy how even seemingly healthy choices are loaded with crap. If I am unable to do that, I go for the protein choices that are not breaded, fried, etc. Even if the meal comes with sides of rice or other no no's... I just eat the protein portion and the veggies. The veggies only if not smothered in bad things. I also made myself very familiar with the places i go to the most frequently and identified the best options. Additionally, I make sure I know of at least a choice or 2 that works reasonably well at the fast food places despite my never going on any kind of regular basis. I do that for those rare times we are traveling and end up in one. 

I also frequently order soups that are brothy if I am unable to confirm nutrition info- usually you can't muck those up too much nutritionally. 

It is a learning process for sure!  

When at a Mexican place I have ordered just a taco and then I dump the meat out of the tortilla and just eat the appropriate amount of meat.  Or, I order some sort of grilled protein option and besides the meat itself I might have a bite or two of beans. I always say "no rice" because I don't want it on my plate.

I have also ordered the tortilla soup but without tortilla and cheese which is painful to say out loud but I am always happy with what is served to me.  I drink some of the soup broth first and then have the chicken and a few bites of avocado.  By the way, I avoid the cheese because of the calories and since it melts it is hard to control volume.  If I have the caloric room, I would rather enjoy a few small chunks of avocado.

Soup with a side of a very soft veggie. Gently cooked, tender fish or shellfish, again with a soft-veggie side. Tuna salad. Chicken salad.

psychoticparrot

At a little more than 2 months out and many nights out, I've had the following out to eat: Tuna tartare, tuna ceviche, soup, sashimi, fish (mahi, tuna, cod), hummas wrap (minus the wrap), chicken parm, beets, wings (garlic parm, mild buffalo, vinegar.. all with no skin), beef wellington bites (picked off the bread), fried avocado (okay i def cheated a speckle for this one but worth it!), roast beef sandwich minus the bread and then made roll-ups with a little brie on inside, cobb salad and just ate the egg, turkey and a couple bites of lettuce