Do you eat out?

Hi, I am on the puree stage.

I am not very sociable due to always being in pain( disability) and social anxiety, but I am trying to make an effort, and it would be very easy for me to use my sleeve as an excuse to myself as to why I cant go " oh I cant eat anything so no point in going"

But yesturday , I said get a grip and go out ( I have not been to anything social in perhaps well I started counting 5 months ago, just the usual mondane tasks of needed things to do out the house.

Saturday, I had some egg salad in the morning about half an ounce.

Went out for lunch with family, sat there drinking water, nothing to have on puree stage and did not fancy soup.

Came home dropped kids at my mums, then rushed back out for a show and dinner with friends.

Again all they had was pizzas lol any kind of pizza , which smelled great, but i just had juice.

Bare in mind people kept tempting me with tequila lol ive never been out and not ha drinks and greasy food so they acted like i had died lol anyway i just had some cranbery juice.

On my way home i realised i had not had anything so sipped my protein shake i brought with me which i was going to have i had to open my car door and spit it out , it was too late for me to be having something really at nearly 10 pm.

Anyway so did you actually eat out this early if so is there actually anything i can eat other than soup lol.

And whats eating out like further down the line?

It was a shock to me i was able to sit there and not eat the toppings of pizza lol 3 weeks in I am learning that food is not everything.

Depends on what the restaurant has on offer. I think you made good choices. Some restaurants will be able to serve you something like cottage cheese or yogurt -- sometimes even if it isn't on the menu, they have it in the kitchen as an ingredient.

Soup, other than broth, was not and is not permitted on my plan (no eating and drinking at the same time) so that was never an option for me.

I also rarely eat out -- I'm anti-social and I'm cheap. But when I do, it's easy to find something, and you'll find it much easier to find foods the further out you get . I do a lot of "hold the rice" "hold the potatoes" "no thank you I don't want anything to drink" and pulling the insides out of sandwiches and pushing bread away. I would probably just pass on an invitation to an all-pizza restaurant though!

I never ate out that soon after surgery, no. I followed all of the stages to the letter. And because each follow-up with the doc got to be one, two, three or more weeks later because of his busy schedule, I did each stage much longer than in their written guidelines.

This will all be a brief blip in your memory before you know it. You'll eventually be able to do all the things.

I am following my plan too :)

My first check up with my surgeon is at 6 weeks .

I actually did not mind not eating i felt ... in control of myself really and was thinking about all the calories i was saving from when i used to go out i was pretty happy lol

I am about to go face this issue today for the first time since surgery.

I am bringing my own food. There is nothing on the menu that is healthy or appropriate for me at this time (7 weeks post op) so I am packing my own little meal in my lunch bag. I let my family know already, and they don't mind at all.

I don't know what eating out is like further down the line, but I am hoping one day I will be able to order something out and be able to enjoy it. Right now, my own food makes me far happier and feel much safer.

I did not know restaurants allow you to bring your own food, how did it go?

It actually went well. I think because my family was ordering food and ate, no one really asked any questions when I pulled out my own food.

I will eventually order at a restaurant, I just did not feel ready to do that today. I figure there is plenty of time for "fancy" eating :)

I eat out at least once a week. I didn't for the first few weeks post-op, then the first couple of times just had soup (liquid portion only). By 10 weeks I went on vacation and ate out every night (by then I had been cleared to try all foods). I was careful to only order what I had previously tried at home. I still almost always order a protein forward appetizer and bring part of it home. I ate half of an ahi tuna appetizer last night for instance. Sometimes I will split a full meal (when there is no appropriate appetizer) with someone or eat my usual amount and bring the rest home. Also, if the sides are carb heavy (like pasta, rice, potatoes, French fries, etc.), I ask to substitute vegetables (which all restaurants have been happy to do). I also never get the bread/bun on sandwiches.

My first meal out was middle of March (surgery was mid-January). It was a business dinner so I couldn't get out of it and I ordered the Caprese salad and at some of the mozzarella.

Edited to add: I eat out all the time now (once per week or so?). Last night I went out for Mexican and got shrimp fajitas. I ate my portion of shrimp first, then a small portion of veggies and brought the rest home. I will have at least one more meal of shrimp left and many meals of veggies.

If you can review the restaurant menu online beforehand you can tell if there's something you'd be able to eat. Soup is a good option even if you don't crave it, it's nutrition. Order just a cup size and sip. No crackers. Juice, not so much - lots of sugar, unless you're taking water with a flavor enhancer.

Otherwise, eat just before leaving the house. Have something you know you are cleared for and can tolerate. It will take the difficulty out of trying something new in a public place and not knowing how it will sit with you.

I waited until 6 weeks out to go to a restaurant because I wanted to control everything I ate and know exactly what was in it. It's a good period of time to get into good habits and heal up right.