Tough choices at Tavern

I rode with a buddy of mine to Cary, NC tonight (1 1/2 drive one way) to here some friends of ours play their monthly Bluegrass gig at a placed called Macs Tavern. I had never been there before and had not eaten all day because I got tied up on a job installing a new server for one of our customers.

Had no idea what to order off the menu which only included appetizers, and sandwiches. Pretty sure I made the "best" choice out of my options, but still not a good choice. I ended up ordering a toasted ham and cheese on wheat with chips. I only ate half of the sandwich and no chips. I did eat the dill pickle.

And of course no beer, liquor or wine.

Normally I could always find something I thought was OK, but this night was tough.


www.grasscats.com

ken -sorry that you had a tough time, bars just don't have really good choices for us, i still find it hard to just stare at all those fries! lys

It is tough going as you are starting out & learning.  Sounds like you did the best you could.  Probably not the best idea to go all day without eating, it slows your metabolism and makes you body go into starvation mode so that when you do eat your body hordes & stores the food.  Try to make sure you have good healthy on the go snack options for when you get stuck in those situations.  :)

It does sound like you made the best possible choice.  Maybe next time just eat the meat and cheese from the sammie and skip the bread.  I waited over three years before I ate bread again!  As Court said...make sure you keep something with you, even if it is just a granola bar or a protein bar, and eat something during the day. 

Ken, good that you ate meat and cheese, but I'd skip toast too for a while, it's alittle tough on the brand new system and I couldn't have crunchies for 6 months.
get some pre-packaged protein powders (unjury) or check out www.bariatriceating.com for bars and stuff that you can keep with you for your adventures.. then you can just add them to water when you get to a safe point. 
Keep cheese sticks in your pocket they are good for protein.
Or boiled eggs, those would fit nicely in a lunch bag of sorts ....
I think you made the best of the situation, just remember your system is a baby and fragile so close to being our of surgery...
Amanda

Ken,
  Sounds like you made the right choice. Maybe you saved the second half of sandwich for later.
Cindy

Ken,

I find soups a good option, soft foods like mashed or baked potatoes (no butter) with cheddar or swiss cheese, mac & cheese, chili (with cheese), minced BBQ with lots of sauce to keep it moist all go down good for me.  Shrimp and scallops also work for me but not fried and not swimming in butter.

Hope those options help some for ya.

I also keep Pure Protein bars and Nature Valley Oats and Honey granola bars in my car or tske cooler with bars and bottle water when I go on the road (trips or work projects).

Your milege may vary.

Joe

How do you do the BBQ Sauce? Virginia sauces normally have lots of sugar. I can't do the sugar. I did try the BBQ at a NC BBQ place, which is vinegar based and it worked good.

Yep, I reckon you're right on the VA BBQ sauce.  Maybe its because I'm 2 yrs out now and forget how sensitive I was to sugar and fats early on, or maybe its because I use Sauerer's at home and don't eat out much, or maybe its when I do eat out and I get BBq with no sauce and apply it myself to my liking.  It should only take a couple of tblsps for the amount you should be able to consume ( 2-4 oz). At 2 years out, if i go slow, and eat nothing else, I can eat about 8 oz in a 30-45 min sitting,...no dessert ( 2 to 3 oz if on a toasted bun; bread still messes me up; or i can eat about half on a bun and wait 20-30 minutes then finish the other half).  My other trick is to eat slow and talk if with friends,...that way they don'y usually notice or comment that it took the whole meal for me to eat one BBQ while they knocked down a whole plate of food (slaw, fries, etc) and sometimes dessert.  And its better to go slow and not eat tto much or the wrong thing and make myself sick and ruin a perfectly otherwise good day or trip.

Good catch on the VA sauce.

Sounds good, I am off to the Forever Thin meeting to see what that is all about. Never been.