What a "real" meal out can look like these days (6 months out)

First let me say that I DO track carbs, fat, etc... but sometimes I partake in bad carbs and I'm okay with that. Not everyone is okay with this. I actually had fries tonight but STILL stayed within my carb, calories, etc for the day. I even had "dessert".

I do tend to eat tuna or chicken instead of a protein shake for breakfast or lunch and that came in handy today when a friend invited my kids to their Chanukah celebration and the hubby and I found ourselves kidless with an Outback Steakhouse gift card. SCORE.

For dinner I had:

Appetizer: About 1/10 of a half order of Aussie cheese fries (I think maybe 6 fries, so less than that, but I had to put something into MFP). Best choice? No, but this is hubby's favorite appetizer and I knew I had the extra carbs... and HELLO... it has BACON.

Dinner: He ordered a sirloin, we added shrimp with brocolli and mashed potatoes. I had 2 shrimp, a couple of bites of the steak, two small pieces of the brocolli.

Dessert: He wanted the brownie ice cream thing. I had a couple of bites of the vanilla ice cream.

Anyway - that's kind of what things look like now, six months out, when I "splurge" and go out to dinner with the hubby. I don't always make the best possible choices (other times, I go there and get the seared ahi appeitzer for dinner - divine!), but as long as you've built them into your plan, I give myself permission.

I ended the day with 578 calories, 32 carbs, 25 fat and 63 protein. Beyond that I had a total of 4 oz of lemon pepper tuna and an oz of turkey jerky. So it was a heavy meat day. I do usually try to get some veggies in, but today wasn't a good food day, so I ate pretty light - which for me means to meet my protein and call it good - I was surprised I got in the fries much less the brocolli. Some days I have more options - just depends on how I feel. I find I usually know when I wake up how it's going to go. LOL!

We do eat out a lot. If they have a seared ahi, I almost always order that. Or my daughter (8) or son (11) will share something. My daughter loves this because she orders from the adult menu (she's such a little foodie) but hates leftovers, so we can share. We both like chicken so it's super easy. Grilled chicken is a fave, fajitas, etc etc. Add a green veggie or salad and that's my usual meal out. Potatoes are now a novelty.

Eating out does not have to be scary. I rarely splurge like tonight on meals out since we go so often, but do your research and be ready with a plan. For instance, we knew tonight we'd order the shrimp on the side because that's a great way for us both to be satisified and NO LEFTOVERS. 

Great post on how you don't have to be militant to be successful. Live your life, follow the plan and do what's right. Sometime the right thing to do is have 6 French fries to enjoy with your family. Just get back on track and your good to go.

To me, this seems like a realistic post o****% of the people on this board.

Thanks for being real and sharing your post.

You're welcome and thank you. 

I also totally reserve the right to change my mind as time goes on. I think it's different for every person at every weight at every stage of the journey.

I'm still quite a ways away from goal, but my biggest piece of advice for people is to find out who you are and what YOU need to be sucessful. I can eat those things and they don't trigger me. Give me a tortilla or bread, more than like a bite... and I'm done for.

This works for me... for now. Will it always? No clue, but that's why I track it all. If I go over, I don't beat myself up, but I try to figure out why and if it wasn't a planned "cheat" day, then I figure out what I need to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 
Hey Rebecca,

I've read some of your recent posts and sense the thread on being militant didn't sit well with you.

I should share with you that I've seen this done several different ways. Generally speaking.....most do better with a militant approach. Generally speaking lots of people with an approach to loose don't do so well.

That said......

There is an at goal vet named StillFawn.....she ate/eats a varied diet......brownblonde is at goal and she didn't/doesn't eat by the book. Boscogirl from TX eats pretty open. I'm sure there are more.

The common thing with the above people eating fairly open.....they don't eat that much....I mean they eat pretty much everything....they just eat low quantity.

I think you would probably agree you can't do both.....eat lots of anything and still lose weight.

Sleevegirl's example here...the way she described it is perfectly fine and could even be called militant......as she kept her total daily numbers within range even with eating fries. If you have a limit of 40 carbs and wanna use those up by eating Reese's peanut butter cups....fine. Maybe not wise....but you stayed within your numbers.

Only you will be able to tell if you can get away with eating a more varied (less militant) diet. Really easy to find out.....if you stop losing....gotta reel it back in. Heck, I did it during WL. I found out I was not one of the lucky ones that could be more open.

So, I guess my point is....most people do better going militant during WL. Lose the weight first....than when firmly in maintenance find your tolerances.

Hope this helps...

frisco

I think this is something that should be said more often...

 My favorite place to go out to dinner is a Japanese steak house.  I order a side order of hibachi shrimp or a side order of ribeye.  It is just the right amount and it's really great. 

If we go to a steak house, I usually split a steak with my husband.  Tonight he decided he wanted Mexican food.  He ordered shrimp fajitas - I ate a few of his shrimp and a couple of bites of refried beans. If we go out for pizza, I order wings.

I rarely add veggies because my restriction is still very good - and once I get my protein in there's rarely room for anything else - I don't like to feel full.  

The one thing I don't eat is salad - it's about the only thing that doesnt' sit well on my stomach.

Honestly at this point, it's pretty much become a habit - I go for protein first, and avoid the carbs.  I don't stress over a little extra fat - as long as I keep the carb count down, I am ok,

 What I'm trying to say is that with a little creative thinking (like you are doing) you can eat out almost anywhere and have a good time :)  The sleeve doesn't get in the way of life - instead it has given me my life back.

EXACTLY. What inspired this post was the conversation that hubby and I had on our way back from dinner to the bookstore and how in January things were so different. It was all about the food. I find myself eating slower, talking more, paying attention to what I'm eating, but not obsessing over it. I feel good, I look good, I'm ready to take on the world. It's amazing what getting this surgery has done for my life... for our lives together.

12 months ago, heck six months ago (even after surgery) I never imagined how GOOD life would be. I still think it's some kind of a dream. It cannot be real. Eating out is a favorite pasttime. I LOVE food. I'm a total foodie and the frou-frou food makes me giggle with glee. I thought that would be lost, but we were able to go out last weekend to a fabulous locally sourced meal at a very nice restaurant and... I think I enjoyed it more. I savoured it.

LOL.... okay, I'll shut up now :) 

I long for the day I can eat a chicken wing! I tried it a couple of months ago and my stomach does NOT like dark meat anything. I struggle with steak sometimes if it's chewy and not really "melting" and pork chops are totally out (shredded is okay). I expect that will change as time goes on.

I LOVE the steakhouse. I did't think about ordering a side like that. We've not been since my surgery (my kids aren't huge fans so we usually don't bother).

I adore veggies and salad (although, again, sometimes salad isn't going to happen that day. LOL!) so I usually try to save room for a few bites if I can.

You are doing amazing well! So glad to see you're making it work. You give me so much hope that I'm not screwing this whole thing up. LOL!

 
Just wanted to respond to your post because I went through something similar.

Your pretty much at goal and it was suggested to me by my surgeon at that time to start adding fiber into my diet,

My base meals in maintenance are 2oz. protein and 1oz. veg. 

I also sometimes eat veggie only snacks just to get more fiber in.....

Just a thought for you....

frisco