I'm still a newbie not even a month out, but wondering from all the people with at least several months under their shrinking belts, what does a typical day's food choices actually look like for you? Does all your food always have a profound amount of protein? How much? How often? What do you do when business (or social) situations require a lunch meeting at a hotel or nice restaurant? Do you normally take your lunch to work? Again, what do you typically take and eat?

Still has much to learn.
Thanks!

I'm  2 1/2 months out and I pretty much eat whatever I want - with the exception of sugar and carb laden foods (bread, pasta, starches, etc).

My typical day is a protein shake for breakfast (never was much of a breakfast eater), greek yogurt or cottage cheese for snack.  Tuna or chicken salad for lunch, or I have leftovers.  Mid afternoon snack is a cheese stick or slice half an apple and eat with low glycemic no sugar added peanut butter.  Depends on what I'm in the mood for.  Dinner typically consists of a dense protein like fish, chicken, steak, or pork and a small side of veggies.  I get close to 80 grams of protein in a day.

I'm to the point where if we go out to eat, I can find something on the menu I can eat.  I always ask for a side plate and a take away carton as soon as they bring my food out so I don't over-eat.  I cut away (eye-ball) enough protein and veggies and put them on the small plate, and put the rest in the box. 

The main problem I have with eating out is how SLOW I eat.  It takes me about 30-45 minutes just to eat 4 oz of food.  It's insane and when I'm out with my family or friends, I wind up not even being able to eat all 4 ounces and wind up heating it up later so I can get my protein in for the day.  Most restaurants have some kind of grilled chicken or fish, or even steak on their menu.

At 3.5 years out, a typical day is:

Breakfast - protein bar or shake
Lunch - big salad, or vegetarian chili, or part of a Chipotle burrito bowl, or half veggie burger with cheese, or some sort of beans, or bell pepper strips with hummus
Snack - Greek yogurt, or fruit, or cheese
Dinner - same as lunch
Snack - Greek yogurt, or fruit, or roasted chickpeas, occasionally popcorn
Snack - protein shake or bar, yogurt, or leftovers from dinner

Most of my meals/snacks have a good amount of protein.  Sometimes I eat a big salad that is mostly veggies with maybe some cheese and nuts, so not that much protein.  But I get about 90 grams protein a day.

I eat in restaurants fairly often.  I make sure I know ahead of time what I will order and ask questions about the amount of fat/sugar in a dish if I'm not sure about it.

My three food choices are Quiche, Fage Yoghurt, and salad with cheese, snap peas, artichoke hearts and baby corn. All more or less "soft" foods because I've had dental issues for more than a year that I'm still trying to resolve. I was eating a lot of barbequed steak. (beef has always set well on my tummy more than any other meat but raw fish and shrimp)

I would suggest that the best success you'll have is if your meals start with two to four ounces of dense proteins. You'll have very little space for anything else, and stay full longer.

My typical "summer" day (I'm a school teacher) is shaping up to be:

Quiche (250 cals)
protein shake (120)
grapefruit (100 calories)
protein shake (120)
Salad (cheese, artichoke hearts, snap peas, baby corn) (250 ish calories)
protein shake (120)
Fage Yoghurt with fresh fruit (250) calories
protein shake (120) or almond milk (60 calories)
Pillow snack (100 - 200 calories, high in protein and/or fat to help with blood sugar in the night)

Approximately 1500 calories. More than 100 grams of protein more from shakes than food (as I have issues with my teeth)

During my work week it's totally different. I'm a teacher, so normally it's:

Quiche (250)
Protein shake (120)
Protein shake (120)
snack for lunch (100 calories)
Protein shake (120)
Protein shake (120)
Early meal (Fage, or salad, or more quiche)
Almond milk or light juice
Late pillow-snack or meal (one of my staple three)

Most of the time I have to teach following lunch, and lunch is 30 minutes, and to teach, I have to be able to speak, and I can't speak without constantly drinking my protein shake, so I can't have a big meal. This coming semester I will have a prep-hour right after lunch, so I'll be able to eat. Not sure what food I'll eat. Don't have a fridge in my classroom and ... because of my dental issues... I don't like cold food anyway.

If I eat at a restaurant I usually look at their salad and appetizers, and see what works. I don't expect people to be the food police and care if I eat very little or just nibble through.

If I had a fridge I might take cold cuts and sliced cheese and maybe iceburg lettuce, roll up the meat, cheese, and lettuce in a handy roll up  high on protein, tasty, the right quantity.

Keep in mind, I'm a weirdo. I eat different from a lot of postops. What I eat works, and I don't vary it much. I do make lasagna in the winter (with egg roll wraps as noodles) but in the summer it's hard to conceive of making the house hot by baking a lasagna.

 I'm 6 months out and a stay at home mom..my breakfast is normally a 2 egg(1 white 1 whole) omelet with cheddar. Lunch is normally tuna salad. When I go out to eat with others I just use my best judgement..today we went to red robin for lunch and I ordered their chicken enselada plate..ate my chicken breast and some of the salad that came with it. I normally will order grilled chicken and make sure if I have an option for sides that I pick the steamed veggies/salad. I have no issues telling them not to use butter or to put sauces on the side. When we go out for sushi with friends I'll order a hand roll and ask for no rice. I feel like when I really look for healthier options I'm able to find them. I aim for 70-80g of protein a day. My goal is to be a normal healthy eater..making good choices, logging and exercising not to be on a diet for the rest of my life. 

I'm 9 1/2 months out. Typical day for me:

Breakfast: high protein oatmeal 7 grams of protein
Snack: 3/4 Cup Greek yogurt with strawberries 15 grams of protein
Lunch: big salad with chicken, tuna, or chick peas and cheese - 21 grams protein
Snack: cheese stick and almonds 15 grams or protein
Dinner: meat of some kind, veggies 21 grams of protein
Snack: 2 tbsp of peanut butter on whole wheat crackers 7 grams of protein

Monday will be 3 weeks out for me. I still can't handle much more than an ounce of anything at one time.  If I try eating anything other than the Protein shake I end up feeling icky, weak and drained pretty quickly.

I'm still working on getting all my water in, vitamins.

i eat alot of eggs, yougurt & cheese, for breakfast after i drink my glass of milk while taking my vitamins...i dont do the protein shakes....with the milk and a yougurt and cheese about an hour after my milk, im at about 30 grams of protein with just that...
some times for lunch i have sliced deli meat rolled around cheese and kind of dunk it in some miracle whip to help with the moisture..i have been putting in some lettuce and may try some tomatos before i roll it up...
if i eat a lunch, then i have a lighter dinner, some days i skip the lunch and have a early heavier dinner....steak, shrimp, chicken of some kind..
if i am out at a restaurant, i can always get steak, it goes down great....i always have some kind of fruit when i eat..most days its watermelon, cherries, strawberries, grapes, that is the last bite of food i take to give my mouth a some what of a rinse since i dont drink for an hour after i am done eating....
i am 15 months post op..
good luck
debby

Almost 3 months out and my protein intake has gotten very poor.  I force myself to eat meat at least every other day if not every day, but it makes me feel awful.  Protein shakes/bars and I don't get along.  Eggs are becoming impossible to keep down.  Fruit, cheese, spinach salads, and peanut butter are my main staples at this point.  I am hoping this is just a phase because I know I need much more protein.

4 months out...

Breakfast: Protein shake, pretty much no waivering.

Lunch/Dinner: I eat from the hospital cafeteria OFTEN. I usually order the grilled protein option with 2 veggie sides. I finish my protein and then start in on my veggies and eat maybe 1/3-1/4 of those veggies. If the protein is a gigantic portion then I eat until I figure I've had my 3-4oz and then go for the veggies. Some days I'll go to the salad bar but rarely. I will say I'm lucky in the fact that since the hospital I work at DOES have  a center for excellence they've made it so that there is a "wellness" station in our cafeteria that pretty much always has great options for WLS patients (cauliflower mash has shown up quite often as a side as well as baked options on fried food days.) 

Some days I'll splurge and have a wendy's salad with dressing on the side or a subway sub made into a salad with vinegar instead of dressing.

Snacks: Beef/Turkey jerky, wasabi peas, cheese, protein chips, or a protein shake if my protein is lower than average that day.

As for business/social situations.. Are they the norm or are they very sporadic? If it was a rare thing, I'd wing it. There's almost always something in any instance that I can eat/handle. 

      .oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.Miranda.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.      

I'm just over 1 year out.  I try to have some protein at each meal/snack.

Breakfast:  Hi protein oatmeal (Quaker Weight Control or add some protein powder to reg.)
                     Refrigerator oatmeal (oats, milk, Greek yogurt, fruit)
                     egg white omelet
                     Ezekiel Bread toasted with peanut butter
                     coffee with vanilla protein powder and sf syrups
                     protein bar

Snacks:     yogurt
                    almonds or pistachio nuts
                    string cheese
                    1/2 to whole protein bar depending on size of breakfast.  (20 g. protein  160-180 cal)

Lunch         Wendy's chili
                    salad with grilled chicken and lf dressing
                    tuna and lf mayo and veggie or fruit
                    soup with chicken or beef with beans and/or veggies

Dinner:     meat and veggies
                   crock pot recipe with meat and veggies

I hardly ever eat white potatoes, white rice, pasta, white bread, soda pop..  If I eat pasta it is Dream fields brand.  If I eat bread it is whole grain or Ezekiel Bread.  I will occasionally eat a sweet potatoes.

My meal schedule looks similar to those described already. Yes, almost every meal or snack I have has a significant amount of protein. I am very sensitive to carbs and sugar so I MUST eat protein if I have any carbs to kind of slow the carb absorption. I keep a stash of food at work for lunch and snacks. I usually have several protein bars in my desk. I also keep cottage cheese, Carbmaster yogurt, and/or boiled eggs on hand in the office fridge (I would bring them daily in a lunch box if the fridge were not available). I eat in restaurants several times a week. Generally, I get a meaty soup like chicken tortilla or chili and pick out the protein, or a salad with chicken or shrimp and pick the meat out and eat a small bit of the other stuff. Early out, I would stick to soup because people tend not to notice/comment how little I am eating with soup. I also order water when I sit down and just don't drink any more after I have placed my food order (no drinking with meals!). That keeps away any questions.

Thanks so much for sharing, everyone!  This gives me a broader sense of what I'm aiming for in the near future.  I go to my first support group mtg tomorrow which will be the first since my surgery.  I'm thankful for all of your shared experiences!