what do DSers eat at the restaurant?

I live quite far away from most my friends from uni etc. When we meet it is usually for dinner at a restaurant after work, somewhere in the middle. This works really well, but does result in eating out once a week.

Now, usually I go for a vegetarian pasta dish, yesterday I was looking at the menu and realised that would be out after the DS. Which makes me wonder, what does a typical DSer order? My guess would be a meat or fish dish, and not eat the potatoes?

Also I have wondered, are salads ok to eat as a full meal (if you have had your protein for the day) or are they too carby?

I look for something that will heat up well so I have additional meals or I just go with the appetizer as my meal. I will say that since the DS my partner who also had it split ALOT of lite fair meals and at times we still have leftovers. For us, eating out just isnt something we bother to do so we now save a fortune on eating out. LOL. Enjoy your lunches out with the girls just think ahead for yummy snacks later in the day :)

I go out to eat at least 2xs a week. I don't eat beef or pork so I usually get a chicken dish, salmon, or shrimp. Once in a blew moon I'll get pasta if I'm splitting it with hubby. But if alone I usually eat most of it at home later.

I like salads at restaurants. When I get them I order extra chicken (usually less than $5 more) and eat all the chicken and depending on how big the lettuce part, the rest till I'm full. I usually add all the dressing I want........cause I can (snickering)

Last night my hubby and I dropped into a romantic upscale kosher restaurant in the Chicago area. I had:

Poulet au vin (chicken breast medallions stuffed with mushroom pate, shallots, garlic and wine) with mashed potatoes, green beans. I ate about 1/2 of everything and took the other half home for lunch today.

I finished it up with a flourless chocolate cake slice with raspberry sauce. I ate about 2/3 of that and had a bite of my hubby's amazing peach and cherry streudel.

I had one piece of bread swirled in olive oil before my entree arrived.

I wanted to get Morroccan cigars (beef wraps) as an appetizer, but I decided I wanted the dessert more, so I skipped that. Hey, ya gotta make sacrifices sometimes! I KNOW some of my naturally lean friends make that same choice, so I felt completely normal.

Sometimes I get a salad, sometimes an appetizer, too. It depends on how I feel that day. Some days I eat like a junkyard dog, others like a hummingbird.

Side note: during dinner, I couldn't help myself and hopped up and sat on my hubby's lap for a kiss and cuddle (he was so damn cute). I didn't care if anyone saw and I knew the chair would hold both of us! Life is grand!

Nicolle

If I were sitting across the table from someone in a restaurant for the first time, they would probably never know that I had weight loss surgery three years ago!   They might make a comment such as, "you are so lucky that you are thin enough to eat food with that much fat in it,"  or they might notice that I eat a little bit of my salad and then save the rest for later, as I don't want to become too full before my entree arrives.   They might also notice that I do not eat several pieces of bread of that I take some of the roll off of my hamburger, focusing mostly on eating the meat.   I order salads quite frequently, but ones with protein added to them, and I can eat a lot of salad!   Let me give you an example.   I dined with several wonderful DS'ers here in Michigan a few weeks ago.  I ordered prime rib of beef.   My salad arrived first, and a loaf of bread.   I ate about a third of my salad, drenched in bleu cheese dressing, and a very slender piece of baquette-type bread, with lots of butter on it.    My prime rib arrived.   I ordered it with vegetables and mashed potatoes.  I ate about 1/2 of the prime rib, several bites of vegetables and several forkfuls of potatoes.   I took the rest home and ate the remaining prime rib about three hours later.    Some people order dessert, but I rarely ever do - I am too full!   I consider myself, at three years out, to have great stomach capacity now. 

In a restaurant, just like anywhere else, just think protein first. Salads are fine, but they can upset your system BADLY early out. Some people never have any trouble with them; others have to avoid them like the plague. YMMV.

Here's a tip: If you do eat something carby like potatoes, add TONS of butter. Since we don't absorb the fat, I think it makes it harder for us to absorb the carb too.

I can eat alot now so I usually start off with a salad and ask for extra dressing on the side.  I don't usually eat many of the croutons maybe 2 or 3.   I then have either fish, steak, or ribs.  I try to stay away from breaded things.  If there are rolls I have one with lots of butter on it.  I do eat french fries or potatoes, corn or some other type of veggie also.  

Last time we went out I had 10 chicken wings and we split some cheesy bacon fries. 

I do recommend limiting your carbs until you are at your goal weight, but having a side of carbs once every few times you go out would be ok, just be sure to understand that once you let them in its hard to stay away....

Oh I also always ge****er when we go out.  I find that if I drink alot during meals I get fuller quicker and I hate to pay for a soda when I won't drink much of it.

When we go out, I usually get steak or prime rib or baby back ribs.  I'm actually on a steak fajita kick lately and have gotten that a number of times.  I've gotten pasta if it has a lot of meat on it...like chicken alfredo pasta, but that's not my usual.  Pasta just fills me up too quickly.

As an example, the other night I went to Cracker Barrell with the family.  I ordered the roast beef dinner with hash brown casserole and green beans.  I had a biscuit with lots of butter.  I took home about half of everything along with a second biscuit and I had that for a snack later on.  

I rarely get soda at a restaurant because it just bugs me to pay $2.00 for a soda that I'll only drink half of!  I order water with lemon...it's tasty to squeeze the lemon in the water and then add one or two packets of splenda.  It's sort of like a light lemonade. 

I don't have any problems with salad at all, but it will fill you up quickly.  If I get salad (like at Red Lobster), I'll put bleu cheese dressing on it, and then eat some of the lettuce with the "fancy" veggies and cheese, and then leave a bunch of lettuce.  Other people have a lot of issues with salad though, so go carefully in the beginning.

After the first few months, you'll be able to eat like a normal person at a restaurant.  I don't think anyone really notices that I'm different...except I get a lot of extra butter! 

I eat out a lot. All the time. Too much, really. We literally eat out for dinner pretty much every night, and then I have the leftovers for lunch the next day. On weekends, we usually eat out twice a day. I hate cooking (and, even moreso, cleaning up after cooking), and Jeff can't cook anything beyond a frozen pizza.

I pretty much get whatever I want, thinking of protein first. I do order salads a lot - I get them with chicken, cheese, nuts, bacon, egg, etc., and eat all the yummy stuff off the top before having much of the lettuce. Sometimes, I can't even finish all the good stuff on top and never make it to the lettuce!

If I don't want salad, I'll get pork chops, steak, chicken, scallops...whatever protein I'm in the mood for, and then replace any potato-type sides (fries, baked potato, etc.) with broccoli or a side salad with creamy dressing. Again, though, once I've eaten my fill of the protein, I don't usually have much room for any side dishes.

I usually order red meat, I love a good steak or salmon

anyway, I pick at the salad when it comes and eat the dressing, cheese and any yummy veggies with a little lettuce in the mix, then shove it to the side and eat my salmon/steak and if we sit at the table long enough and I can get enough cheese, butter and sour cream I eat my potato as long as it's not dry, usually can't eat the whole thing though no matter how long we sit there.  I just get full.  Love that!