How do you handle ordering at restaurant?

My husbands sleeve's name is "Sonny".  He was named after his surgeon, Dr. Sonnanstine :)  We also considered Barry for Bariatric Surgery and Thom, for our surgeons first name :)

Its fun :)

I was eating out at about 2 weeks post-opt. I started with soups, drinking the broths mostly and then worked my way to mashed potatoes...I think these saved me form insanity generally. I could only eat about a 1/4 of a cup...but it made me feel human again.

Now I'm out and about all the time and restaurant dining is just part of my single, social life. I basically order fish option. Sometimes a starter portion. I do also tend to order ground/minced meats since they are easier to chew/ get down. I'm now on a full diet, but I'm still picky about what will work best for me.

Eating out doesn't stress me out, the first couple of times, it definitely didm but I think you have to work on the mental bits if eating out...it's not a treat...it's meal time just like any other meal time, which requires thoughtfulness. My best friend said something to me before the surgery and remind me of it all the time...

It's okay to leave food on your plate. It's okay to be full and not eat everything in site. It's okay if you ask them to remove the bread from the table. It's okay if the waitress looks at us like we are nuts because 80 percent of the food is still on the plate and we do not want a doggie bag. (My friend is naturally stick thin and we now eat the same amount and waitstaff constantly ask us with a worried look, was the food okay?) This is all normal and okay...

As a note, I'm home in the US for Christmas and the portion sizes over here are nutso! I fogrot how big they are. Easily two times the size of Asia! So I'm practicing a lot of leaving food on my plate!

My husband and I also eat out frequently.  I always first look to the appetizer section for anything fish or chicken wise and then if I can't find anything there I look to the main portion of the menu and figure on taking home what I don't finish.  Most restaurants have no trouble accommodating my request for extra veggies instead of whatever starch they want to put on my plate.  Its really all about being educated about your food and keeping track of what you eat.  I also try to choose restaurants that I know will probably have something I can eat and when in doubt, a salad with no dressing will always work.

I ate out this friday with friends.  I had one soft taco.  It was great and fairly healthy.  It fit in my plan for the day was delicious and we hung out with two other couples we don't get to see nearly enough.  I ate my small taco and was satisfied- really I ate maybe 3/4 of it.  I ate out at 6 days post-op... tortilla soup.  We eat out on the weekends our kids are with their mom/dad (both SO and I are divorced).  It's worked for me everytime.  I've done just fine- I work it into my allotment for the day. 

I've been eating out since about 10 days from my surgery. I live eating out now because pre surgery I was a volume eater and was always wanting to get a really big dish and over do it. It is now a pleasure to be content with a small amount. Very freeing. I don't order an appetizer. I may tke a bite or two ifs husbands appetizer. I then order for my dish something high in protien, maybe from the appetizer section if the menu and the I may have a spoonful of my husbands dessert. I've also gone out a number of times with people who don't know about my surgery and no one notices how I am eating. In tgat situation I usually order a full meal rather than an appetizer portion and I will puck at things. It's great to be able to take food home too.

Some good meals out with my kids here's what I order - if we go for pizza , I order a side if meatballs, if we go for Mexican I order chicken fajitas and eat the chicken and maybe a few veggies, at casual restaurants ill get a hamburger and eat some if the patty...You can usually always find something high in protien.

When I was first post surgery I ate soup out and would get my protien from shakes or soft foods at another meal. I've seen many people post on here that post surgery they are more in too good quality good tasting food. More careful about making the small amounts we eat a really enjoyable experience - if we are going to eat it it better be really yummy tasting.

So give it some time and don't over do it early out and eat ridiculously wrong things or quantity like your doctors office mentioned and look forward to being able to enjoy small delicious meals. I love eating out after my surgery...it's do nice being content with a small amount and picking at my food like some if my skinny friends do. I love no longer being a member of the clean plate club! Good luck!