Help!!! I will be taking my first work related trip exactly 4 weeks post op and don't know what to anticipate as far as eating. I got an email this morning asking if I have any special food needs (I'm assuming this was to target vegetarian/vegan), but I have no clue what to say. This person does not know I have had surgery and I do not anticipate telling them either.

BTW-I am exactly one week post-op today.

I've done a fair amount of business and other travel since being banded and might be able to give you some suggestions, but I need to know what post-op diet phase will you be in then? Purees? Soft foods? Solid foods?

I went on a girl's weekend when I was four weeks post-op, and none of the girls knew I'd had surgery. At four weeks I was on "eat as tolerated". Well, since I had virtually no restriction in my band, I was able to eat anything I wanted, I just ate things in a much smaller quantity.

The biggest problem was that we went to Paula Deen's buffet for lunch and everyone gorged themselves but me. When we left, all the girls were moaning and groaning about how stuffed they were and I felt fine!! BUT, when dinner time rolled around, I approached them about what we're going to do for dinner, and they looked at me like I had two heads -- they were still stuffed from lunch!! Because I hadn't gorged myself at lunch, I was hungry, so I had to go to dinner by myself.

Thanks for the input.

I will be on day 2 of "normal diet."

Since you'll have justed started eating a normal diet, my #1 advice is don't take chances. Don't order foods that you haven't yet eaten as a post-op. When in doubt, order Soup. If you'll be traveling by air, airline food is only an issue on long flights, on which you may be able to order a special diet meal (vegetarian, etc.). Bring non-perishable Snacks with you (Protein bars; granola bars; jerky; single-serving applesauce, fruit, or dry cereal; packets of protein powder). Most full-service restaurants serve things like oatmeal, yogurt, soup, smoothies, juice and milk, and hotel shops often have a refrigerated case stocked witgh juiced, iced tea, milk (ignore the soda), though their packaged snacks (chips, crackers, cookies) are best ignored.

Restaurant eating tips: order an appetizer or a half-size entree; avoid buffets; order a child's meal (if there's a healthy-looking choice on the menu); order an extra vegetable instead of potatoes, rice, Pasta or other starch; order salad dressing, sauce, or condiments on the side so you can control the portion size; put a napkin or bread plate over your beverage glass so the server won't fill it; avoid alcohol; always locate the restroom before you start to eat, just in case you have to leave the table in a hurry.

Who was it that asked if you have any special food needs? Is it someone you've met before, or are likely to meet in the future? Does this person reasonably have control over all the foods you'll be offered during the trip? Will you be seeing anyone you've previously met, or will it be strangers who know nothing about you? You don't owe anybody, stranger or not, any explanation about anything unrelated to the business at hand. In social situations, there are dozens of things you can talk about that have nothing to do with your eating.

You can not tell anyone you'll be traveling with or visiting that you've had bariatric surgery and just wing it, or you can tell them you're recovering from (unspecified) surgery and give them some guidelines (see above). I have an acquaintance who told her coworkers she was recovering from surgery to repair a hiatal hernia (which was part of the truth), and another (whose coworkers were mostly men) who explained she'd had surgery for "female trouble" (almost guaranteed to turn them off). You could also say you're recovering from oral surgery. The problem with telling those little white lies is that there's always a chance you'll run into someone who also had that kind of surgery and would love to talk about it in detail. My own approach is to not explain anything and not do anything to call attention to the way I eat. If coworkers get nosy about it, I change the subject or give myself an exit line (like, "Oh, there's Bob. I've got to ask him something before I forget, so excuse me.")