Hi Everyone!

I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I am cleared to move onto to soft foods. I want to be able to go out to eat this weekend for a birthday celebration for myself and my mom. I met with my nutritionst today and she said I could absolutely eat out, to stick to fish or chicken dishes. My questions to all of you is what chain restaurant have you successfully eaten out at, and what menu item did you order and enjoy? Thank you for your input!

Panera and Applebee's have good options.

Applebees is a good one. I love their French onion Soup and fiesta chicken salad as a lunch combo. The lettuce and the chicken are diced up very small. It's also enough to bring home and have for dinner, too.

When I'm eating out, my go-to item is usually the Soups. You definitely don't want to experiment with new foods and have problems in a restaurant. Happened to me once and I excused myself to go to the bathroom in pretty dire straits and lucky me, there was a line of people waiting to use the restroom! I kept thinking any minute I was going to have to go for the trashcan there in front of all those people, but I managed to make it until a stall opened up -- but just barely!

When I go out with family or friends my only requirement is that the restaurant has soup options. That way if I don't find anyone else I can have soup. Also it seems like everyone else eats so fast these days.

I use my Lose It app to check out the calories and fat content of food before I order it.

It's shocking to see how different dishes compare nutritionally. For instance, I was going to order an open faced tuna sandwich at a restaurant but when I looked it up it was almost 1000 calories and loaded with fat. I ended up ordering a small hamburger, which was (shockingly) less than half the calories as the tuna. I would have never guessed that in a million years if I hadn't looked it up before ordering.

A lot of restaurants have their menus online, too. This way you can decide before you even leave the house what you're going to order.

I stick with grilled chicken or grilled chicken salads. I love Zaxby's. Outback has a Chicken on the barbie kids meal that is good and I still have plenty of food for leftovers. Ruby Tuesday has a lunch portion shrimp that is awesome, if you can do shrimp. Applebee's french onion soup is great too.

I think you can pretty much eat out anywhere you want, just be mindful of your portions and food groups. Shortly after having my surgery I went to Olive Garden. I would have gone overboard before my Lapband. This time I got the baked chicken parm (protein/starch). Cut my meal into thirds, enjoyed 1/3, a small salad (veggie), and a small bite or two of a breadstick (starch) and that was all I needed. I had some good leftover lunches for a couple days too. Don't hold back from any restaurants. Just stick with baked and not deep fried, low fat vs. fat (dressings), and make sure you eat slowly. Happy birthday and enjoy.

we sold out house a few months ago (too quickly) and lived in a hotel for two months. We eat out just about every night. I found that there is always something you can eat and it was fun for awhile lol. I even found some appetizers to be ok but you need to ask about the calories. I agree with the soup if you are getting stuck but you need to be eating things that you can chew chew chew. hugs

To me chicken and fish, that I have not cooked myself, tend to be a bit risky. They can be dry and get stuck easily so although preband they may have been the ideal diet food ,post band they are not.

I would choose a Pasta dish - a starter sized serve of canneloni or lasagne or something with a tomato based sauce. They are less likely to get stuck which to me is more important when eating out than choosing the lowest calorie food. Dieting successfully is about what you do 90% of the time. So going out and occasionally having something that may be less than ideal does not hurt.

You're only 5 weeks out, so you have to deal with this more strictly than some people because you need to get this band thing working for you...and that can take months...so learn and follow the rules till you know them inside-out...you will need them later....

I'm at a point now, being 2 1/2 years out and finished loosing weight for over a year now, will eat whatever I want when I go out....but what I now want is much different from what it was in another time in my life.....I now just make wise, healthy nutritious food choices, and something that will not disagree with my band....

Good luck to you and happy birthday!

Hi Everyone!

I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I am cleared to move onto to soft foods. I want to be able to go out to eat this weekend for a birthday celebration for myself and my mom. I met with my nutritionst today and she said I could absolutely eat out' date=' to stick to fish or chicken dishes. My questions to all of you is what chain restaurant have you successfully eaten out at, and what menu item did you order and enjoy? Thank you for your input![/quote']

TGIF has great salmon. If you have Smokey Bones I get the children's 1/4 chicken. I also order Pasta and meatballs a lot. Had them today. Chinese restaurants I get shrimp or chicken with veggies and brown rice. Enjoy your dinner out.