When I go out to eat, sometimes I forget that I can only eat small portions, and will order like I use to be able to eat.

It will sound soooooo wonderful.... and then I see what I have and think OMG... there is no way in the world I can eat that.

My son and i went to cracker barrel for breakfast- I son't rember what the name of the order was, but it was 2 eggs, hashbrown casserole ( I use to loveeeee that ) 1 sausage- 1 bacon- 1 piece of ham.... and biscuits and grits.

Isn't that INSANE???? I ate 1 egg- 1 piece of bacon and broke down and had 1/2 a biscuit with jelly!

Still gotta get my head in the right place at times. And other times when I go out, I do just fine.

But every now and then I go back to ordering like that!!!

Crazy huh??

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I did it once as well. We went out to the local cajun place, and I ordered Fried Pickles as an appetizer. Caysen and I decided that we were going to share an entree. We ordered the chicken fried chicken ( I never eat the breading ), mashed potatoes with cajun gravy and green Beans. I ordered extra gravy on the side, and small bowl of jumbalaya. John just looked at me like 'ummmmmmm where is all of that food going to go'.

Least to say, I ate 4 bites of chicken with gravy, 4 green beans, and about 2 tbsp of the mashed potatoes with gravy. The jumbalaya (I loved before surgery) was so spicy that my tastebuds were on fire.

We brought home an entire takeout box full of food. I didn't even try to eat the fried pickles.

Yep I do the same thing, and I end up feeling terrible. Deep fried food makes me feel heavy and uncomfortable. I love a good salad now and can't believe it keeps me full for so long! I'd have the shakes after a salad in the 'olden' days!

Let's face it .......the "smaller" portions on resturant menus are not all that great.

Everyone suggests ordering off the kids menu.....um...no thanks...everything there is high carb and fried!

When I go out, I order regular food, but things I know will reheat well. (or even freeze well). Or I order things that I can re-make into a different dish.

I live alone and can't count on anyone else to eat up the leftovers.

It rather takes the joy out of eating out.

Tracy

I do that at home all the time. I still load up my plate like I did pre-surgery and my family always laughs at me because they know by the time I am done eating, my plate isn't even going to look like I touched anything it. Old habits die hard, I guess.

The old "eyes are bigger than the stomach" syndrome.

Yea, even putting small portions (3oz) on a salad plate and 6 asparagas spears, (less than half of "normal") I could finish about half of it. It was good fish too! My husband laughs at me also. I only order soup when we go out then I eat some of his food. Like three bites. I did eat some pumpkin pie yesterday. just the pumpkin part though, not the crust. I do not like to bring home left overs. Don't know why, just don't. Guess I will have to get used to it. Changes come in more ways than just the weight!

Hasn't happened to me....yet! Still pre-sleeve and that whole Breakfast (2 eggs, hashbrown casserole ( I use to loveeeee that ) 1 sausage- 1 bacon- 1 piece of ham.... and biscuits and grits.) sounds doable to me! yum!

I can't wait to not finish my food!!!! You guys give me hope!!!

my hubbie is my garbage disposal, skinny as he is, so if I can't finish something, I can always give it to him . . . going out will be my greatest challenge because first off hubbie loves the buffets, that won't be possible once i'm sleeved cause I can't see me spending $10 on only a small thingy of soup! I guess I'm way to frugal. . .

I avoid going out to eat now if I can help it as I will keep eating and picking at it if it's on my plate and when I am at home it makes me feel really ill and I have to lie down. I don't get any fullness signs at all and am struggling more with the sleeve than I did with the band, but saying that, I don't get reflux or have pain with things getting stuck. There is no pleasure in eating out at all for me now. Saves me some money anyway!

That mentality never goes away, sorry to say. I still put too much on my plate after over 2 1/2 years but try not to be too wasteful. It's a mental thing I guess. As for buffets, I just go for what I love, I can eat 2 huge plates of crab legs and 1 bite of dessert...that's about it. And...I always order tea or a water and tell them to put it in a to go cup because I can't drink it when I eat but need it in case I get in a bind eating or for later on.

Yes, I have done it all...the weird part is that I can taste the cheapness of food now, if they used cheap fats, cheap sweetners, spices, etc...I have ordered a huge meal and just taken a bite of everything, then threw it out in disgust..not only because it tasted so digusting, but I felt horrible afterwards.

I agree, the surgery only really changes the size of your stomach. Like my surgeon said, he did surgery on my stomach, not my brain.

I'm still waiting to be sleeved (surgery in Jan.), but after 3.5 yrs with the band I still put too much on my plate. When I go out to eat I usually order a cup of soup or an appetizer. My husband calls me a "cheap date" - ha! If the waiter sees my plate with only a few bites taken out and wonders if the food was bad I have to say "No, I guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought." We ALWAYS have a box of food to take home.

I have to eat out for business occassionally and a few of my associates know about my band. But with others that don't I've turned "picking at my food" into an art form. I can make things look like I've eaten more than I actually have.

It is definately hard to get your head and stomach on the same wave length!

I order appetizers or soup too. It's interesting that I now leave something on my plate at every meal. Pre-sleeve I would eat every bite that was in front of me (and sometimes pick off other plates as well). It's sort of a victory to be able to walk away without cleaning the plate.

I have heard that at a buffett style resturant you can tell them you have had stomach surgery and will only be eating a small bowl of soup and they will either not charge you anything or a very small amount. They want the business (paying customers) you bring with you. I think as a manager I would be most understanding. If you frequent a certain Buffett contact the manager and ask before hand. In this economy, I cannot see them turning away business. Its worth a try.

We often eat at the home of friends. Since my VSG I have been taking much smaller portions and spreading them around the plate so it looks like the plate has food on it. I eat slowly and stop when I am full. No one seems to notice how much food I am eating or not eating. Isn't that amazing?