Your entire way of eating needs to change after weight loss surgery. Your diet is high-protein, low-calorie, and carefully measured. There may be a lot of foods that you can no longer eat, such as bread, pizza, and French fries. Following your weight loss surgery diet can be hard enough at home, and eating out can be even tougher. How do you feel about eating out after weight loss surgery? If you haven’t had surgery yet, how do you approach restaurants?

• I won’t go near a restaurant under any circumstances because I can’t or won’t stick to my diet.
• It depends on the restaurant. I check the menu to see if there is some sort of lean protein that I can order.
• I don’t like to go, but I will if everyone else goes. I just do my best to pick out the parts I can eat and to eat only a few bites.
• I will go, but I bring my own food while everyone else orders from the menu.
• I go and try not to worry about it. As long as I don’t get sick afterward, it can’t be that bad for me.
• Other (tell us below!).

Mark your answer and explain it below in the conversation. You can also tell us if your attitude towards restaurants has changed since getting weight loss surgery!

I picked 'other' because I love to go out and have no problems with restaurants. I'd never set foot in a fast food place. I'm a good cook and I like to get something I can't or don't make at home. Yesterday we went to a Japanese place and I had Miso, which I love, and then a Bento box with grilled salmon, no sauce. My son gobbled up the sushi that came with it, and the rice. I'm a great date these days. Recently we went out with friends (I am secretly banded) and I splurged on a filet mignon. That's something I've wanted to try since surgery and it was very band-friendly and delicious. I wrapped up half or so and ended up eating it in the car after a concert, lol. So much for leftovers.

I picked other!

I love going out to eat. No shopping, cooking or prepping! My WWs days taught me to scope out the menu in advance, but even if it's not possible, I can always find something; a soup, side or app. If I find nothing, so be it. I don't NEED to eat like I did in the past. I always have Jerky, a Protein bar or almonds in my bag if I am going to be out all day, so I certainly won't starve.

Big diff? I no longer have an opinion on where we go, as my four or five bites don't carry much weight.

My only stressful time is going somewhere like a food court. Not a lot of healthy choices at some of them and I don't do chicken well. That's usually the only good option, so I mince it up the best I can and eat sllllloooooowwwww. Or I don't. Again, I won't starve.

I have absolutely no problems going out to eat. I like having leftovers.

We actually eat out about 2-3 times at week. There's typically ALWAYS something on the menu that has lean Protein, low in carbs, etc. even if I have to modifify it like ordering without the bun, picking out all the chicken in my salad first, ordering the dressings on the side, asking for substitutions etc.

I do try to take a look at the menu prior to going to a new place so I can decide what I'm going to order before I get there.

So if you make the healtiest choice possible and eat until you're statisfied you should do just fine.

Edited April 24, 201412 yr by enjoythetime

9 months post op, i have eaten out 3 times. and gotten take out twice. i just dont have a desire to. food isnt that important to me anymore.

my husband just asked me out to dinner and I told him no. restaurants just don't hold the same excitement they once did. I know I would only eat a few bites and it would be it. my husband understood. I cooked him a ribeye that night just to make up for being so negative.

I am only five weeks post-op and have started going to restaurants again. Most restaurants have healthy options these days, so it's not been too stressful. The one time I couldn't really find anything suitable on the menu, I just ordered a decaf coffee and ate when we got home. No big deal. We can't avoid restaurants for the rest of our lives, so I am just using this time to educate myself as best I can about restaurant food. I try to go online and look at a restaurant's menu beforehand and be prepared with my order. Most things can be taken home and frozen, so I don't consider it a waste of my time or money to enjoy a meal out with my family.

I still like to go - gets me out of cooking when I don't feel like it. I just choose sensibly and take the rest home - in general, I get 2 to 3 meals from one restaurant entree. Most places have a low cal/low fat menu's.

I'm sitting in a restaurant as I type this. I read the menu. I ask questions of the wait staff. And tonight I settled on grilled chicken skewers I am on vacation, getting ready to ride many roller coasters, so food is not going to get in my way.

I always used to love eating out. After the sleeve it took a while to figure out where to go, what to eat, etc. Now I have my go-to places that always work. If it is something new, I can usually find an appetizer or side dish that will work, but like Lipstick said, if there isn't anything I can just sit there and have a decaf coffee and be fine.

Some of my favorites:

• Olive Garden - order off the small plates menu: chicken meatballs or roasted asparagus (no breadsticks)
• Chick-fil-A - grilled chicken nuggets (a 4 pack suits me perfectly), diet Lemonade, chicken salad (no bread)
• Shawarma or Gyros - I skip the bread and just eat the meat/veggies/yogurt sauce
• Mexican restaurants - shrimp dishes, Beans, pollo asado, carne asada, chile verde (skip tortillas, rice and chips), huevos rancheros w/o tortilla
• New Mexican - carne adovada is just meat and chile - heaven!
• TexMex - fajitas (skip the tortillas and rice)
• Texas style smoked bbq (no sauce) with coleslaw and pickles and onions
• Chinese - Happy Family (mix of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp) - skip the rice, or stirfried veg & chicken
• Japanese - sashimi, salad, miso Soup (skip the rice and sushi)

I don't cook (because I don't enjoy it and all that buying, storing and cleaning up is a hassle), so if I'm not eating a Quest bar I'm eating out or eating leftovers.

I eat 4 times a day, and earlier this week I cut back from 2-3 bars a day to just 1, in hopes that will get my weight loss going again. So now I'm eating real food* 3 times a day, and I'm staying with as few carbs as humanly possible (Atkins).

So obviously, I have no problem eating out. I can find Protein at just about any establishment that serves food. Sometimes I have a veggie on the side or a salad, but mostly I just eat protein - beef, chicken, salmon, tuna, or eggs. And when I want extra flavor I order bacon in addition. I'm not at all adventurous about trying new foods or flavorings, and I don't like spicy food at all, so I stick to a few restaurants where I know the menu.

* Eating real food is a hassle too. I would be very happy going back to 3 bars a day and one real food meal - but my slow weight loss is frustrating! Someone on this site said when they cut back on the bars it helped them lose again, so I'm giving this plan 2 weeks to see if it helps me.

Still go... I am an over the road truck driver and I team drive with my husband, eating out has been our couple time on the road since surgery we still eat out but only once or twice a week compared to almost every day.. I plan and prepare all our meals at home and we just eat in the truck and now that nice weather I coming we sit outside. When we do eat out I usually get grilled chicken or egg whites, the food does not hold the same interest as it did before when we were eating out all over the country hence leading to me getting to 300lbs lol

I eat out three or four times a week and have done since I was around 3 months out. I always try to eat "on plan" in the sense that I eat Protein first, with some veggies and a bit of carb if I feel like it. I eat for the social side but I still enjoy my food, no matter how little of it there is!

It's not a problem eating out. I look small to normal so no one questions the amount I eat - they think I eat less cos I am little rather than I am little cos I eat less :-))))

I don't do doggie bags... When I have finished with my meal, I don't want to take it home and eat it for a few more meals. So I usually ask for the smallest pice of fish, steak or chicken and more often than not, get a portion that I can eat most of - but I am a year out.

I suppose the eating out thing for me is about not letting food dictate to me any more. It feels like it in its place, which means I can eat out and enjoy the experience, friends and food in equal measure. I don't go out to stuff myself or for the pudding any more ... and there's a great sense of relief that the pressure is now off!

I enjoy eating out, so I do. It's just in smaller portions and focused mainly on protein. I will have a few bites of veggies, a bite or two of potatoes or bread, even (gasp!) A couple french fries! But everything else that goes in my mouth is protein. And when I pack it up to take home, I only eat the leftover proteins.

I eat out when I am up and about. But I am more selective about what I eat and in portion size. I eat out at both dining and fast food restaurants. Before surgery, I would eat 5 crunchy tacos at taco bell. After, it would be one taco. Any more and I could feel a dumping episode in the making. I found a bowl of chili at Wendy's was good. I still eat at Olive Garden. They have a $4 small plate menu, that is just about the right volume. No salad, no breadsticks, just a glass of Water and one item from the small plate menu. At a Chinese Restaurant, a bowl of seafood Soup, is nice. Most times when I go to a dining restaurant and order a full meal. I eat a quarter of the meal and take the rest home. It becomes my lunch for the next 2 or 3 days.