I'm almost two months RNY post-op. I travel for work every week, and almost every weekday I'm hanging out with my coworkers. I have chose not to tell my coworkers about my surgery, but they've all noticed the 52 lbs I've lost recently.

Well, it's been difficult to go out with my coworkers to restaurants. When we go to something like Chilis, they'll glance curiously at me while I take 1/2 hour to eat about 20% of my plate and leave the rest of it to go. The server doesn't help either, often she returns to the table at the end of the meal and will look nervously at my plate and ask "Was there something wrong with your food?!?"? My rehearsed reply to that is "It was great. I was not hungry".

What has been everyone's experience with this? How do you handle dining out with people whom you chose not to disclose your recent WLS journey to?

Too bad they don't have a bariatric menu. That would help us out.

How would you see a bariatric menu different from a regular menu? Smaller portions? Nutrition info?

I agree with the above statements order the appetizers I am almost 5 months out and I wasted a lot if food now I just box it up and take it home to hubby.

Yes cupcake, this food waste is what bothers me. Last night I ordered some six chicken wings from the restaurant appetizer menu and could only finish half of them.

How would you see a bariatric menu different from a regular menu? Smaller portions? Nutrition info?

Some restaurants do but they are probably called something else. I was recently at Ruby Tuesdays and noticed on their lunch menu they have a section called "Petite Plates" - basically a half portion of their healthier full lunch plates. For example there's a chicken Fresco - a 1/2 chicken breast in balsamic vinegarette with mashers and steamed veggies.

If not, there's always the kids menu! Sometimes you even get crayons and toys to play with. Woot!

I love making a psychological game out of it. My server would come at the end of the meal and their reactions, to me, would judge the type of person they are. Some were real people pleasers. These are the ones that were always asking what was wrong and how they could correct it. I have even had managers be sent to me by the server to make sure I was alright. I always tried hard not to laugh. Next are the ones who are comfortable in their service. They just bring me the box and move on. They do not ask if everything was alright. These are the overconfident narcissist. The final one is the one who is comfortable with themselves in a neutral sense. They are the ones who will ask if everything was alright and when I say that it was, they just bring me the box.

Try it some time when you are at a restaurant. Another thing to try, if you are not the most honest, would be to complain and get the meal for free. I do not recommend this.

Have fun playing this little game and seeing the looks on your servers face when your whole meal looks almost untouched.

Jonathan

@Fat2FitBlue

Blog: http://wakingupfromh...s.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook...ealjonathanblue

I can relate to that, but I don't want to play games to get a free meal. I was once a server, it's tough work!

Eating out is a big problem. I am two months out today, down 45lbs. I am constantly ordering too much food when out. I am honestly hungry when I go into the restaurants but end up eating almost nothing. I am best when I can just let my kids finish my meal. I have found that most potato products go down easy. Mashed potatoes was a savior in a few restaurant situations when the soups did not work early on. I was able to eat Applebees salmon wth the artichoke sauce and mashed red potatoes as one of my first meals. Very little of it, but it went down easy. The sauce was the key, I ordered extra sauce and took it home. Avoid all bread and pasta, it just does not work. I ordered a bowl from Chipolte yesterday, little rice, both beans, carnitas, salsa, sour cream and cheese. It takes about 3 meals to finish but it was good to eat on the road. I found some great protein bars that work when away also. They actually go down fairly well. For breakfast, finely ground oat bran is good, and it is simple to bring on the road and make in a microwave. Hope these tips help!

How would you see a bariatric menu different from a regular menu? Smaller portions? Nutrition info?

Both, Something smaller than an appetizer and within our guidelines. My hubby is skinny and I hate to make him not eat out because I can't.

What I do is split a meal with someone if you feel comfortable to put that option out to your co-workers. You never know someon else might be watching their weight too and would appreciate it. I too eat Soup a lot when we go out. Pre-op I had no issues taking home leftovers, now post-op the thought of eating leftovers makes me nauseated for some reason. So my hubby gets to enjoy them. I too try to eat from the apps menu but sometimes things on their are all fried so it just depends. When we go out we try to go before the dinner menu switch over because the portions tend to be smaller and the prices are cheaper often times too.

Good luck!

I can relate to that, but I don't want to play games to get a free meal. I was once a server, it's tough work!

Never mess with people who handle your food!

One other thing I recently learned is your Dr can provide you with a card that confirms your surgery and you present it to the waiter and they will often really adjust your size meal and price. Wls is so common now that a lot of restaurants want to cater to us. Some restaurants won't let you order from the kids menu unless you are a kid but with this card they may now. We have a lot of friends that like to go to buffets and I told the cashier I had wls and she charged me the kids rate. That was really nice since all I ate was a very small amount of mashed taters and small amount of cottage cheese. That way we felt like we could still go with our friends and save $$ too.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Doxie good point with the kids buffet, I wasn't sure how to approach that.