I'm somewhat new here. I have now completed all my pre-surgery requirements and am meeting with the doctor next week to schedule my surgery. I'm a 53 year-old guy with a BMI of 40 and several co-morbidities.

I travel often for work. Usually it's off the plane into a meeting followed by dinner at a restaurant of someone else's choice.

I'd be curious to hear from others that travel for business to see how they eat in social settings as well as just preparing for travel.

Thanks!

When I'm traveling, I pack jerky sticks and protein bars as snacks. I make sure I have everything I need so that I stay out of those evil airport stores that have the giant candy displays in front, also stay away from Starbucks, etc.

I can find a WLS-friendly meal in just about any restaurant. Order something that looks like lean protein, tell them to hold anything high in carbs that comes with it, like rice or potatoes. Order a glass of water to drink, sip it before your meal, but do not drink with the meal or after. In my experience, no one will notice whether you are drinking with your meal or not. They also won't notice if you don't eat very much. But if someone is rude enough to comment about what you are eating or how much you are eating, here are some responses:

"I'm cutting back on my portions on my doctor's orders."

"I don't drink and eat at the same time. My doctor says this is a good weight loss strategy and I need to drop some pounds."

"My doctor has me on a high protein, low carb diet."

"Airplanes make me a little queasy, it's probably best for everyone here if I don't eat very much." (for meals taken immediately after a flight)

"I can't have dessert, doctor's orders."

"I can't have wine, or other liquid calories, doctor's orders."

As you can see, these are heavy on invoking what your doctor is telling you to do. So those are pretty much all true and they have the added benefit of being almost guaranteed to stop rude people who want to lecture you about food choices in their tracks. In my experience, when you tell someone your doctor ordered you to do a certain thing, most people will respect that and drop the topic immediately. Good luck!

I travel some for business. I normally fly in the night before and I try to stay at a Residence Inn. This way for Breakfast I can have eggs. I have a small fridge for either left overs or for things like lunch meat & yogurt. I will pick up a couple of yogurts or lunch meat once I land. I carry a few Protein bars even though I don't eat them much at home. I buy Water when I land and carry my Mio to flavor it. Most of my clients have a fridge I can throw food into for during the day.

I spent a few hours in the Detroit airport on layover and got sashimi and salad for lunch.

For eating out I will try to just get an appetizer and side salad, or get a salad with protein. Many menus have a lighter portion part. If I know where I am going ahead of time I will scope out the kids menu. If that has something suitable I will get something off that. I have never had a restaurant say no to me eating off the kid's menu. I will get a watered down iced tea to sip at before the meal.

However, I have been very open about my WLS. Everybody has been supportive and ask questions about what I can eat and how often etc.... If you don't want to let people know you had WLS you could just say your are recovering from abdominal surgery and don't have much of an appetite yet. Most people won't push for specifics. I also had hiatal hernia surgery at the same time and that is fairly common with WLS so you could say hernia surgery if pressed for details.

My clients also are long term vendors that I audit every year or every other year. I deal with them regularly in between audits. Therefore I have a long term relationship with them.