Hi everyone,

My bmi is at 40.3. I was a size 10-12 most of my life. Then when I hit about 42 I gained weight and no matter what I did to lose it, it did not work. I just kept gaining. I am 50 now. I talked to my doctor about weight loss surgery. He was very supportive. I am now about a month away from possibly getting surgery and visited a nutritionist the other day. After the 1 hour session I started to have doubts about the surgery. He showed me the 1 and 2 oz containers and said that is how much your will eat the first few months. Then he showed me a 1 cup container and said that is how much you will eat after that. I was shocked!

Will I ever be able to go out to eat with my husband again? I just went out the eat last night and had a plate full of Mexican food with chips and salsa! Will I never be able to eat chips and salsa and burritos again?

Do you still enjoy eating? How do you handle eating out?

I am thinking that maybe the new gastric balloon procedure is better for me. HELP.

I can still go out to eat wherever I want, but I only eat at the absolute most half my plate and more often than not close to 1/4 to 1/5 the plate. When my sleeve is cooperative (she likes to get sick when I eat oil, fats, milk, sugar, etc- which is not the norm) I can still enjoy food. I will be honest though, I don't enjoy food the way I used to and I am ok with this. I really used to look forward to going out to eat, to trying new foods, and to sitting in front of the tv with yummy food. Now, I can't eat as much and if I eat junk I generally end up sick, so I don't enjoy food anymore. The result of this is now I wear a size 0-2 pants, xs shirts and dresses, and I have been under goal for months. Last night I had a biscuit with orange marmelade...it was good, I enjoyed it, and I had no interest in eating a second one. The other day I had a little cup of ice cream with the same result. You can still technically eat all of the food you like, you just may not have the same desire to eat a ton of it. You can still enjoy food with a few bites of it and be healthy as a result.

@ - a little tough love here...if that is more important than your health, surgery probably isn't for you, this is a tool, not a magic wand and you have to be committed to make it work.

You will be fine! I love Mexican food too, but that was a main reason I gained my weight! Now I can eat an enchilada and feel stuffed! When you go out to eat all you do is eat what you are comfortable with and take the rest home. When I get a half order of quesadillas, I have 4 meals! It's nice to eat and NOT feel miserable afterwards. I could eat a whole medium pizza before, now 1 slice. You get used to smaller meals and the size 10-12 feel and look so much better than the 22-24! Good luck! You can do it!

I am only 4 weeks out so not eating much right now apart from 2oz of Protein (meat/eggs/dairy etc etc) but I really enjoy my meals. They are tiny but I enjoy each bite. More so than when I shoveled food into my mouth hardly tasting it before thinking about shoveling the next fork full in.

I am SO glad I am a sleever

Thank you all so much for your replies! Being healthy is my main goal. Looking good comes in a close second.

I guess the key is that I will not want that much food in the first place. That makes sense to me.

I'm six months out and I go out to eat all the time. Yes I eat less but I still enjoy food. The sleeve is just a tool that helps you stop overrating.

I had my surgery August 6 and as of today I'm down 19 pounds. Before surgery my knees hurt all the time. I would have never thought that would go away this quick, but it did. I have a large family that I have to cook for and believe me, the food smells great and there have been a few times I miss it, but I don't miss that knee pain, so it most definfitely worth the little things I'm giving up!

Honestly i thought i would be craving all the things i used to eat like crazy, but i really don't. At 5 months out I've had pizza and ice cream but honestly i have very little and it's rare that i have them at all. One day at work there were donuts and i thought "f*uck yes DONUTS!". And then when i thought about it i realized i didn't even want a donut. My body didn't care but my brain was used to seeing donuts and even if i wasn't hungry I'd eat them. Don't let the fear of eating copious amounts of food keep you from changing your life for the better! Life is much more than food.

Oh and last week i went out for Mexican food and had a couple chips and ordered off the a la cart menu and had another meal from it. It was cheaper and i was perfectly satisfied. Yay!

Eating out is a challenge for me but I continue to go out because of the social aspect of it. I have just learned to only eat a little of it and take the rest home. Sometimes we will also share which helps with volume. You will learn how to eat out just like you will learn what works for you. It takes time. I agree with pixie redhead, your taste buds will change and will not want to eat some of the things you loved. Best of Luck

I'm less than 2 months out and I eat out all the time. I order a lean protein and/or share with my husband. I actually love it more now because I don't feel guilty about over eating. I just finished a dinner which was about 2-3 ozs of grilled steak, sautéed zucchini (2 ozs) I am down 27 lbs since June 30th.

Landry,

I honestly had the same fears. My hubby and I go out (went out) twice a week. Our trips would include stopping at local cafes. I was so afraid I would miss all our "times" together.

While I've been out of work we have been antique shopping twice..I pack my protein shakes jello water etc. We have go out twice to eat, at this point I don't really want to eat but I ordered a chicken wrap and are it for 3 days. I had a Wendy's Jr burger. (2 days). So I know some where down the road I can if I choose to. But I really don't think I will. I had a nickel size bite of pizza...I quit smoking 15 years ago by saying I know I can if I want but today I don't want to. I smoked for 35 years. I am doing the same here. I wish you strength and courage to make the right choice for you.. I was scared but i will never look back, my health is 90% better,just after four weeks, I got in a kyak after 20 years of being to big. My clothes are falling off me, my life dosnt revolve around my next chance to eat. I make smarter choices because only so much can fit. From reading all the band to slevers I am glad I chose the sleeve.

Sorry so long, just wanted you to understand fear is normal when thinking of loosing something you love,as much as we love food. Again I will never look back.

Most responses above are from people newly sleeved or still losing weight.

I'm a year past WLS and 7 pounds lower than my weight loss goal. I go out to eat all the time. I eat Italian, Mexican, steak, sushi, etc. I eat about a cup of food at each meal. And I typically have two healthy Snacks a day. That's plenty of food for anybody.

When I want to drink wine I have a total of about 4 ounces of wine before, with and after the meal.

I average almost 1700 calories a day. And I'm maintaining at 143 pounds.

But I no longer pig out. I wasn't a binge eater. But I was a celebrater eater. A boredom eater. I had some bad eating habits. In short, I ate like a typical fat American -- pretty much anything I wanted any time I wanted.

That's not how healthy people eat. And it's not how you should eat either.

Good luck making the right decision for yourself and getting healthier -- however you go about it.

Thank you all for taking the time to write. This is such a great forum!