How far along were you when you first ate out at a restaurant?

Where did you go and what did you order?

I'm 3 weeks out (VSG) and cleared for pretty much everything in 4 weeks.

Three weeks out. Grilled white fish (can't remember what kind).

I went to a frou frou fancy restaurant. I got their small plate with a prawn on it. It was creepy and it had a face, but it was small enough I just blended in with the other eaters.

I so craved fish, I can live on it so pre op 2.5 weeks I had fresh pan fried medium rare salmon cutlet the size of my palm, i had to finish it just couldn't stop and i thought I was going to pay the price later but nothing happened

I love salmon sushimi had that the next day, again i thought I was going to suffer but nothing I was ok

Funny how I could eat all that salmon with no problem yet anything else less than a cup full and i can't get in another bite.

Victoria - Do you mean "2.5 weeks pre opt" or post opt.

NOTHING upsets my stomach. I'm adding green Tabasco to my eggs and refried Beans. I'm adding spicy low carb bbq sauce to my mashed sweet potatoes. That said, 4 ounces is my limit for anything of substance (it's probably 3 ounces, but I can't bring myself to prepping such a small portion.)

Of course this may change with solid foods!

8 weeks out, a Mexican restaurant, and I had a very bad experience. I took 3 tiny bites of the inside of a quesdilla, and I think it was the 3 tiny sips of a margarita ( and I forgot the "no straws "rule ) that did it, but half came up in the bathroom, and the rest horribly in the parking lot. It was a looong time before i did that again ! A word of advice ? ALWAYS carry a plastic grocery bag or 2 in your purse. Always.

Ouch! I had almost the same experience this last Monday, and I'm nearly 3 months post-op. I stopped at a Chipotle and had a salad. I've never been there, and I was surprised at how "big" their salad was. Everything on it was stuff I had eaten before separately: pico, Beans, rice, steak, guacamole, and lettuce, so I figured I was good. The only thing I hadn't tried yet was sour cream.

But nope. Took maybe 5 bites, started getting that tightness feeling in my pouch. Walked out of the restaurant, went to my truck, and I started getting that feeling that I was due for an explosion. I ended up stopping on the side of the road and purging what I had eaten. I was very disappointed and a bit scared. That was the first time something like that happened after just a few bites.

I might not try that again.

As far as the first restaurant. I was 3 weeks post-op, and on my plan was limited to soft Pasta, drained out Soup, and tuna (no salad or raw veggies yet). I went to a movie theater for an INDIANA JONES marathon that also happened to serve dinner food (pizza, hamburgers, salads, wraps, etc.). I e-mailed them ahead of time to explain my dietary restrictions, and their head chef met with me to discuss my options. He told me I basically had the whole kitchen to work with in making something I could eat. He ended up making me a tuna pasta which worked great for me.

post op

I went to Cafe' Zupas and had a small bowl of Wisconsin Cauliflower. It is a riff on cheesy potato soup but soo much better! I believe I was three weeks post-op, ate all but 4-5 bites, didn't touch the bread and had no issues afterward.

Ash - I'm finding no real restriction with soup. Undoubtedly, I'll be ordering it soon!

I was about 6 weeks out and we went to a Mexican restaurant and ordered fajitas. I just ate some chicken and steak and a little bit of peppers. It was so nice to feel normal!

Actually - I didn't have the steak at 6 weeks. Just the chicken. I did graduate up to steak at 3 months though.

First time at about 5 weeks, I had chili, no problem, then at 7 weeks I had half a delicious crab cake! I had a mexican taco with chicken, no problem. I also had this week, at 9 weeks a chicken wrap snack at McDonald. Its good when you are stuck away from home and need something to eat.

we went to Fridays last night and I had the ahi tuna appetizer. Amazing

It was just this past Friday so a little over 3 weeks out, we went to a Mexican restaurant, I got refried Beans with a little cheese on top. It came in a bowl and I knew it would be too much, so I brought one of my little 10oz tupperware containers and got about 6 oz in it, and I ate about 4 perhaps 5 oz, and I took it to the movies and smuggled it in. I even brought my little toddler spoon! I nibbled on the beans while watching "The Martian" great movie btw.

My first trip to a real restaurant was for my brother's rehearsal dinner at exactly one month out. Make that three nights in a row for rehearsal, welcome dinner, and reception. I had some flounder and I got through most of it. The next night there were only two choices...rigatoni or lamb chops, so obviously I went with rigatoni. That went fine, but I did not finish. At the reception, there was grilled chicken and filet mignon and delectable chocolate cake. Check, check, check. Felt fine, got home, and worked out for like four hours a day the next week.

Restaurant hasn't happened for me yet....I'll be 3 weeks post-op tomorrow.

I'm certain that it'll be someplace with tasty Soups, though.

My first restaurant post-op was about 3 weeks out, I went to a Japanese restaurant that my family likes, and I got miso Soup. I took out the seaweed and tofu, and just drank the broth. It was kinda funny, because we have been frequenting the place for years, and the waitresses know exactly what we want (we are creatures of habit), so they were completely surprised when we didn't order the normal stuff. And they couldn't believe I was just eating soup.

At 4 weeks I was cleared for soft foods, and we went back again and I had 3 pieces of salmon sashimi (no rice). At 6 weeks out I was cleared for solid foods so I went to Outback and had a kids plate of steak medallions, and had about half of it. Had to eat it really slow, and cut it into tiny pieces, but it was great to be able to eat some steak.