My surgery was on April 23 and I am feeling great (compared to what I expected). I had lap band done in 2009 and did great with it....until I didn't (it slipped). I decided to have a revision to the sleeve. My husband has been very supportive throughout the whole process. Tonight while I was talking post op diet with him, he kind of "confessed" that he was worried that we were not going to enjoy our nights-out ever again. Our kids are leaving the nest and we were enjoying our date nights and trying different restaurants around town. I think he was enjoying the feeling of DATING AGAIN! lol! So to help ease his mind, can I get someone to weigh in on what it will look like for us to eat out from this point on? (after the liquids are done of course). Will it be similar to lap band? If so, I was able to eat out and enjoy myself. Can I enjoy a glass of wine with my man? Some of the posts we have read are almost like, "FAREWELL FOOD, we are breaking up!" Like food isn't going to be a part of my life anymore. I know logically that isn't true, but I'd love to hear what those of you who are 6+ months post op are eating at restaurants? I'm traveling to the Bahamas when I will be 2 months out... will I be able to eat there?

I'm four months post-op sleeve and we eat out frequently in restaurants, but we order one entree and share it because I can't eat a whole portion of anything. We don't get any bread basket with our meal. I don't drink alcohol, so that's not even an issue for me. It's just an adjustment knowing that I can't order anything for myself and we have to share, but we still have our "dates" out to eat.

My husband loves when we eat out because he gets 80% of my food to take home. Your life doesn't stop because you had weight loss surgery. You can still eat out and enjoy your date nights. If I want something I eat it. Just not a lot of it.

And happy you and Daddy Bear are doing,well, support. from loved ones is so nice.

I eat out with my friends regularly. I choose what will best fit my eating plan. I never eat all of it at the time. If I like it, I will bring the leftovers home and eat them over the next day or two. So, you may continue with date night . Check with your Dr. but alcohol is not recommended for about the first year and you won't be able to drink during meals anyway. That and you might not want the empty calories.

My husband and I go out a lot, added bonus, I’m the designated driver if he wants a few drinks. I do get tired of ordering water with lime/lemon. Last night I got a virgin Bloody Mary to change it up. I only had about 70 calories or so and it felt a bit more festive. I didn’t try this until I was 3 months post op and I didn’t have any problems with it. I was a bit worried since tomato juice is acidic.

5 hours ago, iluvbears42@yahoo.com said:

My husband loves when we eat out because he gets 80% of my food to take home. Your life doesn't stop because you had weight loss surgery. You can still eat out and enjoy your date nights. If I want something I eat it. Just not a lot of it.

That's just like hubby. Just don't get it he doesn't gain any weight, but I love our date night/ penny date.

Between work travel, and my personal lifestyle, I dine out a lot. I started back to work travel 3 weeks post op. So in the year since my WLS, I've eaten at a lot of restaurants

Other than the attention a nearly untouched plate brings and guilt over food waste, I didn't have any significant issues.

There are always good choices on a menu, or easy alterations to make something a good choice. Now making to good choice vs. the poor one was my main struggle. Since it's with your husband, sharing is always a good option, for instance last night my bf and I shared an app, a salad, a main and a dessert, and brought leftovers home. We each got to have 4 separate dishes, win/win. If your husband isn't in a sharing mood, then choose something that makes good leftovers, for instance lean protein can be repurposed vs. a salad will just get limp and soggy.

I personally drank very infrequently during my weight loss phase. I didn't want to add liquid calories to counteract all the hard work I was doing making those good choices. But I also think a nice glass of wine adds enjoyment to a good meal. If you can have your wine, and lose weight at the same time, then imho, go for it.

'Some of the posts we have read are almost like, "FAREWELL food, we are breaking up!" '

Yes, this is a different strokes for different folks situation. Some people have slippery slope issues. If they have a roll with dinner, then that triggers their carb monster and next thing they are eating a roll with every meal. If you are able to have that roll and then for the next 5 days stay on plan, then that's being a success in my book. I can only speak from my own experience, but to date, moderation has worked for me, but I may very well be just a very lucky outlier.

On 4/27/2019 at 2:54 PM, sillykitty said:

Between work travel, and my personal lifestyle, I dine out a lot. I started back to work travel 3 weeks post op. So in the year since my WLS, I've eaten at a lot of restaurants

Other than the attention a nearly untouched plate brings and guilt over food waste, I didn't have any significant issues.

There are always good choices on a menu, or easy alterations to make something a good choice. Now making to good choice vs. the poor one was my main struggle. Since it's with your husband, sharing is always a good option, for instance last night my bf and I shared an app, a salad, a main and a dessert, and brought leftovers home. We each got to have 4 separate dishes, win/win. If your husband isn't in a sharing mood, then choose something that makes good leftovers, for instance lean Protein can be repurposed vs. a salad will just get limp and soggy.

I personally drank very infrequently during my weight loss phase. I didn't want to add liquid calories to counteract all the hard work I was doing making those good choices. But I also think a nice glass of wine adds enjoyment to a good meal. If you can have your wine, and lose weight at the same time, then imho, go for it.

'Some of the posts we have read are almost like, "FAREWELL food, we are breaking up!" '

Yes, this is a different strokes for different folks situation. Some people have slippery slope issues. If they have a roll with dinner, then that triggers their carb monster and next thing they are eating a roll with every meal. If you are able to have that roll and then for the next 5 days stay on plan, then that's being a success in my book. I can only speak from my own experience, but to date, moderation has worked for me, but I may very well be just a very lucky outlier.

Weight loss is certainly a concern as my lap band fizzled out and I did gain some back, but I switched to the sleeve to replace the band so MOST of my weight loss is behind me. I'd like to lose about 25/30 but not in a huge hurry to do so, so extra calories here and there is okay with me. My question was mostly concerning what I will be able to eat without issues and or sickness. Once weight loss is no longer a part of the equation I was just curious if a glass of wine is going to make me ill. Or a few bites of dessert? Basically what I'm asking is this: when something is not recommended is it because it will make me sick or because it will not promote weight loss? In other words, how careful to I have to be once I'm at my goal (besides not wanting to OVEREAT and stretch it). Thanks so much for your input!

16 hours ago, jukebox817 said:

My question was mostly concerning what I will be able to eat without issues and or sickness. Once weight loss is no longer a part of the equation I was just curious if a glass of wine is going to make me ill. Or a few bites of dessert? Basically what I'm asking is this: when something is not recommended is it because it will make me sick or because it will not promote weight loss? In other words, how careful to I have to be once I'm at my goal (besides not wanting to OVEREAT and stretch it). Thanks so much for your input!

I may not be a good case study, I have mostly an iron sleeve. I progressed through my stages faster then technically allowed (due to work travel), and it was no issue. The only issue I have is I get nausea/light dumping if I have too much sugar. I can do limited amounts with no problem, like 1/2 a candy bar, but larger quantities have led to regrets. Other than that I ate a wide variety of food, and drank different types of alcohol quite soon post WLS and had few negative consequences.

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 8:26 AM, iluvbears42@yahoo.com said:

. You can still eat out and enjoy your date nights. If I want something I eat it. Just not a lot of it.

Exactly. the first thing I do is get a to go box lol I divide my food into NOW and LATER right away. We do sometimes split an entrée if we know the portions are really big and neither of us will get much out of it but I look at it this way.....I have lunch/dinner for the next 2-3 meals.

I go out with my husband and found that ordering an appetizer is usually plenty for me. I have found shrimp cocktail or prosciutto wrapped asparagus is perfect. I can even have a glass of wine. It takes me longer to eat this than my husband takes to eat all of his food.

I started dating someone 2 weeks before my surgery and we have been going out and enjoying our date nights. Usually we choose an appetizer and an entree to share and I serve myself a little from each. At this point I haven't started drinking, but you can always have date nights that involve music and other non sit down eating to make it more comfortable at the beginning.

I was sleeved on 4/22 ? I told my fiancée that once I’m back on “real” food, when we have date night out I’d like if we ordered an app & meal for us to share, seems like that would work well for us!