Hello all. I am 9 months out and still have not gone to a restaurant. Mainly because of Covid. Now that it seems to be getting better, I am still very leery about it. I am so afraid of not being able to find something I am able to eat. I know that most places try to accommodate people with special diets, allergies, etc. but I have never done it before, and a little embarrassed also. I am looking for some advice on what other people do when they go out. How do you discreetly order without saying, No butter, no salt, none of this or that without feeling weird about it? I don't want them to think that I am being "too picky" or a pain in the but. Better yet, I am afraid that my order would still have the stuff I can't eat on it and I would not be eating healthy and the way I am used to.

Edited May 30, 20215 yr by HealthyLifeStyle

If you must eat at a fast food place, these are some of my "go too" items:

McD: order just the egg from the mcmuffin, yes you can do that. Or order the sandwich and throw away the muffin. Filet of fish with no bun, or throw it away.

BK: jr bacon burger, no bun

Wendy's: small chili with cheese

tacobell: pinto's w/cheese & a side of meat.

chick fil a: yogurt parfait, side egg, chicken sandwich and throw away the bun, kid 4 piece nugget w/fruit (not fries)

Cane's: i order one strip with one sauce.

Chili's: my go-to is the soup

that's just a few i can think of

another thing...... most places had "add on" for a small amount. My husband and i will share and/or get a steak with scallops on the side..... most of the time there are 2-3 and at half or less than half the cost of ordering alone. I normally cut about 1-2oz of his steak, 1-1.5 scallops, bite of side like baked or Au gratin potatoes. He normally eats the salad.

On 6/2/2021 at 9:15 PM, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Here are some of my tips.

I have ordered a sandwich and just ate the Protein and not the bread. So far I can eat any Salad Dressing so salad is an option. I don't eat Pasta and the serving size of a pasta dish at a restaurant is huge. Sometimes you can find an appetizer that is a smaller portion like chicken wings and just order that as a meal. If you go with older children you can order an adult meal and order a kids meal for them and then switch plates when the food comes. You can also get a Soup and salad combo so you eat the soup first then you still have room for the salad and can eat it slowly since it doesn't matter (other food gets cold and unappetizing).

You can also ask for a to go box when your meal arrives and immediately put half in the to go box so you are not tempted to over eat or sit there with a full plate of food when others at the table have clean plates.

Sharing a meal is great since you can just nibble and eat some of the veggies and protein and the other person can eat the rest.

Great idea about the kids portion and switching the meals. LOL

20 hours ago, Mary w. said:

Good evening, so I did not do the surgery but I did join a weight loss done right program in my area on January 5 and as of today I have lost 68 pounds, (only 32 more to go) the program is very strict, but very easy and the food is quite good!!

When it comes to eating out which we do, I am very committed and I basically tell the server immediately, I am sorry to be a pain but I am on a very strict diet so can you please relay to the kitchen staff that my food can have no seasoning, no butter, no oil, everything needs to be completely plain. Also I ask as many questions as needed, such as actual ounces, sauces etc.

I actually use a brown bread that I purchase from bariatric pal, and I bring one or two slices with me, I either bring my own seasoning or I just use their salt and pepper. When it comes to Salad Dressing again I bring my own or I order just plain white vinegar.

I usually order a 6 ounce steak or the 8 ounce salmon, again no butter, no seasoning, no oil. I get a double order of plain steamed broccoli and a side salad with only lettuce, Tomato and cucumber. I will sometimes bring my own cucumber and hearts of palm.

lol just carry a larger than usual purse, honestly no one cares and you should be very proud of yourself for loosing the weight and especially proud of adhering to the food restrictions because that shows your strength.

I am not embarrassed or ashamed of ordering specifically as I know I am a healthier , happier and skinnier me. LOL

i wish you the best of luck, you’ve got this!!!!

Wow thanks for all these suggestions.

8 hours ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

since i've been on this roll-a-coster of life with WLS.... I learned to be a better menu reader. So if i'm headed to a new restaurant, I go on line and pull up their menu and read every item and what's in it. I make my choices ahead of time. I always have a back up item in case they are out of what i want.
Tell the waitress ahead of time to NOT bring you any Water to the table......... At all for you.
Tell her that when she brings out the meal, bring a go box right away. Two reasons, 1, you want to portion out what you WILL be eating onto the plate and boxing up the rest. This will prevent you from feeling the need to over eat. Then place the box on the other end of the table or give to your partner. 2, this will stop people from asking............ Is that all you are going to eat..... and it will stop the waitress asking if your food was ok.... or if there was something wrong with it.

Great advice thanks

8 hours ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

If you must eat at a fast food place, these are some of my "go too" items:

McD: order just the egg from the mcmuffin, yes you can do that. Or order the sandwich and throw away the muffin. Filet of fish with no bun, or throw it away.

BK: jr bacon burger, no bun

Wendy's: small chili with cheese

tacobell: pinto's w/cheese & a side of meat.

chick fil a: yogurt parfait, side egg, chicken sandwich and throw away the bun, kid 4 piece nugget w/fruit (not fries)

Cane's: i order one strip with one sauce.

Chili's: my go-to is the Soup

that's just a few i can think of

I just ate at Chick Fila today for the 1st time since my surgery 9 months ago. I asked the manager if the "grilled chicken was actually grilled" she told me yes and that they use a small amt. of canola oil. I asked if any butter was on it and they told me no. So I felt comfortable enough to order the grilled chicken nuggets which is basically a grilled chicken breast cut up. Then I had the fruit cup for the side. I was fine with it. It didn't make me feel sick, and I was full. So I was very happy. Now on to other places. Yay!

8 hours ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

another thing...... most places had "add on" for a small amount. My husband and i will share and/or get a steak with scallops on the side..... most of the time there are 2-3 and at half or less than half the cost of ordering alone. I normally cut about 1-2oz of his steak, 1-1.5 scallops, bite of side like baked or Au gratin potatoes. He normally eats the salad.

Yes sharing is caring. LOL Hubby and I also did this before my surgery. This is something I am sure we will be doing again.

I have a hectic schedule and 2 of my 3 jobs require a lot of driving, so I sometimes have little choice about eating fast food. At Burger King I can order a Whopper junior and eat half of the bun (or less) and that works OK. At McDonalds, the same thing with a small burger (I add tomatoes to it; if you order through their app it is very easy to customize anything). Arby's roast beef is pretty good and again you can eat half the bun or none of it. I always ask for no added salt, as highly salted food really disagrees with me now and fast food places load their burgers with salt. At Wendy's, I get chili. Fries make me feel terrible and I never order them; may eat 2-3 if I'm with someone eating them. I can usually find a Panera which has good salads, or I can opt for soup there and that works too. With breakfast sandwiches, again I eat at most half of the bread and sometimes just pick out the eggs and meat.

On the rare occasion that I go to a real restaurant, I will order something that is basically protein and veggies and take half of it home a lot of the time. (I had shrimp fajitas yesterday; ate all the shrimp, some of the veggies and beans, no rice or tortillas.) If there is a heavy sauce I ask for it on the side and eat very little of it. Sometimes I order an appetizer if they have something appropriate, or a salad with protein. When I am with my son, we order one appetizer and one entree that are made of things I can tolerate and I eat around 20% of each. I don't ask for "no butter" because I can tolerate that as long as the food isn't drowning in it. I find I only have to ask for no added salt at fast food or low-end restaurants; a good restaurant will use an amount of salt that's not objectionable to me. Your mileage may vary.