We will be traveling stateside a couple of months after surgery. Tips for road trip food, eating out, and navigating family events. Thanks!

I'm not sure how long it has been since your surgery. The challenge I found in the first couple of months when going out to dinner was getting enough protein with very limited capacity. As a result, I brought along my own protein when I traveled (powdered shakes) and had them in the hotel before going out to eat. I would then have just a small appetiser or something to drink at the restaurant while others were eating.

You could do the same at family events, although I realize that's easier easier said than done. In my case, family and friends kept insisting I eat things because they were low-calorie, without understanding my need to prioritize protein and not fill up on other foods. It can be quite challenging to keep telling insistent relatives that you really don't want to eat more.

For the road, there are some wonderful snacks in the Bariatric Pal store than you can bring along.

None of this is ideal, but it's worth the effort!

8 hours ago, Recidivist said:

I'm not sure how long it has been since your surgery. The challenge I found in the first couple of months when going out to dinner was getting enough Protein with very limited capacity. As a result, I brought along my own protein when I traveled (powdered shakes) and had them in the hotel before going out to eat. I would then have just a small appetiser or something to drink at the restaurant while others were eating.

You could do the same at family events, although I realize that's easier easier said than done. In my case, family and friends kept insisting I eat things because they were low-calorie, without understanding my need to prioritize protein and not fill up on other foods. It can be quite challenging to keep telling insistent relatives that you really don't want to eat more.

For the road, there are some wonderful Snacks in the Bariatric Pal Store than you can bring along.

None of this is ideal, but it's worth the effort!

Thanks for the insight. It'll be 2 months post surgery when we leave. So, I'm super nervous about navigating regular food. I'll have only been off my 6 week post op diet a couple of weeks by then, hopefully. I'll definitely have to get creative.

I went on a trip about two months post op also. What worked for me eating out was splitting an entree with someone else. We split the main protein exactly in half and I just had a bite or two of the sides. It seemed to be a good amount of food for my travel companion also. Or if they didn’t want to share I just ordered a protein focused appetizer for my meal. Ultimately getting enough protein is the main goal so that’s really all I focused on and it went well. So if chicken tenders were my only option, that’s what I had and I picked off some of the breading.

For snacks I kept jerky, protein bars, and nut packs in my purse. Pretty much every convenience store or gas station has protein drinks so since we were flying I didn’t worry about bringing them with me, but if you’re driving I’d keep a case in the car. At that point I was pretty religiously eating every 3 hours on the dot so it’s good to have protein snacks handy! I also kept liquid iv packets in my purse to help keep up with hydration.

1 hour ago, vsg2410 said:

I went on a trip about two months post op also. What worked for me eating out was splitting an entree with someone else. We split the main Protein exactly in half and I just had a bite or two of the sides. It seemed to be a good amount of food for my travel companion also. Or if they didn’t want to share I just ordered a protein focused appetizer for my meal. Ultimately getting enough protein is the main goal so that’s really all I focused on and it went well. So if chicken tenders were my only option, that’s what I had and I picked off some of the breading.

For Snacks I kept Jerky, Protein Bars, and nut packs in my purse. Pretty much every convenience store or gas station has Protein Drinks so since we were flying I didn’t worry about bringing them with me, but if you’re driving I’d keep a case in the car. At that point I was pretty religiously eating every 3 hours on the dot so it’s good to have protein snacks handy! I also kept liquid iv packets in my purse to help keep up with hydration.

Thanks!

I travel quite a bit, but most of it is alone, so I only have to be in charge of myself and my own schedule which makes it a bit easier...but I do have some suggestions of things that work for me.

I would try to seek out lodging that has a refrigerator and possibly a microwave and consider preparing at least one or two of your meals in your room as opposed to eating in a restaurant--you'll have a much easier time being able to control your portions and what is in your meals that way. I usually hit a grocery store before I head to my hotel and pick up things like string cheese, vegetables that are easy to snack on (grape tomatoes, baby carrots, even things like sugar snap peas are really good raw), individual containers of cottage cheese or yogurt, deli turkey, things like that.

When you do eat out in restaurants, think outside the box and consider pairing several sides into a meal you can live with (for instance, my husband and I have a Japanese restaurant we like a lot, his meal comes with a side salad and I usually take that, and then I ask for a side order of shrimp to put on top, and I eat that as my meal). This works out better because by getting only the sides, you're not paying for nor being tempted by the inevitable carb-based side that accompanies most restaurant plates. The tricky thing is that while traveling it's harder to store and/or find time to eat leftovers so I always end up feeling like I'm being wasteful if I order a full "meal" intended for someone with a normal stomach.

A lot of this is going to potentially boil down to how flexible and accommodating your travel partners will be in helping you be able to eat places you can find something suitable. If they insist on eating bar food (or something along those lines) all week, it may end up being a little hard, so hang in there, do your best, it's not forever, and if you have a difficult couple days, just get back on track when you get home.