Went out to dinner with the family

[Avonlea]

I was wondering how a restaurant experience would go. It was okay! It was a tapas place which worked great. I had two scallops with some fresh mushrooms, and a bite of the inside of my husband's beef empanada (so a little bit of ground beef, basically). Then I was full. It took me a long time to eat the two scallops.

I did feel a little sad, because this was one of my prior favorite restaurants, but it also occurred to me that it wasn't healthy I could eat so much before. But I was glad I could still at least go out and enjoy a meal.

[countof3]

It gets easier as you do it. Right attitude, our portions were not healthy prior. Have you seen restaurant calories? Most plates are 1,000-2,000 calories!!! I had to eat at olive garden yesterday for work. Got cheese raviolis (600 cal for entire plate) and I got 3 meals out of it!!!

[Deleted]

first couple of times I ate in a restaraunt I was a bit freaked out. what if I throw up?! or something, not really sure what I was worried about. then there is a stage where you can BELIEVE the enormous portions people are eating.

eventually, things get back to normal. well, a new normal.

[Deleted]

Isn't it great to realize that we don't have to give up our favorite places? I know some people can't tolerate left-overs, but I have yet to have a bad experience with them. Some meals taste better to me the next day. When we go out, my husband will ask me what I want for lunch the next day when we're deciding where to go. He's actually quite thoughtful and now it's our little joke.

[Carolyn H.]

Congrats! I love Tapas. We eat out fairly frequently, and I really enjoy getting 'special' things that are still sleeve firendly.

[Avonlea]

It was really nice to realize there was a tapas plate that was perfect for me. I really enjoyed it. And probably 20g protein!

[pattipop]

My family loves mexican food so I would get a bowl of tortilla soup without the tortillas, so delicious, now my DH and I share chicken fajita nachos and I just eat the chicken and cheese, very filling.

[nextchapter]

All great suggestion’s I am going to apply after surgery..

[sniffles]

My hubby and I always pick and share an entree. It saves money and sometimes we STILL have leftovers!

[bb212]

Sometimes the chef's tasting menus are actually great once your stomach has healed up a bit. It is usually 3-5 very small portions of their best dishes. You get a taste of everything in little bits over time. By the time you've digested a good amount of your first small dish, the next one comes.

[paige]

yes, it totally gets easier because you know exactly how much you can handle!

[Catie]

Tapas is WONDERFUL for us. My husband and I went out for dinner on Saturday with a couple that does not know about my WLS. We went to a tapas place and it was so great to be able to eat just one bit of something and have no one look askance at all! Loved it!

[loulou7]

I found going to restaurants early on was frustrating, because I ordered like a pre-op and then got upset when I ate two bites and was done. Taking home the leftovers helped, but it was still frustrating. It was nice when I discovered that I could eat more salad without filling up, so I could continue to nibble.

[muffinsmom]

I didn't care so much about what or how much I could eat, my biggest fear about going out to eat was the burping I was doing. It was more like belching, and happened from first bite to last. I think my first nice restaurant experience was my birthday, which would have been a year ago this month, and about six months out from surgery. Fortunately we went to a very loud restaurant, one of those L.A. bistros with very high-end, upscale food and service, but so loud you can't hear yourself think. Burping wasn't a problem!