Travel - how do you eat?? - ThinnerTimes

PennyJ · 02-18-2007, 04:03 PM

OK, SirMikey and I are going to be heading out for a week plus vacation to Vegas (Yea!!!). We've been planning this vacation longer than it took to get approved for the surgery, have it, and now we're 4 months or so post op! But, the closer it gets, the more worried I am about making sure we eat the right stuff while on the road. Since we're only 4 months out - we still try new foods now and again - some good some bad. So - for those that have traveled after surgery - how did the food choices go? What did you eat? Handy snack ideas? We're going to be driving - so stops for food on the road. We're staying downtown in Vegas - so we'll be dependant on restaurants. Thanks for any suggestions!!!

LisaM · 02-18-2007, 04:40 PM

Here are a few from my blog (gastricbypass.blog.com) that I put together last July, when I was about 10 months post-op. It was written for how I was feeling at the time, so pardon my tenses, please...

Eating for gastric bypass on the road:

1) Take a cooler if you can. It's a lot easier if you travel by auto and can take a cooler for things such as string cheese (I live on low-fat string cheese), cottage cheese, and drinks.

2) Keep your pills cool and dark. I kept my pills in the top level of the cooler, so they weren't actually in the ice. Another good thing about traveling by auto is that no one is pawing through your many medications and supplements wondering what kind of hypochondriac you are.

3) Celebrate your freedom! Traveling has gotten me away from that unholy interest in what the bathroom scale says on a daily or twice- or three-times daily basis. Probably a good thing, but I'm itching to get back home and see if I've lost any weight. Going to be hard to restrain myself 'til the morning after, as I only weigh in the a.m.

4) Let 'em look! Since I've often been eating all three meals on a given day in restaurants, I've gotten used to the funny looks when I take my supplements with my morning cottage cheese. Altogether, I take over ten pills, so it takes a while. I just keep my eyes on my newspaper, take a bite, take a supplement, take a sip of water, and repeat ten times.

5) Know your proteins and other food contents. Knowing the basics of what foods contain what protein amounts has been invaluable. I know how many grams of protein (approx. 20) a chicken breast has in it, and about what 4 ounces of meat looks like (it's the size of a deck of cards) and that four heaping teaspoonfuls of cottage cheese is about 4 ounces and about 13 grams of protein. My dietician requires 56 grams of protein a day, and I shoot for 60-65 each day. So far, I've been making it.

6) You don't have to eat it just because they serve it. I feel more like a normal person than a patient after this last week. It's kind of like getting the agoraphobe out into open spaces again. Little by little, I'm realizing that I can cope with the diet I have to eat without getting all het up about it. The fact that Denny's served me eight ounces of cottage cheese and another eight ounces of fresh fruit didn't mean I had to eat it all--not that I could have anyway. I ate what I could and left the rest, just like a real person.

7) Don't wait too long to eat. I've learned that if I leave it too long, I can eat more than I should at a single sitting. Had to attend a family funeral on Wednesday--ate lunch around 12:30, and then didn't eat again until nearly 9 pm. I was nearly ill with hunger, and then ate a little too much of Texas Roadhouse's Southwestern Chicken. It's grilled chicken covered with a black bean and cheese sauce. Tasted wonderful--and racked my digestive system up like a pool shark racks up the billiard balls. I survived it, but it was bloody painful.

That's it for now--happy traveling!

JenBear7 · 02-18-2007, 04:59 PM

The seafood buffet at the Freemont was good.. I'm thinking you could eat there! but...it might be a little pricy for a pouchful! Hmm.. now there is a pickle! How can you eat out.. and make it not $10.00 per Mouthful? On the other hand, I have probably eaten 4X what normal people do at buffets.. maybe I will just owe them LOL.. I am very curious about your question, and cant wait to see some of the answers!

PennyJ · 02-18-2007, 05:54 PM

I think that's where Mike and I are lucky - we've both had the surgery. Hopefully most places will let us split one meal. It can still be pricey - but we can each eat a little of it. I thought of the scale thing today. I am staring at it 5 times a day now. I weigh in the morning - every morning!!! It will be definate withdrawal for me there.....Unless I sneek it in the suitcase?

Debz · 02-18-2007, 05:59 PM

When I had my stomach stapled years ago, I used to go out to lunch with all my girlfriends. They'd ask for an extra plate, pass it around, put a teaspoon or to on each, and that would be my lunch. Way cheaper for me...LOL.

Geez...thinking about it, I guess that's where I picked up a habit that my son just loathes. Along with my free lunch, I'd ask for water with lemon. A pink packet or two and a squeeze of lemon makes yummy lemonade. Still do it to this day, and every time I do, my son wants to crawl under the table.

JenBear7 · 02-18-2007, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debz

When I had my stomach stapled years ago, I used to go out to lunch with all my girlfriends. They'd ask for an extra plate, pass it around, put a teaspoon or to on each, and that would be my lunch. Way cheaper for me...LOL.

Geez...thinking about it, I guess that's where I picked up a habit that my son just loathes. Along with my free lunch, I'd ask for water with lemon. A pink packet or two and a squeeze of lemon makes yummy lemonade. Still do it to this day, and every time I do, my son wants to crawl under the table.

ROFL @ the lemonade! You are hysterical!

justawoman · 02-18-2007, 06:08 PM

I have done plenty of traveling since my surgery and fortunate for me I have little ones so I would either eat some of what they ordered or I was a really big fruit and salad gal after surgery and still order salad basically anywhere I go then my husband always orders some type of chicken or steak and I take a small piece and throw it on top of my salad. Soup and Salad bars always worked well for me! Some "nice" restaurants have even allowed me to order off the senior menu or childrens menu.

As far as the car ride, I packed a cooler with fruit and veggies and of course my bottled water and cheeses and then I ate some crackers as well.

I am sure you guys will do just fine, just ENJOY yourselves

coptergirl · 02-18-2007, 07:23 PM

I agree with all the other posters - being prepared is key. Know that youwill eat in restaurants and there is always somthing there you can eat whether its chicken, beef (if you're able), seafood. They may bring it with a baked potato and veggies - just eat the protein and whatever veggies you can and leave what you can't finish - the food doesn't know the difference. Brink high protein snacks with you, or if you're flying, either get a room with a frisge or get one of those cheap styrofoam coolers and stock it full of protein snacks, beef jerkey, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurts, protein shakes. I even travel with my protein powder and either my magic buillet or my shaker cup, and it works well.

Most importantly, have fun. I know for me I would get excited about trips preop and look forward to eating my way through the trip - since it is no longer about the food, do something fun like a show, or a spa trip together or a trip to Hoover Dam to go hiking - something to create wonderful new memories together

PennyJ · 02-19-2007, 03:35 PM

Thanks everyone, all suggestions have been written down! We're planning cheese, protein bars, fruit, and peanut butter pretzels (my "snack" when I crave one!) so far. We'll have our cooler in the back and it will be stocked with drinks. Mike won't drink protein drinks and for me they make me violently ill with dumping - but the bars give me 17 grams. If there are any Nebraska, Colorado, or Nevada losers - we'll wave at you on the way through!!!

I'm so excited!!!

rivercanyon · 02-19-2007, 03:57 PM

A very good question and some very good suggestions so far!!!

We do a lot of travelling so this will be helpful for me in the future.