I went out for dinner with friends last night and tried a restaurant called lu*ssm*anns in a nearby town. Out of the 9 of us only 2 know I've been banded but I think I other might have guessed (from me talking in the past and my new eating habits).
I did well. We ordered off the party menu and I chose pork loin with mashed potatoes and a mushroom sauce. I was lovely but there was tons of it but I ate slowly ate half my meat and a little of the mash and mushrooms. This particular restaurant also advertises it's doggy box policy. Now I get in the US how much a part of the culture doggy bags/boxs are, but over here, it just isn't. Regardless I assured my server I didn't dislike my dinner, I was just trying to eat less and I would like the doggy box. He proceeded to collect all the other plates and tidy up before clearing my plate. I felt this made it more obvious I hadn't eaten my meal. He also brought the box straight back. I don't know what else I would have had him do with it but in states any take home packs are usually bought out later aren't they? I struggled through my dessert. Since we ordered off a party menu, it was 2 courses for £15.95, instead of £15.20 for my entree. I still enjoy the something sweet at the end but I need to be conscious not to eat too much here. Although I should have left some, I was concerned about my box on the table and the fuss over me not eating my main meal. I hope as I get more confident with banded eating, this will pass. It was yummy though and a better eating out experience with friends who don't know, than my sunday lunch one from April 1st.
I went diving today at Ston**ey Cove. This is the national dive centre. It's a quarry which has been filled in with water, fish and wrecks for people to practise diving skills. It's about 90 miles away and takes about 1 hour 40 minutes to drive. It opens at 7 and you have to be there before that if you want to park anywhere near the water. After getting up at 4:15, I had some "belv*ita br*eakf*ast bi*scuits" in the car at about 6 am. They go down quite easily but I ate them slowly. 4 biscuits took 20 minutes or more. Then I was off food until all diving was finished. However this place does the most amazing fried brakfast rolls (bacon/egg/sausage). I was not unknown for me to have 2 before being banded. Now this seems INSANE but then I justified it with "but scuba is exercise!" I was a little jealous having done 2 training dives in freezing waters while everyone else tucked in but I knew those soft white floury rolls and I would not get on so I stuck with the coffee and allowed myself a bowl of chips when I was all done, showered and changed. They were lovely, dipped in ketchup and mayonnaise, I chewed away. I ate half the bowl and was done. I used to scoff at these bowls of chips. "Who would want a small bowl of chips like that without fish or sausages or something else?" thought old me. Today I ate HALF the bowl. What a difference a band makes.
Ticker to Goal
3 comments:
Getting a "to go" box is no big deal here and unless it is a very fancy restaurant, they just bring you the empty container and you box it up yourself. Nobody thinks anything about it because it is so common here...our portions are huge, so if you are actually one of the few who eat a normal portion then you would have food left over. Now that I am banded I usually don't even eat half of what they bring to me, so we will get a to go box and my husband usually takes it the next day for his lunch.
Sarah, so glad you had a good eating out exp. It is strange to go out and get a to go box for my leftovers these days...I never had a to go box before the band. Oh the new things we get to venture into with this banded life of ours!!
I never knew that there were places that did not have to go boxes! Wow that must have been difficult for you. I have also been surprised at the difficulty in restaurants especially with servers asking me if something was wrong with my meal b/c I did not eat much of it. I even had one manager insist on not charging me for the meal until I finally just told him I had weight loss surgery and that is why I was only eating a little . Isn't it nuts how much other people really focus on how much we eat?!
Post a Comment