Restaurant Reflections. . .

My very good friend, Christina, just sent me an e-mail with some great questions about eating with the band. I thought I'd post them here, along with my responses. . .

What do you eat when you go out?
It varies a lot. If my band is feeling tight, I try to order something like soup or something mushy that will be easy to get down. Fish also is a great option, since most varieties are relatively soft in texture and easy to chew.

When you posted about sushi, you said that you didn't eat the rice -- why is that?
I was thinking of the rice as empty calories, and I wanted to be able to eat more fish, so I saved room by not eating the rice as well. I did eat a bite or two of it though, and it went down just fine.

What would you order in an Italian restaurant?
I went to a very nice Italian restaurant on Sunday night . . . Babbo (it's one of Mario Battali's places). I split an arugula salad with Erika (I just had a few bites) and ordered a small plate of gnocci with braised oxtail. It was DELICIOUS!

What would you order in a French restaurant?
Hmm. . I haven't been out for French food recently, but fish is always good and is generally very easy to eat, so that would be one good option. I can actually eat most things, so there is never a problem finding something good on the menu.

How about Mexican?
I go to a Mexican restaurant for brunch most weekends. No problems there. I can have guacamole with a chip or two (not more because I get too full, plus, it's fattening) and usually get either a quesadilla or carnitas (tacos with grilled pork -- I only eat the pork and leave the tortilla).

Do you think you have already changed your eating habits?
Yes. Working with the band is not hard for me at this point -- it has just become what I do.

You wrote what you do for breakfast, but what about other meals?
For lunch at work, I either bring a soup or I order food for delivery. I usually wind up getting soup, but sometimes I do sushi (would do it more, but it's expensive), and I even get a salad once in a while. A few times, when I needed to get in more protein, I've ordered a tuna salad wrap and just ate the tuna. I keep my office door closed during lunch -- that way if I get stuck, no one else has to know about it. (I kept my door closed during lunch before the surgery as well -- that's pretty common in my office.

Dinner varies a lot. If I'm home, I might make a scrambled egg (one egg. . a bit of cheese and some spices) or even have a low-calorie microwaveable dinner. If I'm feeling more festive, I might poach a piece of fish or cook some scallops.

Babbo's gnocci with braised oxtail. I am drooling.

Do you ever fight against hunger?
No. I still get hungry when it's time to eat, but I get satisfied pretty quickly. I eat whenever I am hungry, which is usually 3 times a day. Also, unlike before I was banded, I can't really overeat anymore. I mean, I could, if I wanted to spend an hour or two trying to get down more food than I should have, but that's a big time investment! :) Before the band, I would often eat whatever was on my plate without stopping until I felt full (and by that point, I surely was overly full). Or I'd finish something because it was delicious, even though my hunger was totally satisfied. So, I was frequently overeating.

Do you think you really need the band to eat and live like that or is it mostly a mental help?
I do think that I need it to keep me on the straight and narrow. I think that if I did not have it, it would be very easy to slip into my old habits without really thinking about it. In some ways, the band is a mental help, but the biggest help is that it physically limits me from overeating and from eating whatever I want without thinking about it (how it will go down, whether it is what I want -- given that I only get to eat a small amount each day, etc.) first.

I thought these were great questions -- and hope it made for an interesting post!