Dining Out

Do you have days that you just don’t feel like cooking and want to eat out instead? Well, for me “these days” are almost everyday. Eating out is fun and convenient; no mess, no standing in a kitchen, eating whatever you feel like and as much as you want. The last one may be a problem, especially if like me, you feel like eating well and a lot. Chicago gave me many opportunities to indulge in my favorite dining. Nevertheless, you can imagine what the “anything I want” diet did to my waist. Restaurants never hesitated to provide me with a dollar pricing next to the food, but never specified how much it would cost me in inches. Before I got my Lap-Band, I tried to do some damage control, and I must say that small changes helped me to minimize, and when I was fully compliant, even stopped gaining. Nevertheless, in the end eating less was what finally allowed me to lose weight.

If you are trying to bring some damage control into your restaurant ventures you could use some of my before weight loss surgery tricks. My first advice would be to order water instead of soda. It may seem as a small step, but by doing so you cut your calorie intake by over 100 calories. Believe me, if you are planning to take a refill of that coke better drink some water instead. The next thing that you could consider is eating an appetizer instead the whole meal. Come on… You can’t eat the whole thing anyway! How many times did you end up overeating only because there was still food on your plate? I always hated myself for doing so, and believe me, these few extra calories didn’t do any good for me either! On the other hand you may say that the appetizer portion is too small for you… Trust me, with a side salad to it you should be more than satisfied. If you’re not, it may mean that your stomach is stretched and you don’t feel satiety when you’re full. In this case, believe me I know this from experience, you end up ordering dessert after a medium size meal with the amount of calories outnumbering the regular meal. My advice here would be to resign from restaurant desserts all together. It may not be easy when you have this “oooh… I would eat something” mode, and especially if your stomach is the size of a Santa’s bag like mine was…

I must say that eating less was never easy for me, so when my BMI jumped to 40 I finally decided to get the lap-band in Chicago. I knew I needed help, or at least a tool to curb my hunger. I tried everything including stuffing myself with stomach filling pills, but nothing seemed to work. Weight loss surgery might seem as a drastic move for someone who just wants to eat out; nevertheless, I knew that without it would keep gaining pounds infinitely. I knew that I needed help, and DayOne Health, because of its amazing program and friendly staff, was my first choice. Today, I lost most of my weight and I keep it off! I’m happier than ever because finally I don’t have to make myself to stop eating. Now, my body tells me when I’m full and the lap-band helps me to comply with my resolutions. I know that without DayOne Health in Chicago my weight loss wouldn’t be possible, and that after surgery I can enjoy Chicago’s finest restaurants without gaining weight! If you fell like you have the same problem, call them today to schedule an appointment or sign up for a free seminar and see whether weight loss surgery is right for you!

Gladys