Take-Away and the Sleever

While being a sleever means making a permanent lifestyle change, and some people will never eat anything "bad" again... people like me did it knowing that they enjoy food and never want to give certain things up entirely.

Well, so far the sleeve has meant that my tastes have changed, and that even if I can physically eat certain foods without pain, they just don't sit well in my new tiny tummy. I'm also a regular person, and sometimes cooking is the last thing on my mind, let alone cooking a tiny tiny portion... it just doesn't seem worth it. The thing is though, eating out with a sleeve isn't exactly simple.

Eating out a restaurant/cafe is usually better in the types of foods on offer... but the cost is usually pretty high considering the tiny amount you're likely to eat. I previously mentioned I went to the coffee club and spend $12 on some bruscetta, of which I had less than 1 slice (of 4 on a plate). It's a lot of money for so little food actually getting eaten... but I guess if you have piggy friends/relatives with you, you can just offload your extras to them, so it seems less wasteful.

Take-away is a cheaper option, but the food on offer isn't exactly ideal. Apart from being full of fatty crap, I've found that I just don't enjoy the taste anymore. Hot chips do not go down well... I can have about one or two, but not have a whole meal of them... I find they make me feel uncomfortable. Burgers are no good, obviously, but even tastes-wise... bleh. I just don't like them anymore, and eating one (or let's be honest - a few bites of one... lol) is a chore. It's not enjoyable like it was pre-op. No longer is a Quarter Pounder like an orgasm for my mouth. It just does nothing for me.

KFC is rotten - far too oily and makes me feel sick. Plus, those secret herbs and spices just don't have the same taste they used to. They're actually not even pleasant anymore.

There is no point in going to Subway - it used to be my "I'm being good and eating HEALTHY take-away," place of choice, but I doubt I'd be able to get even halfway through a 6 inch, there's no point. A wrap I might be able to conquer a little better... but I'm still not too keen on giving it a go. It just seems far too filling for such a tiny tummy to bother with.

So I've had to start figuring out what I CAN eat... and while others might different, this is MY take-away go-to list...

Red Rooster - a Quarter chicken (don't eat all of it), or Salt and Pepper Squid (8 pieces in a pack, I can eat 5-6 on a good day).

Fish and Chip Shop - Fish or Calamari. I CAN stomach crumbed or battered, which is a shock as oil seems usually to be an issue... but I can manage both of these. OF course, not a whole piece of fish... just a tiny bit... and if I can get it grilled, even better. I will usually steal 1 hot chip from someone else too... because I still like the taste of chips, they just don't sit well. If they had scallops (sea scallops, not potato scallops) I'd have one of those too, and I bet they'd go down well.

Sushi - A sushi roll works well. I can eat 1/2 in a sitting... maybe 1 whole one if I eat it over the space of about an hour. I love a good crab salad or tuna and avocado.

And now... PIZZA! Dominos, specifically.

I've given regular pizza a go, but the oiliness of them made me feel incredibly ill... the whole experience was not worth repeating. I mentioned this to a bunch of other sleevers, and someone suggested the Good Choice range from Dominos, saying they're not oily like regular pizzas.

Well, I gave it a go tonight... there are only 3 pizza options, and I chose the one that had the best toppings out of the 3 - prawns, mushrooms, baby spinach, tomatoes and a tiny bit of light mozarella on a ciabatta base. I ate 1/2 the pizza (it's a little one, a 1-serve pizza)... which equals about 200 Calories (400 for the whole pizza). I left hte crusts though, because why bother wasting precious stomach space on crust?

Popped the 50c in there so you can see how big each piece is...

Apart from being tasty, I felt satisfied with the amount I ate, and also didn't feel queasy as I have after regular pizza, so am THRILLED to have added another option. The remainder will just be in the fridge and eaten tomorrow...

Anyway, I know this is a totally random food-only post, but I thought it might be useful to some out there who are having post-op food issues... because while it's good to be perfect, let's face it... life sometimes makes you have take-away. Or you're at someone's house and they say, "let's get a pizza," and you're like, "Crap! I hate that shit it makes me feel sick!" but you don't want to make a fuss... at least this way, you have an option, and can still be somewhat normal in your eating around others.

If you get stuck with Maccas or KFC though, I'd say pick something easy. Crispy Strips from KFC are a good choice because they're not terribly oily, and you get a dipping sauce to smooth their way down. From Maccas, maybe a snack wrap (I don't like them, personally), or nuggets. I'd probably grab 3 nuggets with some sauce myself...