Almost 6 weeks out- faced with resturant choices often

What choices do you make when going out for different type of cuisines?  How do you know how much you're consuming?

I eat out a lot.  Look at the appetizer menu and see if there is a lean protein option.  I did a lot of soup also.  If that doesn't work, I would split an entre with my husband and just ate the protein part with a little veggie.  It didn't matter what the cuisine was, as they all have some type of protein with a starch on the side and some veggies.  

How does soup work with the whole "don't drink during meals" restriction?  I've been wondering about this a LOT and keep forgetting to ask.  Do you just eat the solids?  

And YES to appetizer menus!  I've been looking at a lot of menus for my upcoming NYC trip and so often there's a tartare or carpaccio or some other MEAT appetizer option.  Seems perfect for VSG living :)

when I order soup I eat the whole bowl and because it is liquid you don't have to wait 30 minutes before drinking.

This makes sense for smooth soups, but what about ones with chunks of solid stuff?

I never order soup anymore (the kind with chunks) because I found it filled me up SO fast (combo of liquid and solid) that I wasn't able to eat my dense protein.   

This makes a lot of sense to me, logically.  

My surgeon doesn't allow soup for this reason -- you may want to check with your surgical team if they didn't specifically address it with you. But I think my surgeon is an outlier here, most seem to permit it, although I don't really understand why.

I will definitely ask my NUT about this when I'm there next month, and just avoid soup in the meantime!  I just can't wrap my head around the logistics of soup right now.  (Which will be easy to do, since I'm so ready for food I can chew!!)

I always check out the restaurant's website before I go and plan what I'll be getting ahead of time.  I love the internet for this, seriously.  

I bought a small scale that easily fits in my purse.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012N1NAA/ref=wms_ohs_prod uct?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Weird looks or not, I plan to weigh my food until I am able to estimate what a meal should be.  I know I can't now, so I'll measure.  

I figure fish will be a safe option at a lot of restaurants in the future.  :)  

Mexican - fajitas, but just the meat (and veg if I have room).  A few of my local places have dishes that are just spiced chicken or fish or meat with rice, so those would work without the rice.  

Thai - I don't know yet.  Pad Thai without the noodles?  Curry, but pick the meat out of the sauce and skip the rice?  

Tex-Mex - The same as Mexican

Indian - Probably any curry, just pick the meat out of the sauce.  Skip the samosas, naan and rice.  Sniff.  

Chinese - Most stir fry dishes that aren't fried would be okay, just skip the rice.  So I'm thinking beef with broccoli type stuff.  Sadly my favorite dish at my local place is crispy fried beef and I know that's a non-option.  Oh well.  

Japanese - This seems fairly easy.  Hibachi meat/veg, teriyaki meat/veg, meat-based appetizer, sushi rolls without rice if you can get it made that way, sashimi.  

Italian - There are a lot of just meat options that would work here, like chicken piccata.  At least with traditional Italian.  Americanized stuff?  Maybe meatballs would be a good option.  Or meaty bolognese sauce without the pasta.  

French - Again, you've got lots of meat options here.  Just skip the potatoes and other carbs.  

I look at a lot of menus and it seems like there are always meat-heavy options where you can skip the rice, pasta, or tortillas.