Helping Hands

Next, in this series of "tips please" is probably the hardest part for me and most weight loss surgery patients.

Well, it used to be for me during my first year or so...now I've learned to maneuver around it.  

Servers.

Yes, servers, God bless them...I mean it...it's a hard job and they get treated unfairly, at least the good ones.  

They work hard for such little money and then...they get blamed for all the mistakes in the kitchen.

I love when you are blessed with a server with a great personality and a heart to serve.  Servers can make or break the dining experience.  

As a matter of fact, servers are one of the main reasons I eat out, they clean the table.  I love to cook, I just don't like to clean up.  

The hard part for me, however, is really not the server, it's what they are trying to serve; beverages...I found it really had to give up drinking and eating at the same time.  I'm a die hard southern iced tea fan.  Although I've switched completely to Splenda, instead of the real sweetner...I still love my tea...hot or cold. 

Servers just don’t think their jobs are complete until you have a beverage…so in an effort to save the waiter from heart failure or explaining my oddity of no drinking and eating at the same time….how absurd is that…I have found it easier to just order the beverage. At the end of the meal I will ask for a take-out cup, it becomes a treat for later.

I have found as time goes on that I can drink before my food arrives, I just have to stop before getting my meal.  If I know I'll have to wait for a while, I order a beverage.  Not drinking while eating was probably the hardest thing for me to get used to but after time, it became a habit...now I don't miss it. I drink so much between meals, it's a nice break not to drink, I actually get to chew!