Dining out. Words that bring a cringe to most CD patients. Why? Because whenever we try to order out somewhere, we're greeted with odd stares, wrong orders, and many questions that it seems we answer dozens of time per day. On this page we can share methods of ordering successfully and fun stories about places where things actually went right for a change!
Matt the Webmaster: Whenever I go to a fast food place I'm
usually limited to just a burger. Here's a tip: If you have to
eat at a fast food place, try Burger King. Their burgers are
grilled (not fried like McDonalds, Wendy's, etc.) and if you
order a plain Whopper (with no toppings and on 2 bottom buns) you
can get a bigger burger. Of course, you will always have to
answer the question "Why two bottom buns?", but you get
used to that after a while. My favorite moment about this was
when I was traveling through Virginia one time and the counter
girl turned to the kitchen and shouted "Hey! Do we have... 'bottom
buns'?" Some people...
When it comes to eating at a friend's house (for party's, etc.) I
usually find out what will be served that night and then bring
the equivalent of it that I can eat. Is it pizza night over there?
Make your own pizza and take with you.
Your true friends will understand.
Lisa: I love burgers, so every time my friends want to order something out, that's what I suggest. McDonalds fries are the best! They're the only fries I like without catsup (which bothers me). If they don't like burgers, I suggest KFC. Except for vegetarians, who doesn't like burgers?!!!! ;-)
Annie: My friends and I love to go to Haagen Daaz, but the ice cream and lactose is something I can no longer take. My solution, try their Sorbet, no lactose in it, and it even tastes better than ice cream, believe it or not! They have a ton of flavors and it's yummy. An extra bonus for those of us trying not to gain weight while on Prednisone, it's fat free!
Jennifer: One thing I have always found handy when dining out and in all other situations is just to be truthful. I am so blasé about my Crohn's. Because I'm o.k with it my friends are too! I'll announce how "gassy" I am in the middle of lunch :-) I was going to a friends B-day party and she knew I could only eat bread and crackers etc. (I was being eased of my clear fluid diet) So she made me Birthday toast, covered in food coloring to make it fancy, lol, just so I wouldn't feel left out of the whole ice cream cake deal.
Mia: My tip for dining out is to ask the restaurants the ingredients in the food, or if something at a restaurant is prepackaged before they put it on your plate (such as bread) ask if you can read the ingredient label. Most restaurants will let you do this. Who knows, maybe you'll discover one more thing you can eat.
Angie: I love to dine out. Whether it's to a fancy restaurant or just
a fast food place. Well it isn't that much fun to eat a plane burger or no
fries with it or no milkshakes is it? So my solution is simple. Eat
whatever it is you want no matter what. Like if you like onions on your
burger, get onions. Who cares if you have more cramps. The reason I
say this is 'cause you're having cramps anyway, so you might as well enjoy the
food when you can. But if you are going to eat something that bothers you
like popcorn or something, make sure you do it when you have nothing planned the
next day. Because if you are going to the beach, traveling, etc, you don't
want to be in a community bathroom the whole time. So do it when you have
nothing going on the next day so you can have the...(diarrhea) in your own
house.
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