I read an interesting article on reddit before Christmas that claimed that this girl had lost 200lbs by eating a huge salad every day for a year and walking a lot. She was walking to and from work, to and from the grocers, pretty much everywhere she could walk. It got my brain going. I can do the salads! And in the summer I can ride my bike pretty much anywhere I need to, and in the winter months I wwill Zumba and use my exercise equipment.
A salad a day. She did it for a whole year, but I'm going to start smaller. I'll aim for a month and see how it goes.
Justin and I have been eating primarily salads every week day for lunch since we came home on the 3rd. I try to mix it up a bit, though it is harder to plan around someone who's idea of a salad is cheese, lettuce and croutons. :) I'm not getting sick of them. And I'm noticing that I am not nearly as hungry during the day as I used to be.
We started with regular garden salads. We graduated to salads with measured portions of meat in them, primarily chicken breast meat.
Here are some of the things I have put in my own salad:
- Mesclun
- Ginger root, shredded
- 1 oz- 1/2 oz cheese
- raisins
- grape tomatoes
- 2 tbsp croutons
- shredded carrot
- celery
- artichoke hearts
- cilantro
- shredded pork carnita meat
- baby spinach
- iceberg lettuce
- cabbage
- dates, 2 sliced thin
- olives - green or black
- cucumber
- crasins
- strawberries
- blueberries
- blackberries
- raspberries
- asian noodles, the crisp ones
- almonds
- walnuts
- mushrooms
- radishes
- snap peas
- edamame
- apple
- zucchini
- Sugar snap peas
- turkey pastrami
- spicy bean sprouts
I'll keep adding to the list as I come up with things. The secret is in portioning the items so that your calories stay low. Mesclun is my favorite base, since it is only 10 calories for a cup raw. I tend to eat two cups of it per lunch. Helps to keep you fuller longer. The truly evil part of salads is the dressing. I've made my own today:
- Dressing:
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2/3 cup light sour cream
- 1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce (I skipped this as I did not have it on hand)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
The only calories involved are those in the sour cream. I only used 2 tbsp of sour cream.
At any rate, this is not a new years resolution. It's more like a life change. Even when I stop having a salad for every lunch, I should have managed to get back to reasonable caloric intake, not to mention be well on my way to eating healthier in general. We only live once. I'd rather live in a body I love, eating foods I love, and enjoying every day. The most fun thing about this whole process is that I don't feel like I am on a diet. I don't feel deprived of anything.
And that's the best feeling ever.
