Having no luck with salads or much else

[Amii]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a hard time getting a salad down me these days because I'm trying to do them low-fat and without salt or other condiments.. My favourite salads have avocado, sea salt, honey and olive oil (yuum!) but I've read a few posts by people saying that when they eat high raw their weight is like 15lbs higher so I started thinking I should be eating no overt fats to reach my REAL ideal weight.

So I've been trying to make low fat salads (carrots, onions, apples, parsnips, lime and lemon) but they just taste rubbish to me. They're so bland and the texture is just... urgh. I can't stand my salads like this, the healthier way.

I'm having problems with fruit now, too. I've stopped liking bananas and as a student, they're my cheap staple so this is worrying. In fact the only fruit I like now is pineapple, and I only like that if it's been juiced with greens.

So basically.. HELP!!! What's wrong with me? Why don't I like anything raw?

Is my body telling me to fast (juice or master cleanse.. I've never done a water fast?), perhaps? What should I do? Should I go back to high-fat raw? I don't want my weight to stick higher than it has to.. and also, high fat makes me kind of tired although it tastes much better..

Please advise me :(

[modernmonkey]

I too struggle with plain salads. Alternatives for me have been, making my own guacamole and dipping my salad items in that and green smoothies.

My most successful tactic though has been a change in mentality. I satiate my hunger most of the day with fruit, I even have a small fruit meal 30 mins before my greens. When it comes to the greens I'm not terribly hungry. I tell myself to eat these out of necessity not for pleasure or satiation. It is a very different eating experience. It's slow, difficult and joyless. BUT it is a great time to think, to appreciate the purpose of food, to undo 'the greed' that goes with a SAD diet and leaves a smug feeling when done.

[DawnD]

I am no expert on high fat or low fat raw but I just eat what I want that taste good. If you need some dressing on your salad add a drizzle. I put enough on my salad to give it flavor without drowning. If you have a nut based dish such as Not Meat Balls surround that with lighter, high water content food to take the heaviness away from the meal. Make the nut portion small and the vege content more.

If you desire pineapple and greens then eat that. There a lot of fruits out there so try to add in something different occasionally. You may find one you prefer

Find meals that you can enjoy. It may be time to break out of your routine and find new recipes and ideas. And relax. Your body is going to know what to do with this raw food. You may need to heal and repair before weight loss comes. Hope this helps.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i have found that if i don't eat things i love... then why would i want to eat them?

so make what you love and trust your body. if it wants pineapple perhaps there is something IN a pineapple that it wants/needs right now. if it doesn't want something perhaps it's got an abundance of those nutrients right now and that's why it doesn't want it.

go with the flow. don't restrict things. allow your body to do what it needs to do and after you've been raw for a while (like a year) then perhaps tweak it for added weight release IF you even need to. i've found that my body will get to where it needs to be... if i just simply allow it the nutrition and the space to do so.

[sport]

I never have a salad because I do not want one.
When I did occasionally have one I made a low fat dressing from fresh orange juice and sun dried tomato in the blender.
I have my greens mostly as smoothie.
If you have gone off bananas are you just eating them plain.
Do you make smoothies. I find that if bananas are too sweet in a smoothie a little celery will kill some of the sweetness (also good source of sodium).

[nadien alexandra]

mmmm sun dried tomato.

i miss those.


ah such a good idea too!

sundried tomatoes are low in fat and high in flavor

what about herbs? cilantro? parsley? basil? thyme? these make salads exciting.

why you being so cruel to yourself? if you dont want a salad, dont have one.

dates are a good cheap staple too. so are apples.. clems...

[Stella Green]

Yes, fresh orange juice and sun dried tomato sounds divine.

I personally love salads, because they give me good energy, but I do a lot of planning and inspiration-hunting to make sure I love it. That salad you talked about doesn't really sound so appetizing: parsnip, and onion? Hmmm. Did you marinate the parsnip? Do yourself a favor and do some searching for tasty salads. Put in stuff you love. Pineapple is amazing for you--it has natural pain-relievers. I'm a big fan of fennel bulbs in my salad, because to me they kind of taste like licorice. I also love the beautiful color of orange bell peppers. Experiment!!

It's very important to follow your instincts on this diet. There have been posts on here that state that eating good fats actually help you lose weight. Especially in the wintertime, most bodies want fat. I personally eat avocados once a day in the winter, and hardly any fat at all during the summer (but not because I restrict myself, simply because that's what I want). Alissa mentioned in LOLF that guacamole is her daily staple. Alissa also says to just forget about rules and to just eat raw (I'm paraphrasing here because I'm away from her book at that moment.)

I also sometimes don't want bananas. Other times I eat six a day. There is a reason why there is a such an abundance of raw food out there--because each thing provides you with a different nutritious component.

One last thing about this "listen to your body stuff": You can't just rely on intuition alone! You've learned all your life through demonstration and otherwise how to eat cooked food. So don't just think you can just voila! instantly know what to do with raw foods. Go to the library and type in "raw food" and see what you find. A book for free that will help you get on the right track. By exploring, you'll find some recipes you don't like (totally normal), recipes with ingredients that are too expensive (kind of depressing, but you'll learn to substitute) and finally recipes that will shock with how delicious they are (yay fun).