I hate my salad!

cwolfman13

BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »

I made salads for my lunches this week on Sunday. Yesterday's was good but today it was so hard to eat, I hated it. I want spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, buttered toast, kit kat bars... I'm trying so hard to hold out till the end of the day! I know they are just cravings and I'm not hungry but it's bad today. What do you do to fight cravings? I want to go home and curl up in bed.

Pretty sure I'd be unhappy with salad every day too...have some variety. There's more to good nutrition than just veggies. Dieting doesn't have to be a sufferfest.

AmandaDanceMore

I'm not wild about salads. Every now and again, I really want one, but, for the most part, I avoid them and have stopped trying to force myself to make and eat them at home. If it's trying to get more veggies in you, I do a lot better with a nice bowl of cooked veggies with some brown rice or quinoa, maybe with some beans and some form of potato (half a baked sweet potato! Yum). I lovingly refer to these as garbage bowls, and find them very filling and delicious. They're also way more appetizing for me this time of year when I'm constantly cold (I'm half reptile, I think). The last thing I want is a cold salad! I often will toss in some fresh baby spinach. I find the hot food "cooks" the spinach just the right amount, and it's extra filling.

I'm vegetarian, hence no meat, but you could probably easily toss in some chicken or whatever lean meat you wanted to Round it out.

BrunetteRunner87

I eat foods that I like, but I find myself craving carbs all day and bingeing on macaroni and cheese from market district or the pastas at the italian food store, which I should not do every day and I am making an effort to eat more vegetables and clean foods. The salad was a good salad, it was from Run Fast Eat Slow and had peppers, kale, onion, quinoa, cheese, pumpkin seeds, black beans and avocado. It tasted good, but I craved a binge on food with empty calories.

That being said, I don't think I will eat salads again next week, but I am still craving a giant plate of macaroni and cheese, and I don't even like how it tastes that much, it is just a craving.

vingogly

If you're thinking about eating other things because you hate salads, why are you punishing yourself? You're setting yourself upI'm having a collection of celery and carrot sticks, pickled okra, and kalamata olives to be followed by a peanut butter sandwich with no sugar added orange marmalade on low-cal bread for lunch.

If you crave mac and cheese, look for "low calorie mac and cheese" in your search engine. Make up a pan and take a serving to work for lunch along with some veggies that you like. If on the other hand you're craving a "binge" with large amounts of mac and cheese, that has more to do with psychology than metabolism. See:

http://www.beckdietsolution.com

leanjogreen18

BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »

I eat foods that I like, but I find myself craving carbs all day and bingeing on macaroni and cheese from market district or the pastas at the italian food store, which I should not do every day and I am making an effort to eat more vegetables and clean foods. The salad was a good salad, it was from Run Fast Eat Slow and had peppers, kale, onion, quinoa, cheese, pumpkin seeds, black beans and avocado. It tasted good, but I craved a binge on food with empty calories.

That being said, I don't think I will eat salads again next week, but I am still craving a giant plate of macaroni and cheese, and I don't even like how it tastes that much, it is just a craving.

What? You are craving something you don't even like the taste of? I didn't know there was such a thing:).

Ok this may sound harsh but I mean it in a good way, get the thought out of your head. You control what you think about.

Jonesingmucho

You ask what I do to fight cravings?

• Wander around office and leave ransom notes for things I take from desks if no one is there
• Make copies of my... um ... hand
• Listen to Cold Water featuring Justin Bieber on repeat until I'm numb
• Write my heaviest weight on the inside of my wrist and stare at it until I remember how that felt
• Tear and fold gum wrappers into long paper chains
• Play hide and seek with my boss ... without telling him we are playing

The list is endless really because I fight cravings by distracting myself with anything else to keep from focusing on food. I don't ALWAYS distract myself productively, but the key for me is to disrupt the quiet, boring existence that lulls me into unconscious feeding.

I'm not perfect. Sometimes my obsession with food/eating feels out of control, but changing my focus gives me better control over food. I hear your desire to be in control too. #Struggleisreal

You got this. Don't overthink it. Burn more calories than you take in. You are the top of the food chain, so no Kit Kat bar can control you! RAWRRRRRRR!

BrunetteRunner87

Yes it is for sure in my head! I'm trying to have a healthier relationship with food, I'm usually pretty good with self discipline but I'm having a really tough time the past week or so with the all-day cravings.

lemurcat12

BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »

I eat foods that I like, but I find myself craving carbs all day and bingeing on macaroni and cheese from market district or the pastas at the italian food store, which I should not do every day and I am making an effort to eat more vegetables and clean foods. The salad was a good salad, it was from Run Fast Eat Slow and had peppers, kale, onion, quinoa, cheese, pumpkin seeds, black beans and avocado. It tasted good, but I craved a binge on food with empty calories.

The salad sounds delicious to me, but if you weren't in the mood for it maybe it didn't hit the spot.

This is a pet peeve of mine, but mac and cheese isn't really "a carb" (and fruits and vegetables, of course, could be called "carbs"). I never get why people use "carbs" as if it meant "junk food" or "high cal treat." The reason stereotypical mac and cheese wouldn't be great for a diet (although if you control serving size it's fine) is that it's high in calories due to the fat (at least if real mac and cheese, beats me about the boxed stuff) and tends not to have vegetables. You can make a much more diet-and-nutrition-friendly version by using less cheese or cream and adding in lots of vegetables and maybe some lean protein. Or if it's just pasta in general you crave, why not make a lower cal, lots of veg and some lean protein pasta dish like the one I mentioned above. Restaurant ones are usually going to have fewer veg and higher cals due to added fat (cheese or oil or cream), as well as larger than necessary servings, often.

Point is that you can combine goals like lower calories, more vegetables, satiating with a desire for something like pasta. (And I don't see why pasta wouldn't be "clean," but then I don't find that a helpful word to use to describe food.)

The higher fiber pasta that Needs2 mentioned might be worth checking out too. I always mean to but keep forgetting, but I often do use whole grain pasta at home. I find eating lots of other foods with the pasta (which is how I like it best anyway) more significant, though. Even if you really want a simple mac and cheese, combining it with a salad as others have mentioned would work.

I'm still in salad mode, weirdly, but usually don't eat them during the winter. I eat lots of vegetables still, in other forms, again as others have suggested.

MissSugarBean

Snack ideas I'm loving with now:
*peanuts + dried cranberries are pretty good.
*granola + blueberries tastes like a nutrigrain bar.
*peanuts + m&ms is like a mini trail mix and beats chocolate cravings.
I just put some in a jar and eat between meals. If you wanna be fancy get some nice dark chocolate for your trail mix.

Francl27

I rarely eat salads... I have to really want it to be able to eat it, lol.

_SalmonSultan_

If it's carbs you're craving, maybe add croutons or crackers to your salad (if you don't already) get some fat in there by adding nuts, seeds, or a light amount of creamy dressing. Salads can be a great way to fit in all sorts of nutrients, and you can get all your macros.

AmandaDanceMore

Jonesingmucho wrote: »

You ask what I do to fight cravings?

• Wander around office and leave ransom notes for things I take from desks if no one is there
• Make copies of my... um ... hand
• Listen to Cold Water featuring Justin Bieber on repeat until I'm numb
• Write my heaviest weight on the inside of my wrist and stare at it until I remember how that felt
• Tear and fold gum wrappers into long paper chains
• Play hide and seek with my boss ... without telling him we are playing

The list is endless really because I fight cravings by distracting myself with anything else to keep from focusing on food. I don't ALWAYS distract myself productively, but the key for me is to disrupt the quiet, boring existence that lulls me into unconscious feeding.

I'm not perfect. Sometimes my obsession with food/eating feels out of control, but changing my focus gives me better control over food. I hear your desire to be in control too. #Struggleisreal

You got this. Don't overthink it. Burn more calories than you take in. You are the top of the food chain, so no Kit Kat bar can control you! RAWRRRRRRR!

This made me quite literally laugh out loud. I'm gonna start playing hide and seek with my boss, but not telling her.

OP, another thought. If you're like me, you may not be able to eat the same thing, day in and day out, even if it does taste good (except for pizza. I have no doubt I could eat pizza breakfast, lunch, and dinner from now until eternity). Some people have that amazing ability (meal preppers amaze me. I would get bored halfway through the second day). Switch up your lunches instead of making a week's worth of the same thing, and throw in some carbs before you throw yourself under the binge bus.

Goober1142

Sounds like you're craving fat to me. . I eat as much rotisserie chicken as I can and the craving stops for days. Coffee and water help too.