Salad Question

Hi all!

OK, I am nowhere near ready for salad BUT that said I've heard that many people, even years later, cannot eat lettuce. So, my question is can or do any of you have issue with lettuce and is it all "lettuce" (like Romain etc.)? How about Kale or raw Spinach? I'd just like to know what I should be super careful about in the future, I made the comment that maybe in the Fall I'll be ready to have a Taco w/o the shell and that is when lettuce came up.

I am almost 4 years out, I can eat salad now, but found it hard to have for a long time. When you have very little real estate for food, lettuce isn't very nutrient dense. I would try to eat less lettuce and more of the other veggies.

To this day the way I eat it is 'chopped' - I chop it small. I find it much easier. Even if I buy bagged lettuce, I chop it smaller with my kitchen shears. Also all the other stuff- carrots, celery etc is chopped small too.

My nut actually addressed this with me. She said while some have issues, many who say they "can't eat salad" actually just needed to chew it down more. But, as NYMom mentioned, lettuce isn't super nutrient dense. If hitting the salad bar (way in the future), we should probably focus on grabbing veggies as the bulk of our salad instead of lettuce.

I actually make meat the bulk of my salad. The bulk of everything for that matter. At 18 months out, my normal veggies in a day are half an avocado (actually a fruit I guess?) and 1-2oz of roasted/grilled/sauteed veggies at dinner.

Our "bar" always has lots of protein choices--from eggs, to diced ham, to tofu. What's your go to? They also added a "pickled" bar with crazy fermented choices--some really good (from cauliflower, to peppers, to onions, to watermelon, to anything you can think of). Supposed to be good for your gut. I'm thinking it's a lot of acid now, so not sure if I'll be able to go there anytime soon.

I can eat salad exceptionally well. It is somewhat of a slider for me. I'm not the only one either.

Salad chops up nice and small in your stomach. I can eat quite a bit if I focus on lettuce, but I get hungry so fast after.

Exactly! Not exactly protein rich, but it sure is satisfying to feel normal while eating it, and it's somewhat healthy!

By slider, you mean it just goes right down/doesn't satisfy?

So sliders in the bariatric surgery world are foods that sort of bypass your restriction. Usually refined carbs ie sweets, crackers, ice cream, milkshakes, ect. They usually will ?slide? down our sleeves without giving us full signals or that restrictive feeling, and are definitely foods we want to stay away from. Salad (for me) is somewhat of a good slider. Problem is, you?re not going to get your protein from them. Best to eat a small side of it with your dense protein, and not as a meal.