Everyday Systems

I have a question for you more seasoned No-S folks. So far, I've avoided salad because it takes up too much room on my plate for not enough calories to fill me up. Sticking to one plate per meal is new to me, and challenging. It indeed accomplishes its goal of reducing portions.

Anyway, do you guys put salad on your plate? Does it fill you up enough? I LOVE salad and miss it, but it didn't work out too well for me tonight. I could use a bigger plate when I want salad on it? Tips?

Hey! I'd say, just take a bigger plate.
You love salad and No S shouldn't keep you from having it - on the contrary. No S is meant to make you enjoy your meals more!

So just take a bigger plate or add some 'extras' which will leave you satisfied. Don't know what your diet is like but think: bread, seeds, egg, tuna, chicken, mozzarella. When I am having salad for dinner, it will most likely be big, varied and most of all delicious!

Hi again, jbgnos,
That's a good question.
I do a variety of things with salad... if salad is the main meal, with protein toppings and dressing, I often serve it in a really large bowl (think like and small serving bowl from days of yore). If it is a side to something rich, I might fill half the plate with salad and the other with rich food. If I am not eating off a divided plate, I might have the salad in a side dish, and just try not to overdo the main part of the meal. I think one of the important things is having everything dished out in front of you before you get started. That way if it looks like a balanced meal in appropriate serving sizes, you will know it. Equally, if it looks like just too much food for one person's meal, you will know that too.
It would be a shame to give up healthy salads on NoS!

Some great suggestions here, and I agree you shouldn't miss out on delicious salads.

The only caveat I would add is that the idea is that No S will actually force some of these decisions - taking smaller portions of energy dense foods in order to fit those less dense foods on the plate. So, make sure you can eyeball your whole meal before you start, and don't let go of commonsense.

I have salad, but I've lost a lot of weight and don't have high calorie requirements, so I aim for salad/veg to fill half the plate, at least. I agree with the point above about the physical space taken up with the salad helping to reduce the portions of other foods. But having said that, I don't see any harm in having extra salad (lettuce, cucumber, etc.). If you have a bigger plate, then that might be an ideal solution for salad days.

I have salad as a side for dinner often, so if I have only three different foods on the table, the salad would take up about 1/3 the plate. If I have four foods, then about 1/4 of my plate.

I, too, put the salad on the plate. If it's mostly leafy greens, it's piled pretty high! I've never had trouble getting enough food on the rest of the plate to fill me up, but I didn't start No S until I was in my late 50's and I'm not very active.

If you are a big, active person who may need more dense food, it might be appropriate for you to have raw veggies on the side, but I'd say you would have to skip the dressing then. All energy-dense foods should fit on one plate, and most dressings are very energy-dense. I love them that way! However, I actually often skip dressing in favor of blending forkfuls of veggie and the more intensely-flavored foods in the meal, unless there is no other fat in the meal. I like salad with just tomato sauce on it!

When you say you don't get filled up, do you mean you actually eat the plate of food and remain hungry for hours afterward?

I eat my salad on a separate plate/bowl. I have other veggies on my main plate. I am not concerned at all that it does not fit onto one plate. On the contrary - I consider it a good habit to eat a lot of veggies.