a question about salads from a new bandster

I have no problems at all with salad.  The only thing that's hard for me to eat is meat.  And I've found that if I eat salad with my meat, and chew it together, it helps the meat go down much easier.  Chef salads or grilled chicken salads are my best meals.

Hi Deb - as long as I chew well and eat slow (like with anything else), I don't have problems with salad.

I don't have any problem with salads, though when make them myself I always peel & de-seed the cucumber as my nutritionist said the seeds and skins of many vegs can cause problems.  I use Wishbone Salad Spritzers instead of regular salad dressing. Jean

When I was too tight I had a hard time with salads.  One thing that Sandy often says is that in general lettuce isnt very good nutrition.  not much bang for the buck.  Although they squash down to very little volume once they are chewed well,  nutritionally you may be better off with lean protiens and  other vegies that are more nutritionally rich. 

Some people eat salad and it's there choice.  Most salad greens have empty calories and we have to get better quality foods in our diets because we are eating so much less.  The only way I eat a salad is to eat spinach salad w/veggies as a side.  First eat protein, then veggies.  Diane

I find myself ordering salads but never really eating the lettuce.  I LOVE to order a Chef's salad, or a Steak salad, or a Shrimp salad..........but I always make myself eat the protein first (the meat, the cheese, the eggs, etc)......and by then, I'm too full for the lettuce. I'm tracking every calorie and every nutrient, and the lettuce just doesn't add up.  Spinach maybe, but certainly not iceberg lettuce.  Once you're banded, every calorie counts......you'll learn that it might not be worth it for you. Good luck!

I am a salad lover too.  I had some problems with lettuce when I was first banded but kept trying and now I have no problem.  I like to chop everyting up kind of small.  I think that raw veggies are an important part of daily nutrition and I eat salad often.  Shredded lettuce works well.  I was surprised that I could eat raw veggies as well as I can.  As long as I eat small pieces and chew well. I don't have a problem.  You will find that your cans and can nots will be individual to you and will change with levels of restriciton and time. Good Luck

I was banded on 10/24, and I have had one fill.  I have been eating a salad every night for dinner with my protein.  Sometimes I just eat a salad.  I have had no issues, and I am like you LOVE MY SALADS.  So, I hope with this next fill on 1/8 and future fills I will be able to eat them.  Some say eating the spinach leaves goes down better.  I am sure I will be trying it out!   Good luck!!

LOVE my salads... i just use a steak knife and fork to cut it up into smitherines... and can do it quickly now... (my daughter calls me Edward Scissorhands now when I cut up my salads)

Funny, I loved salads before the surgery, and while I have no problem with them now, I'm not really interested in them.  When you get to the point where you only can have about a cup of food, after you eat your protein, there's not a lot of room for a salad.  I realized that the reason I loved salad so much was because of the volume.  When you want to eat 3 to 4 cups of something, salad allowed you to do so.