I hereby give myself permission to stop eating salad. I will not feel anymore guilt. I will not stare at a salad with sad eyes until I give myself a panic attack and go get a cheeseburger. I don't eat salads. There is no reason I have to. Salad is not a required food group.

I have agonized over salad for years. I try to make myself eat them often. They always leave me miserable. It feels like punishment. When I'm not eating salad and just eating healthy otherwise I feel a huge amount of guilt over not getting in enough veggies, or enough raw veggies because everyone knows you are supposed to eat them. I try adding cheese, meat, fruit, dressings, dips, anything to make them more appealing to me but I just can't get over it. I have blown countless attempts at getting healthy over a stare down with a salad which ends in me going completely off plan just so I don't have to think about salad anymore. I know .... I have issues.

So I've made the decision to stop trying with salad, guilt free. I can do this because I recently discovered a couple of alternative ways for me to eat raw veggies which I actually look forward to. I can't believe its taken me 20 years to figure out there are other ways to do this. I can't even express how much better I feel to be past my salad problem.

Here's how I've been getting in my raw veggies. Sorry, can't post links yet =(

Green Monster - Got the idea from the "Oh She Glows" blog. - can be found on google

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (You could use some other kind of milk here)
3-4 cups raw spinach, spring mix, or other raw greens.
1 frozen ripe banana (If your banana isn't frozen just add ice)
Blend until smooth

This tastes like a banana smoothie. My 14 year old step son even likes them. I don't notice the greens except for the color. After the basic recipe I can add protein powder, other fruit, other veggies (carrots, cucumber, squash, sweet potato) , almond or peanut butter, flax oil, or other mix ins. I have been eating 2 of these a day for a few weeks now. They give me such an energy kick. I'm going to try with half a banana next because I've been craving them in the afternoon and want to take an extra to put in the work fridge to have with my afternoon snack.

Veggie Cereal - From the "My Charming Kids" blog - can be found on google
"3 T raw pecans
3 peeled baby carrots
1/2 cup cauliflower
1/2 cup broccoli
1 large peeled, cored apple

Chop the pecans and carrots in a food processor. Pulse until all they are chopped into small pieces. Add the cauliflower, broccoli and apple and pulse again until all ingredients are about the size of couscous.Scoop a generous serving in a cereal bowl, add cinnamon and almond milk."

I've only just found this and had it a couple of times but its a keeper. I make it with Unsweetened vanilla almond breeze and add a little sweetener. The apple/vanilla/cinnamon flavors overpower the the veggies to where this is almost a dessert. So far I've had it as a night time snack. I am going to experiment with this one and see if other veggies work.

I also eat raw veggies as part of sandwich stuffings and some kinds of cooked veggies with dinner. My new outlook is to think about preparations I know I like, and look for ways to add different vegetables to it so that I'm getting enough bulk and variety.

If you have other alternative raw veggie recipes, I would love to hear them!

I've been wanting to try a green juice (although I'm wanting to do one that's not sweet), but I never would have thought of that "cereal" tasting good in a million years.

My "salads" rarely have lettuce in them anyways. I love to cut up cucumber, tomato, and onion and eat it like that. Or I'll just cut up cauliflower and broccoli and put some FF Ranch on it and chow down.

But hey as long as your are getting your veggies you are fine- specially if you liked cooked veggies!

I guess I can't relate because i love salads. lol

I love salads but I also love green smoothies.

I always feel like I'm getting "robbed" of food if I eat a salad for a meal. I'm a bit weirded out by spinach smoothies though... but hey, whatever works! I prefer just to much on veggies when I can. I'm more of a fruit person.

I don`t believe in diets which contain things you don`t enjoy. There is other was of getting the goodness of salad, and, besides, the dressings can be fattier than a pasta sauce or fillet of fish!

I don't think salad is necessary for anyone to lose weight but I love salads. As far as salad dressings go, I don't really use them. I use salsa a lot but also things like Galeos and then there is one called TonTon (I think). All of those are 10 calories per tbsp.

I love a salad as part of a meal and sometimes the meal itself.

salad isn't necessary, but i'm a strong believer that lightly cooked and raw veggies should be a big part of ones diet.
those raw veggie ideas sound swell, esp the cereal. that's quite different

i'm wondering though if you just made your salads too boring? i love a good salad with nuts, cheeses, chicken, eggs, dried cranberries or avocado. if the salad is going to be a meal, i think it should contain something more than just greens.
Also a good dressing can make all the difference.

I do like salads, but you're right, sometimes I just crave something else...

Really cool ideas for new ways to get veggies. I'd thought I'd seen a lot of recipes but those were completely new to me. Thanks for posting them!

Great ideas! Thanks.

I could easily eat salads 3x a day. But they don't consist of ice berg lettuce and tomatoes. There are SO many varieties of salads out there.

Just yesterday I cut up a peach and threw it in there with baby spinach, European greens, red onion, grape tomatoes, orange peppers, cucumbers, a sprinkle of chopped walnuts, and a splash or 2 of balsamic vinegar - MAJOR yumm!

Today I am making another great salad. Thinly sliced mango & cucumbers (both the long way, in strips), thinly sliced red onions and thinly sliced orange peppers, dressed with lime juice, cilantro and some black pepper, served on a bed of baby spinach and topped with a few chopped pecans. NOTHING boring there.

I make a WONDERFUL red cabbage salad with red wine vinegar, shredded carrots, scallions, craisins, mandarin oranges and slivered almonds.

Then there's hearts of palm, grape tomatoes, red onions, avocado, garlic and lemon.

And roasted grape tomatoes and chopped garlic salad. Out of this world.

Chickpeas & other beans go great in salads. As do strawberries.

Tuna, grilled chicken, turkey breast, salmon - all great accompaniments.

I make a salad with pears and raspberries - super yummy.

Oh, I make TONS of delicious salads. Saying you don't like salads is SUCH a blanket statement. The possibilities are endless. Be creative!

This thread just gave me some good ideas. I think I'm going to try making my own vegetable and fruit salads...

Instead of eating salad, try making soup instead. Sometimes I take low sodium, fat free chicken broth and add fresh carrots, green beans, broccoli, onions, any non-carb vegetables (no potatoes, noodles). I may put a very small amount of brown rice. Cook until the vet ables are done, but still a little firm.

That's interesting. I have to admit I was sceptical when I read the Subject of this thread, but it looks like you are getting raw veggies in a different form, so that's good.
Personally, I have a big salad each day. I am more like Robin, I throw all sorts of things together, veggies together with fruit and I usually add some dried cranberries (yeah, carbs, I know, but I love the little kicks of sweetness). I also add sunflower seeds and flax seed. Not so much cheese lately. I love dressings like raspberry or mango vinaigrette - they are pricey but so worth it.
I think I will make a smoothie following your recipe - I have lots of spinach at home that I am sure I won't be able to use up before it wilts, and there is a banana kicking around in the kitchen. I have to get the almond milk - I don't know if it's available here, I never heard of it. But I like soy milk, too.