To eat nothing but salad for a month?

[WoundTheBobbinUp]

Ok slight exaggeration - salad for lunch and dinner, and porridge for breakfast. One spoon of 50% reduced fat cheese on the salad and a couple of sprays of light dressing. Drinking only water.

I've been trying to lose weight for months now and I'm just not getting anywhere. I've tried various things. For the last six weeks I've used an app to make sure I'm not exceeding 1200 cals, or my sugar / fat / carb limits. I cannot understand why I'm not losing anything.

I absolutely love salad, so I'm thinking of trying the above for the month of August to see what happens. The same food every day would not bother me at all (I've got Asperger's to give you an idea of why that may be!)
Will I be ill? How much weight would you expect to lose on that diet?

You could try The Fast 800 way of eating. I’ve done 12 weeks of that and now 4 weeks of 4 days of 800 and 3 days of around 1450 calories. In 16 weeks I’ve lost just over 3 stone. I’ve found eating the right foods has stopped me being hungry.
Whatever method you choose, good luck 🤞

Protein, fat and carbs? Minerals? I’d add maybe a hard boiled egg and a slice of bread and butter maybe?? I think I’d faint on what you suggest.

Are you sure you’re including absolutely everything when you log on your app? Even cooking oil, weighing out spreads, butter, dressings, milk, sugar in tea and coffee etc? Depending on your height and activity levels I’d expect you to have lost a little on 1200 cals.

porridge and salads are healthy, obviously, but won’t be giving you enough protein. Better to plan out healthy meals that make sure you’re eating a variety of seeds, nuts, healthy fats like avocado.

You need a lot more protein.

1200 is too low
increase it to 1500 anyway 1 gram of protein for every pound you weight

3 litres of water

8 hours sleep

your salad sounds very sad. as well as the spoonful of low fat cheese and the spray of light dressing are we just talking leaves here?

You could do it if you mixed the salads up so
Range of different veg/fruit
Mix of proteins - chicken, prawns, feta etc
Different dressings

This has really good salad ideas
https://instagram.com/thesaladlabofficial?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It depends how much porridge really.

And whether you put dressing on salad.

Dp frequently thinks she's eating a low calorie meal but it is 50% mayonnaise, although it sounds like you've thought about that kind of thing.

The fast 800 people recommend a 1000 calorie a day minimum if you're not eating meat.

Have you had your thyroid checked?
Could you be in peri menopause (this is why I find it hard to lose weight).

Salad is fine but vary the veg. Add seeds, nuts, a bit of cheese.

Make sure you hit 1000 calories a day. You can always exercise to burn extra calories.

Worth checking your thyroid function if you are not losing weight on 1200 calories.
The other thing to look at is your activity level. If you are totally sedentary, your body may be able to maintain weight on that intake by lowering metabolic rate and conserving calories, in “fasting mode”.

I'd rather just cut out breakfast tbh

To be honest this time of year I do similar naturally. I struggle to eat hot food when I'm too warm.

Agreed you do need to up your protein though. Not sure how many people you are cooking for but if it's just you it's easy enough to do a batch of chicken drumsticks, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, salmon etc to then fridge and have a portion with each salad.

Watch your vitamin levels too, you would think with a ton of salad you would be ok but there's certain things you can only get from meat and dairy.

I think you'd struggle to get enough nutrients. It sounds like you're planning on eating quite a basic salad with hardly any protein, in which case you'll probably be very tired and low in energy this month!

When it comes to diets, it's best to find something that's sustainable in the long-term. Sure, you'll lose weight quickly eating nothing but porridge and lettuce for a month, but you'll put the weight back on when you start eating more again.

Have you been doing much exercise during your attempt to lose weight, or have you been focusing solely on calorie intake?

I second the Fast 800 recommendation. It's great. I'm hardly ever hungry and have lost almost 6 stone.

I think you run the risk of boredom with the exact same dishes day in day out. Is there a reason you can't mix the salads up a bit. Have different proteins? You would be able to work within similar calorie ranges but just have more variety.
Could you exchange salad for cooked veg at all?

I think you might be better off with porridge, salad, porridge. Better though would be porridge, salad and then something like fish/chicken with veg for tea. You’ll be going to bed really hungry otherwise. I don’t think it’s sustainable for a whole month.

Have you looked at the keto diet? Worked really well for my mother

Nothing wrong with lots of salads - just make sure there's a mix of ingredients and nutrients. (Some people seem to think that "salad" = lettuce, cucumber and tomato - people of my parents' generation mostly lol).

I'd love to live on salads if they were like the ones that get described on the 'tell me your favourite salad' threads - some properly tasty and nutritious sounding stuff with loads of variety. I bet they're not that low in calories though!

Echoing pps that you need more protein and also variety for different micronutrients etc.

Nope- nothing wrong with that.

but I’d eat eggs instead of porridge, or Greek yogurt

and make sure I had a good protein source with my salad (salmon fillet, steak, chicken breast)

leafy veg, good fats and protein is absolutely fine to based your diet on. The British diet is too reliant on refined carbohydrates and although most people are fine- it’s no good if you have insulin resistance or hormonal imbalances, which a lot of overweight people do!

I lived in a place where I couldn't cook for a month just stocked up cold salads in the fridge. Feta cheese or edamame beans in salads for protein. I added yogurt and fruit for snacks additionally. Could that be an option for you?

When I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic I went on a high protein, low bad fats but more good fats, low carb, high fibre diet. Lost over 3 stone within 8 months without feeling hungry at all and my blood sugars are back in the normal range. Once I reached a normal weight and blood sugar I increased my carbs from 30g a day to 50g a day and without changing my blood sugar my weight has stabilised at what it should be for my height. I have gone from a size 18 to a size 8 bottom 12 top in a just under a year so I am a big advocate for low carb high protein as for me it has literal been a life saver.

When you say salad what do you mean in it?

I eat salads every day but not boring leaves, I do a big range

My only advice for anyone looking to lose weight is protein protein protein. It keeps you full for so long and I don't really crave unhealthy snacks in between.

Hi, if you are eating in a defecit and still struggling to lose I’d suggest a trip to the GP for a thyroid check.

I have an under active thyroid, when the levels are out I’d struggle to lose weight. Now my levels have stabilised (and in combination with starting meds for other conditions) I’ve been able to lose 2.5 stone (another 2 to go) eating 1500-1800 cals a day with minimal exercise. I’m only 5’3 and now weigh 10st7lbs.

I got into a salad of : tomatoes, basil, blueberries, strawberries, avocado (50-80g - less cals than you’d think) and olive oil.s+p on the tomatoes and avo. Weird combo but v nice (even nicer when abroad 🤣). A small bread roll on the side. Butter beans for me for protein (veg) but this is interchangeable. I found this kept me full but also felt better.

I don’t bother with any low carb etc, so no opinion on it but would suggest thyroid check prior to starting any thing like that.

Good luck x

It doesn't sound in anyway sustainable or sensible. Eating like this just results in stress, shame and a binge/fast cycle, and subsequently more weight gain. I would really recommend following people like rebelfit on Facebook or Lisa Schlosberg on Instagram (her out of the cave podcast is FANTASTIC), and work on your relationship with your body and food, if you want to lose weight long term.