Ostomy Memories of Salads

LONE WATIE, THE INDIAN PLAYED BY Chief Dan George in the great western “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” had an unforgettable line: “Endeavor to persevere.” In other words, keep trying. Be persistent. Keep on keeping on. That’s exactly what I’m presently doing by trying, with the limited amount of enthusiasm that I’m able to muster, to like salad. It’s supposed to be healthy, and I can’t say that I dislike it. But I’m a classic meat & potatoes man. I like food with substance. Salad seems, well, insubstantial. You got some lettuce, some tomato, some cucumber, maybe some olives, broccoli, bits of egg, onion, you pour some lite dressing on it, and… meh. “A cucumber,” opined Samuel Johnson, “should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.” I’ll even admit that, to the down-but-not-out male ego that still lives within my soul, eating salad seems somehow, I don’t know… feminine. But, keeping with my rather halfhearted New Year decision to drop some pounds, I am endeavoring to persevere. I go heavy on the green olives. If I’m lucky, I have some scallion in the fridge. If we’ve got ‘em, I’ll even drop in a few slices of beet. But how a mere salad is supposed to satisfy anyone is beyond me. As kids, we referred to it as “rabbit food” and wouldn’t go near it. Losing weight is supposed to make one healthier and happier and want to live longer, but I’m wondering if living longer without blueberry pie, ice cream, and chocolate is worth it.

Hello HenryM.
I can certainly empathise with you regarding the eating of foodstuff that you are not entirely enthused about.
However, I would happily eat salads everyday if my wife was not so averse to the idea.
Preferences are often a result of complex experiences in life that colour and influence how we ‘feel’ about what we would like in future.
In my younger days, I would walk for miles & days on end, with little, other than substantial shoes/boots and suitable attire. Along the routes, I would select various things from the countryside to eat along the way and I never went hungry. The thought of killing things was never something I would ever have contemplated, as the other creatures were my ’companions’ on my long excursions.
Many of those things collected for food were suitable for modern-day salads and thus, would bring back pleasant memories of those bygone experiences.
When river-walking I would love to pick the fresh green ends off the watercress and often thought I could probably live on these indefinitely. That is, if I could get to them before the swans, who would spend hours at the edges of the watercress beds enjoying the same meal as me.
On the other side of the equation, I don’t much like potatoes and have long-since been a vegetarian, so the sorts of meals that you refer to are rarely ever on my preferred menu.
Interestingly, what often passes as a ‘cooked’ meal , if it was minus the meat , would probably constitute a ‘salad’ if it was not cooked. I understand that the Germanic race prefers their meals this way and they don’t seem to have come amiss.
I am a firm believer in eating whatever you enjoy eating. Hence, if I wanted to lose weight, I would not change my diet, but simply eat less of it.
Best wishes

How about a Caesar salad, a Greek one or a Tabbouleh or Shirazi, even committed carnivores like them. You can add all sorts of things to a salad. Feta cheese, bacon, chicken, turkey or if you want to splurge you can include caviar and grated truffle. The potato salad and a pastrami sandwich followed by a cheesecake in a Jewish delicatessen in New York city is to die for. The latter surely the best in the world. I have probably had the last ones. That international pandemic that buggers the lungs has made international travel difficult.

Oh, I could eat potato salad and a corned beef/pastrami sandwich seven days per week and think I was in heaven.  Few things have the wondrous aroma of a Jewish deli. 

Hi Henry,  I have learned over the years that depriving yourself of the things you enjoy does not work, when it comes to losing weight.  Even if you succeed temporarily, your body (and mind) will make up for it by overindulging after your weight loss goal is achieved, and the weight will come right back.  I agree with Bill, eat the things you enjoy, just limit the serving size.  It will be difficult initially, but after a week or so, your stomach will shrink, and then it's easy peasy.

Salads are wonderful things, and can be complete meals by themselves, as long as you add your protein component.  For get the "lite" crap though.  The simple truth is that fat tastes good and there is no need to avoid it as long as it's good fat.  So, be generous with that olive oil and add lots of other things you like.  Caesar salads with lots of parmesan, bacon bits if you are a carnivore, anchovies and lots of garlic, crunchy croutons.  Greek salads with feta.  On the other hand, just because it's called a salad, doesn't mean it's diet material. Some salads will put on the weight just as fast as the blueberry pie, ice cream and chocolate.  Portion size is key!  

Terry

old george, who used to live next door, never ate greens, his whole life. played football into his 50s, was a dj in his 70s, always smoked, but cut down to 6 a day in his 90s. died 94.was a keen gardener, grew the best veg in the village. never ate a leaf.......