Sayonara, Salads
The title of this post is a bit ironic because while writing this I was eating a salad (the Cobb from Ward 8 – HIGHLY recommend). But today I’d like to talk about salads, and how I am eating less of them, and why I am psyched about that.
I realize that that’s pretty strange. Most people spend their days saying they should eat more salads. But having at least one salad per day has been a “rule” I’ve had for myself for a long time now, even after making huge progress in my recovery from an eating disorder. Ever since graduating from college in 2011 and starting full-time work, I have packed a salad for lunch almost every single day. I have often told people who asked that I do it to save money, but truthfully it has always been easier to allow myself to have wine or carbs in the evening if I am able to tell myself I had a carb-less, green lunch. Salads have been my security blanket. I have choked down raw spinach – lunches I’ve hated – more times than I can count. I have refrained from wrapping up dinner at restaurants and taking it home, because I didn’t want to be tempted to pack it for lunch the next day instead of a salad. I have turned down free lunch at work (in fact, I did this every Friday for 2.5 years at my first job in Connecticut) in favor of a salad I had no desire to eat.
Frankly, I have just gotten SO SICK of salads.
So about a month ago at the store, I did something I hadn’t in a long time – I approached the deli counter. I bought turkey, and Muenster cheese, and wraps. And I started making myself turkey wraps to bring to work. And I LOVE it. It has been so nice to actually look forward to what I packed for lunch. It’s wonderful to eat my food and move on and not sit at my desk dreaming of what else I could eat or have obsessive thoughts about what I will have for dinner since I “earned” it with my salad. By making my lunch less of a big deal, food is less of a big deal, and I feel more free.
Free to order pasta out at restaurants, something I couldn’t do last year.
Obviously I’m still going to want a salad every now and then, especially since many delicious salads exist, like the aforementioned Ward 8 Cobb or the taco salad I made for Jeff and I a couple of months ago.
