I tried this volume-eating-style salad every day for a week and it kept me full all afternoon and kicked my snacking habit

I always struggle with what to eat for lunch during the week and often feel too pressed for time to make something healthy. But if I can meal prep on a Sunday night, my weekday lunches work like a dream.

So when I came across women’s fat loss coach Madelaine Rascan’s trending low-calorie lunch on Instagram—a salad built around greens, lean protein, fiber-rich carbs and healthy fats—I decided to give it a try for my lunch, even though Rascan usually eats this low-calorie meal for dinner.

To stop it from becoming samey, she chooses from a mix of greens, then adds a lean protein such as cooked ground turkey or chicken cooked with garlic and onion powder, a fiber such as sweet potato, beets, cauliflower or broccoli, and a fat like avocado, feta, boiled eggs or Parmesan cheese. She makes a quick, protein-rich dressing from 0% fat Greek yogurt or nonfat cottage cheese mixed with a low-calorie hot sauce such as Sriracha.

I prepped the ingredients on Sunday evening and ate the salad bowl for lunch and will carry on doing so. It’s not particularly pretty on the plate, but this hearty dish was so filling and tasty that I had it every day for a week. By Friday, I’d noticed something unexpected—I’d stopped snacking. Here’s what else I discovered.

It got rid of the decision fatigue about what to eat

Working as a freelancer and being a single mom means that it’s down to me to make the majority of decisions every day and it can feel utterly exhausting at times! So to take one element out of the equation—what to eat for lunch—felt liberating.

Knowing there was something prepared in the fridge, and all I had to do was put it together in a bowl took the stress out of thinking about food, and then having to cook something when you feel short on time, or just unmotivated.

Volume eating kept me fuller for longer

It’s not that surprising, but when you eat enough of the right foods, you will feel fuller for longer. This low-calorie salad has a great balance of lean proteins, fiber and fats and even a high-protein dressing, which helps to keep mid-afternoon hunger pangs and cravings at bay.

And don’t be fooled by the size of this dish— as Rascan says, bigger portions don’t necessarily mean you’ll be eating more calories if you’re choosing less energy-dense foods.

Her salad bowl follows the volume-eating diet strategy, which prioritises foods that are relatively low in calories, such as vegetables and lean proteins. This can help to increase fullness while keeping the calorie intake moderate. I definitely felt fuller after eating this for lunch all week.

It helped me get into a routine of meal prep

I know that when I make the time to meal prep on a Sunday night, the following week goes more smoothly. I eat better, I don’t have to keep making trips to the grocery store, and there’s less food wasted.

The great thing about this recipe is that because you can mix-and-match base ingredients and dressings, I never get bored of tasting the same flavor five days in a row. I got myself organized and had a few different containers of ingredients in the fridge ready to use, including beets, roasted sweet potatoes and feta.

This made lunchtime so much quicker as it was simply a job of putting it all in a bowl then mixing the dressing in. I feel like this had a knock-on effect with my other meals, as I started to look at other ways I could meal prep elements to save time over the week.