Are Salads Adding to Your Weight Gain?

Salads are seen as a simple healthy solution when attempting to lose weight. With lettuce and other assorted vegetables they appear to be a nutritious low calorie alternative to other meal choices. Eating at restaurants is simple as you can skip the entrees and concentrate on a single page and order the most appetizing one on the menu.

But looks can be deceiving. Your "low calorie" meal can equal or exceed the calories of the entrees. A taco salad may have more than 1,300 calories; a Cobb salad over 1,500 calories; and you can find dozens of salads with over 1,000 calories. If you're keeping track, you may have met your daily caloric needs at one sitting.

Just because they may contain a lot of calories doesn't mean you should avoid salads. They are still an excellent choice for health conscious eaters. However, before ordering, be aware of which salads are nutritious meals and which ones are calorie bombs. Below are three hints for eating salads that are healthier and contain fewer calories.

Watch the Additions.

Bacon strips and other processed meats may enhance the taste but they add calories and saturated fat. If you are looking for meat as part of your meal for extra protein, ask for lean beef, chicken or fish and make sure it's not breaded.

Order without croutons or other breads. Croutons are calorie throwaways that add no nutritional value but will leave you feeling extra full.

Finally, leave the cheese. An ounce of some cheeses exceeds one hundred calories.

Be Wary of Creamy Dressings.

Even if you manage to avoid processed meats, croutons, and cheese, your choice of dressings will affect your salad calories. Thousand Island, Ranch, French, Caesar, Honey Mustard and many Italian dressings can top 300 calories in just two ounces. Most dressings are made with oils or mayonnaise which are heavy in saturated fat and energy dense. Some dressings, such as balsamic vinegar, contain a lot of sugar.

Ask for low fat or fat free versions of their dressings or order olive oil and vinegar dressings on the side. The olive oil is still high in fat but contains healthy monounsaturated fat and very little saturated fat.

Size Matters.

Restaurants appear to measure quality in terms of pounds served. If one size would fill an average person then three times that appears in front of you.

If available, ask for the half order or for the lunch size. If smaller portions are not available or if the smaller portion is still large, ask for a takeout container with the meal or share it with a friend.

Eat Healthy Salads

Eating salads can be a healthy choice for your meal. Eat the vegetables, beans, fruits and other healthy nutrients and know your meal will benefit and not hinder you quest to become or stay fit. Just be aware of added foods, creamy dressings and the salad size.

Gregg Ghelfi is founder and contributor to http://fitinthemiddle.com. Fit in the Middle is dedicated to providing information and resources on nutrition, fitness and weight loss. We invite you to read our blog at http://fitinthemiddle.com/blog/ and comment on the various articles. We also welcome you to submit guest blogs to info@fitinthemiddle.com.