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Dear
World’s Fittest Man,
I’m
trying to knock off a few pounds this summer and salads seem to be the
way to go. They are refreshing and light and there are so many vegetables
in season, everything tastes so good. Even though I’m eating salads
almost everyday, the pounds still aren’t coming off. Am I doing
something wrong? What makes a salad healthy, maybe I’m using the
wrong ingredients? I’ve heard that some salads can actually be
fattening, is that true?
Skinny
on Salad
Dear Skinny
on Salad,
There’s
a big misconception about salads. So many people think that all salads
are created equal and that a salad is the best way to shed a few pounds.
Unfortunately, as you’ve found out for yourself, all salads are
not the same. In fact some can be downright unhealthy.
In fact,
the newest trend in fast-food restaurants are salads. But before you trade
in the burger and fries for fresh greens you have to look closely at the
actual ingredients. For instance, at McDonald’s, the California
Cobb Salad with Crispy Chicken and Ranch Dressing has around 670 calories
and 53 grams of fat. Almost as much as a Big Mac and fries. If you’re
trying to lose weight and stick to 1400 calories a day, that salad has
almost half your day’s calories.
However,
salads can be healthy, you just have to make some smart choices. At McDonald’s,
choose a salad with grilled chicken, not crispy (that means fried). And
get a low-fat dressing and just drizzle it on the top. The Grilled Chicken
Bacon Ranch Salad with no dressing has only 270 calories and 13 grams
of fat. Now that’s healthy!
Here are
some other tips that nutritionist Heather Greenbaum of Nu-train in New
York City recommends to help create a healthy salad:
- Lettuce
is usually the foundation of any salad. Here, you want to make sure
you choose darker greens like spinach and romaine rather than iceberg
lettuce. Darker greens have more nutritional value than iceberg lettuce
so you get more nutritional bang for your buck.
- Watch
out for the “Chunchy Munchies.” Croutons, nuts, sunflower
seeds all add a lot of extra calories to your salad. Surprisingly, croutons
can have tons of “hidden” fat. If you want to add a crunch
to your salad, crumble up a pack of saltine crackers. Two crackers are
only 25 calories. Or crumble up one small sesame stick, that’s
only 25 calories too.
- Choose
one lean dressing-free protein. Some salads really pile on eggs, chicken,
and ham. One of these proteins is fine, and whatever you choose make
sure it’s dressing free. For instance, tuna should be water-packed.
3 ounces of a lean protein is 100 calories.
- Choose
3 undressed colorful, non-starch vegetables. Greenbaum says some examples
of this are carrots, red peppers and broccoli. She also says that the
deeper the color the higher the nutrients.
- Dressing
can be a danger zone. Whatever dressing you use, measure it out with
a tablespoon. If it’s regular dressing use 1 tablespoon. If it’s
fat-free or low-fat you can splurge with 2 tablespoons.
For more
healthy nutrition tips, check out Heather Greenbaum’s website www.nu-train.com.
© Joe Decker 2003
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