The biggest mistake people make when eating a salad is thinking they are going to lose weight. Disagree? Well, of course there are many healthy salads, frankly I live on salads, but here is the big problem and misconception.
Dressing. Dressing. Dressing. Sigh.
Here are a couple of mistakes that truly kill me.
Mistake number 1: Eating/ordering caesar salads and thinking this is a healthy choice
Caesar dressing is LOADED with calories and heart clogging saturated fats. Some chicken caesar salads clock in at 600-1000 calories a pop. Yikes! There is not even close to enough nutritional content in the romaine lettuce to off set the damage from this dressing. Don’t even get me started on the croutons…
The fix? I say stay away from caesar salads, but if you must:
- Ask your server to hold the croutons.
- Dressing on the side
Mistake number 2: Choosing Fat Free Dressings.
Here is the problem. We need fat in our salads. Many of the vegetables like carrots, with beta-carotene (vitamin A) are considered fat soluble. What does this mean? Put simply: In order for our bodies to retain the necessary vitamins from the vegetables that we eat, we must have some fat. All you need is a tiny bit. You could swap out your fat-free italian dressing for light. Or use your fat-free and add a bit of heart healthy avocado slices. Stop being afraid of these healthy fats. Seriously… your heart, blood pressure and skin will love you for it.
Best choice?
- Clear dressings. Anything you can see through. No Ranch (bleck), 1000 Island (bleck), or Blue Cheese (can you say heart attack??)
- Oil and Vinegar (Don’t under-estimate these flavors!)
Not ready to give up your favorite dressing?
Use less of that ranch and add some squeezed lemon or salsa to your salad. Try that for a few months and slowly increase the amount as you get use to the flavors.
Your heart and waistline will thank you for it.
Oh and stay away from that Caesar Salad!
