Why Salads are not as Healthy as we Thought

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  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    I remember the sad day I found my favorite spinach salad recipe was nearly 800 calories. I was always thinking it was around 400.
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
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    Someone posted they use salsa on any salad,because they like it better than salad dressings. I prefer rice vinegar,lots of seasoning,small amout of oil .Heavy on the veggies & it's good to go.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    See, my Greek salads come out to 160 calories. I add Romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta, grilled chicken and use a 45 calorie Red Wine Vinaigrette (use 2TBSP, weighed out). I just don't use HUGE amounts of each. Enough to fill me up. I think you are doing it wrong, bro! LOL It's all about appropriate serving sizes.

    I'm trying to work this out. How much feta and chicken do you put in this?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Salads ARE healthy. Mine come in around 300 calories. I use dressing very sparingly. I eat lots of yummy vegetables in mine. And a little feta or blue cheese.
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
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    I probably have salads as a meals 6x per week. They range from 150 calories to 400. They're delicious, filling, and nutritionally dense. If your idea of a salad requires that it be 800 calories, then I think there's a problem with your perception; not with salads...
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    emily889 wrote: »
    urloved33 wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    urloved33 wrote: »
    ;)
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    lcooper327 wrote: »
    Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.

    What? the right way?

    and the heated debate begins

    Maybe every time you question something you turn it into a heated debate

    Sweetie...I did not question anything. As usual you got it all wrong BUT posted snotty comments anyway! ugh

    ...He debates EVERYTHING. So don't worry haha

    You should of heard the debates I was having last night.
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    patceoh wrote: »
    Someone posted they use salsa on any salad,because they like it better than salad dressings. I prefer rice vinegar,lots of seasoning,small amout of oil .Heavy on the veggies & it's good to go.

    Yep. Alternate, low cal dressings include:

    Balsamic Vinegar
    Rice Vinegar
    Red Wine Vinegar
    Squeeze of fresh Lime, Lemon, or Grapefruit

    Honestly, I find that about 1/4 cup of certain veggies (like thawed frozen corn) is sweet enough to replace my need for dressing.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    edited March 2015
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    You're making out that calories are unhealthy. 800 calories in a meal would make me think I need to find something else to eat after the salad. Calories are neither healthy nor unhealthy. It entirely depends on your specific goals. I'm trying to eat 3000 calories a day. But even if I were only aiming for 1200 a day, 800 calories in the form of salad leaves and chicken breast is still healthy. And 500 calories in the form of a bag of crisps is not healthy even if it contains fewer calories.
  • melanieliving
    melanieliving Posts: 69 Member
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    jlahorn wrote: »
    I probably have salads as a meals 6x per week. They range from 150 calories to 400. They're delicious, filling, and nutritionally dense. If your idea of a salad requires that it be 800 calories, then I think there's a problem with your perception; not with salads...

    Yikes! 150 calories is a snack, not a meal! I hope you're one of those eat 8 meals a day types!
  • emily889
    emily889 Posts: 296 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Nope....just nope
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    800 calories is half my daily calorie allowance, if I don't exercise. But on days I exercise, I have no issue with pushing my calorie allowance to over 2000, so 800 calories isn't that big a deal for one meal out of the day. When eating at maintenance, I could easily have 800 calories for three meals a day.
  • benjaminhk
    benjaminhk Posts: 353 Member
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    Great clickbait thread title.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I agree that logging in MFP can be very eye opening. My taco salads easily added up to a ton more caloreis than I expected. Lots of lettuce, chicken, corn, black beans, guacamole, salsa and ranch dressing (low fat, so it was fine to use a ton).

    I've now cut it back to something more reasonable and really thought about what I like in the salad (and what I can live without). It still has 100g of chicken, lettuce, mushroom/bell pepper/onion blend that's been cooked in spices, cheese, guacamole, and salsa as dressing. It works out to still be 500 calories (I think), but I love every bite, and I can easily fit that into my daily goal for lunch or dinner.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    PeachyPlum wrote: »
    patceoh wrote: »
    Someone posted they use salsa on any salad,because they like it better than salad dressings. I prefer rice vinegar,lots of seasoning,small amout of oil .Heavy on the veggies & it's good to go.

    Yep. Alternate, low cal dressings include:

    Balsamic Vinegar
    Rice Vinegar
    Red Wine Vinegar
    Squeeze of fresh Lime, Lemon, or Grapefruit

    Honestly, I find that about 1/4 cup of certain veggies (like thawed frozen corn) is sweet enough to replace my need for dressing.

    Yeah, I like to add lactofermented veggies or banana peppers to my salads, their tartness is enough to serve as dressing sometimes!
  • canary_girl
    canary_girl Posts: 366 Member
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    patceoh wrote: »
    Someone posted they use salsa on any salad,because they like it better than salad dressings. I prefer rice vinegar,lots of seasoning,small amout of oil .Heavy on the veggies & it's good to go.

    Yum salad! I use salsa instead of dressing if I'm lazy, homemade pico de gallo if not. And my salads are huge! Beets, broccoli, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, cukes. With a little grilled chicken and and hard boiled egg. Yum!

    A tip for salad lovers. If you want salads for the week you can make a ton at the beginning of the week and portion them into airtight FoodSaver containers and they last all week long.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    UpEarly wrote: »
    I never would have expected Buffalo Chicken Salad to be light on calories. And I think the words 'Quesadilla Explosion' are also fair warning that big calories lie ahead. I hope no one out there ever confused those menu items with actual salads!

    Heh, so true.

    That said, I actually buy a buffalo chicken salad from time to time. It has 450 calories, 30 grams protein, 24 grams fat, 30 grams carbs, and 6 grams fiber (and 1340 g sodium, which isn't great, but you buy lunch, you take your chances there). Fits my lunch needs quite easily. (Well, I'm not eating chicken at the moment, but when I am again it will.)
  • TheBigFb
    TheBigFb Posts: 649 Member
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    If there are loads of fattening foods in your salad of course with will make you fat

    Like 1500 calories of lettuce is still 1500 claories. I hate you all
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    High calorie doesn't mean unhealthy. A salad (or a lot of other foods) can be very nutrient dense and also be very calorie dense.
    This. Lots of foods have good fats in them and fat has more calories per gram than the other 2 macros. For most, it's still going to come down to portion sizes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    jlahorn wrote: »
    I probably have salads as a meals 6x per week. They range from 150 calories to 400. They're delicious, filling, and nutritionally dense. If your idea of a salad requires that it be 800 calories, then I think there's a problem with your perception; not with salads...

    What's wrong with someone who would like an 800 calorie salad? My calorie needs are 2250/day. 800 calories sounds pretty darn appropriate in such a circumstance. It's not my perception that's a problem at all.