Is it too much salad for dinner post workout?

BudhiRooh

Hey all,
I've been here on MFP for quite sometime now but still trying to figure out things. I've recently got a digital scale and I'm trying to measure stuff I put into my mouth. But I'm pretty new to it and it's a little harder job to count calories in this way.
I've a question, I make this salad with spring mix and some fruits and vegetables and I can easily eat the amount in the picture in lunch and dinner. Today when I weighed it, it was 278 grams. Is it too much? I had this plate of salad ( springmix salad, spring onion, avacado, sprouts, feta cheese crumbles, capsicum, tomato) with olive oil dressing (olive oil, lemin juice, salt and pepper). After eating this I stepped on the scale and there was an increase of a pohnd which made me sad. After a hard work out ( 30 mins weight lifting, 3 miles / 45 minutes on treadmill) i thought this size of salad was justified in dinner. Please let me know what do you think of this serving size and would eating green salad make you gain fat as well?

BudhiRooh

nutmegoreo

BudhiRooh wrote: »

Hey all,
I've been here on MFP for quite sometime now but still trying to figure out things. I've recently got a digital scale and I'm trying to measure stuff I put into my mouth. But I'm pretty new to it and it's a little harder job to count calories in this way.
I've a question, I make this salad with spring mix and some fruits and vegetables and I can easily eat the amount in the picture in lunch and dinner. Today when I weighed it, it was 278 grams. Is it too much? I had this plate of salad ( springmix salad, spring onion, avacado, sprouts, feta cheese crumbles, capsicum, tomato) with olive oil dressing (olive oil, lemin juice, salt and pepper). After eating this I stepped on the scale and there was an increase of a pohnd which made me sad. After a hard work out ( 30 mins weight lifting, 3 miles / 45 minutes on treadmill) i thought this size of salad was justified in dinner. Please let me know what do you think of this serving size and would eating green salad make you gain fat as well?

If it fits into your calorie budget, it's not too much.

Weigh yourself once a day, at the same time every day, with the same clothing (I weigh in the morning after bathroom, without clothing). Weight fluctuates throughout the day. In fact it fluctuates from one day to the next, so if the fluctuations bother you, weigh yourself once per week.

All foods eating in excess can lead to weight gain. Including excessive salads. This is why you look at your daily calorie goal. The only time to worry about individual foods is if they fit into your goals.

Alatariel75

If it weighed 278 grams before you put it in your belly, it weighed 278 grams once it was in there. Of course that shows on the scale immediately after, you may as well have been holding it in your hand.

If you drank anything with the salad, that would also show on the scale. Food and drink doesn't magically weigh less when you eat it, but neither is that 'gain' fat, or any other gain in reality. Stop weighing yourself at different times, you will drive yourself nuts.

nutmegoreo

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RebelDiamond

Silly question: are you weighing the food individually or as a whole?
It's not the weight of the whole salad that is important; it's the calorie count of each item (which you get by weighing them individually, lettuce, cheese, tomato, chicken) and how it adds up over the day that matters.

I also suggest weighing once a week, same day, same time.

lemmie177

It's hard to say if it's too much since you don't know how many calories it is.

You shouldn't worry about small fluctuations in weight after eating. Not only will you be weighing the food/drink in your stomach, but it'll also affect water retention. I could easily drink 16 oz of water and gain a lb.

Normally, I don't worry about eating big salads, and I eat huge ones. However, the avocado, feta cheese, and olive oil are very calorie dense and can easily create a high-calorie meal. As long as you're eating more calories than you're burning, you can gain weight. So yes, eating salads can make you fat.

I'd suggest weighing everything, but those three in particular to get a better idea of how many calories is in your salad.

mellowadam

That looks like a side salad to me. I eat my salads out of a mixing bowl. Assuming you didn't go totally crazy with the olive oil that looks like a pretty healthy and delicious dinner.

Now I'm hungry...

RodaRose

Weigh and log each item individually.
For example, the cheese has more calories than the tomatoes
How many calories is in the salad?

snickerscharlie

Alatariel75 wrote: »

If it weighed 278 grams before you put it in your belly, it weighed 278 grams once it was in there. Of course that shows on the scale immediately after, you may as well have been holding it in your hand.

If you drank anything with the salad, that would also show on the scale. Food and drink doesn't magically weigh less when you eat it, but neither is that 'gain' fat, or any other gain in reality. Stop weighing yourself at different times, you will drive yourself nuts.

So much this!

If you weigh your meal and it weighs a pound, for example, and you eat it, your weight will immediately go up by - a pound! Your body has simply become the new (and temporary) container for the pound of food you just ate.

Now whether that pound of food was a low calorie salad or something highly caloric like a pound of chocolate for example will determine - over the longer haul - whether you will gain, maintain or lose some weight based on that particular pound of food consumed.