Tracking salads

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Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    That was for a salad, not just lettuce, I think. Here a bag is $3 or so, a bit less when on sale, but yeah, not cheap.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Put bowl on scale. Turn it on. Add lettuce. Write number down. Tare it. Add tomatoes. Write number down. Tare it.

    You get the drift.

    Some of my salads come up to 400-500 calories so yeah... no estimating here when it takes two seconds to hit a button and write down a number as I add stuff.

    Is that 400-500 calories from vegetables only? ie not from dressing, nuts, protein, etc.?

    I can't even fit 30 cal worth of green mix salad on my plate without getting it overflow!! :)


  • Cindy01Louisiana
    Cindy01Louisiana Posts: 302 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Put bowl on scale. Turn it on. Add lettuce. Write number down. Tare it. Add tomatoes. Write number down. Tare it.

    You get the drift.

    Some of my salads come up to 400-500 calories so yeah... no estimating here when it takes two seconds to hit a button and write down a number as I add stuff.

    Is that 400-500 calories from vegetables only? ie not from dressing, nuts, protein, etc.?

    I can't even fit 30 cal worth of green mix salad on my plate without getting it overflow!! :)


    For me, if I use as much as I like of my favorite Lite Honey Mustard dressing, that alone is easily 250 calories or more. Add the higher calories items like sunflower nuts, a few croutons or wonton strips, raisins, cheese, and protein, and 400-500 comes quickly. Unfortunately. I've had to learn to like salads with less dressing.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Yeah I can definitely get carried away with my salad too. :)

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  • k_nelson_24
    k_nelson_24 Posts: 251 Member
    I usually track every individual ingredient. I feel like it's more accurate that way!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Put bowl on scale. Turn it on. Add lettuce. Write number down. Tare it. Add tomatoes. Write number down. Tare it.

    You get the drift.

    Some of my salads come up to 400-500 calories so yeah... no estimating here when it takes two seconds to hit a button and write down a number as I add stuff.

    Is that 400-500 calories from vegetables only? ie not from dressing, nuts, protein, etc.?

    I can't even fit 30 cal worth of green mix salad on my plate without getting it overflow!! :)


    I eat about 170 g of greens, so 60 calories worth. I have to eat it out of a mixing bowl.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Put bowl on scale. Turn it on. Add lettuce. Write number down. Tare it. Add tomatoes. Write number down. Tare it.

    You get the drift.

    Some of my salads come up to 400-500 calories so yeah... no estimating here when it takes two seconds to hit a button and write down a number as I add stuff.

    Is that 400-500 calories from vegetables only? ie not from dressing, nuts, protein, etc.?

    I can't even fit 30 cal worth of green mix salad on my plate without getting it overflow!! :)


    Veggies, meat, cheese. I eat out of a mixing bowl, usually. Perfect size for a good portion (I always use 3 ounces of lettuce plus toppings) and enough room to mix it up after (I usually start with the dressing at the bottom, which is just vinegar and mustard for me).

    My salad at lunch was 519 calories - spring mix, chicken breast, avocado, gorgonzola, 2 hard boiled eggs. And yeah there's no way it would have fit in a plate.
  • JaimusWilliams
    JaimusWilliams Posts: 84 Member
    edited April 2016
    I weigh everything. I use to estimate. But it is easy to under estimate, especially adding chicken, cheese, nuts etc and definitely salad dressing, that is the easiest thing to under estimate for me.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    I've never seen a $7 bag of salad. That may be in Canada.

    For bagged salads in general, it's cheaper when you buy the components individually, but some people value convenience.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,186 Member
    edited April 2016
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    The salads I get are usually between $1.49 - $2.89.
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    I used to weigh my salad but I don't anymore, now just rough estimates (cups, ounces, whatever). I use a calorie-free dressing and I don't put protein or cheese or stuff on my salads so I don't figure it matters. Which, given my results so far, seems to be correct.
  • xtina315
    xtina315 Posts: 218 Member
    We pay 2.50-5.00 for a bag of salad here, and I'm in the states
  • Wicked_Seraph
    Wicked_Seraph Posts: 388 Member
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    If it helps, Culver's is basically a fast-food restaurant... that's why it's so expensive. Buying salad is, surprisingly, often more expensive than purchasing, say, a burger, chicken nuggets, some kinda steak meal if you're somewhere a bit nicer, and so on. It should be noted that I'm talking about salad meals that often include a variety of ingredients. A small side salad doesn't cost that much.

    It wouldn't be quite that expensive if they were buying just a bag of salad mix lol. I think here it's usually USD$2.00 (£1.40) - USD$4.00 (£2.81) a bag :)
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    That was for a salad, not just lettuce, I think. Here a bag is $3 or so, a bit less when on sale, but yeah, not cheap.

    If I went to Trader Joe's less, but I get the publix brand summer mix and it's $3/bag.
    Now if you want to go to a restaurant and get a salad, now you're talking $6-9 for a bowl.
  • lll109
    lll109 Posts: 11 Member
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    I used to weigh my salad but I don't anymore, now just rough estimates (cups, ounces, whatever). I use a calorie-free dressing and I don't put protein or cheese or stuff on my salads so I don't figure it matters. Which, given my results so far, seems to be correct.

    I usually use a fat free dressing, what dressing is calorie free? Adding protein makes it so I'm not hungry an hour later. Lean protein only.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    lll109 wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    I used to weigh my salad but I don't anymore, now just rough estimates (cups, ounces, whatever). I use a calorie-free dressing and I don't put protein or cheese or stuff on my salads so I don't figure it matters. Which, given my results so far, seems to be correct.

    I usually use a fat free dressing, what dressing is calorie free? Adding protein makes it so I'm not hungry an hour later. Lean protein only.

    I'm hoping they meant fat free. :wink: I prefer a little protein with my foods, same reasoning.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    I usually just skip dressing altogether, or use a little balsamic vinegar and call it good. But my salads, like so many have said above, are often a mixing bowl full of food... you know.. the big mixing bowl you'd use for a whole cake. It can easily end up being 5-600+ calories if I'm not paying attention.
  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    lll109 wrote: »
    DrEnalg wrote: »
    I used to weigh my salad but I don't anymore, now just rough estimates (cups, ounces, whatever). I use a calorie-free dressing and I don't put protein or cheese or stuff on my salads so I don't figure it matters. Which, given my results so far, seems to be correct.

    I usually use a fat free dressing, what dressing is calorie free? Adding protein makes it so I'm not hungry an hour later. Lean protein only.

    Most likely Walden Farms. I have never tried their products but they're calorie free per serving.
  • Not at all. My salads are simply iceberg lettuce, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes. I do measure my oil and balsamic vinegar.
  • Panda_Poptarts
    Panda_Poptarts Posts: 971 Member
    I track each ingredient by weight in grams. I just set the bowl on the scale while I prepare, and tare out after each addition.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I never buy salad. $7.00 at Culvers...................for what, mostly lettuce. At that price you could make a lot of salads.

    Honestly, is salad really that expensive in the US?!!! I'm really shocked - it's normally about £1 a bag here in the UK.

    I've never seen a $7 bag of salad. That may be in Canada.

    For bagged salads in general, it's cheaper when you buy the components individually, but some people value convenience.

    naw. my boyfriend lives in canada. grocery prices there are pretty darn similar to here, after you calculate the currency difference.
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