Salad as much as a big mac?

skatardrummer

I have never eaten a big mac in my life. That isn't to say I haven't had other things at McDonald's before. To be honest, when I eat that food I feel sluggish, inflamed, and generally icky. When I eat a diet rich in vegetables and fruit, I feel a lot better. I was astounded to see that many salads contain just as many calories as a Big Mac!!!!

I've been getting those $3 Marketside salads at walmart to help me out financially with this journey. It costs me much more than $3 a salad to buy unfried chicken, carrots, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, eggs, and dressing. I realize that costs can vary from place to place, but that's what it is here having done it before. Not really trying to debate that point.

What astounds me however, is that this marketside salad says 120 calories (4.5 servings). WHAT? That's 540 calories if that's the only thing you're eating! To be fair, it is all I eat for lunch, but what!?!?! I could eat a piece of freaking chocolate cake for about 200 calories less, full of nothing good for me. The thought just makes me ill.

I realize that part of what you put in your mouth is quality of food, not just calories. But I admit, this leaves me a bit crestfallen. I enjoy these salads. I've been the route of just eating spinach with olive oil on it, and to be honest, I almost rather go hungry. I feel like the best way to stick to healthier eating is to find something that you actually like, or you're going to fall off the wagon.

I started reading online, and my 540 calorie salad was actually quite modest compared to other pre-prepared salads and restaurant salads. That's just insane.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that a 500 calorie salad is worth it for the better quality of food than eating a crap mac, or would you go for the spinach with oil?

malibu927

A lot of that is going to be the cheese and dressing, as they're calorie-dense. I refuse to cut those out, so I limit them. When I have a salad that I make at home, I use 1-2 servings of each.

And I hate Big Macs...but will still regularly (no more than 1/month) eat a Quarter Pounder from McDonalds.

jakeycork

Depends on macro breakdowns, depends on goals.

sosteach

If you are spending $3.00 a day on salad that is $21.00 a week you can spend on salad fixings at home and have total control over the calorie count. Plus be really full. It is worth it. Boil some eggs, bake some chicken breats, cut up some veggies.I have found the majority of restaurant salads are crazy calorie wise (usually the dressing).

Ready2Rock206

I would go with what I enjoy that fits my calories goals. I don't think you need to be as extreme as the salad you enjoy or spinach and oil. If it fits your calories then eat it. If it doesn't maybe remove one of the higher calorie ingredients, or at least part of it. Or eat less of the salad.

jgnatca

It's true.

You need at least a few calories per day to live, so calories are not the enemy. You just don't want them to run amok.

Fresh salads with a little dressing leave me feeling good, too. It takes the body a little longer to digest so there are fewer sugar spikes.

You could get around this dilemma a couple ways, and I don't want you to give up eating altogether.

You could eat half your salad.

You could stock up on the ingredients at home and make your own salad, controlling the ingredients. You would need to prep a pack of chicken breasts (not hard), boil some eggs, and get yourself some bagged spinach.

Even a simple vinaigrette dressing isn't hard.

Most of those calories that are making you feel sick are in the cheese and in the oil in the dressing. If you cut the volume of cheese and oil by half, your salad becomes that much more decent.

lemurcat12

Chocolate cake is not a meal. 540 calories really isn't that much for a meal. For example, my calories when losing are around 1500, I eat 350 cal for breakfast, so have 1150 to split between my other two meals. My lunches vary from 400-600, usually, and dinner around the same -- and that's when losing.

That said, 540 DOES seem higher than necessary for a lunch salad (which is what I often have), IF the calories are coming mostly from the dressing. Any way to tell? Eggs, chicken, and cheese (if there is some), olives (if there is some), and nuts/seeds (same) also add calories, of course.

I'd suggest maybe bringing your own dressing or making it -- I usually make some of olive oil and vinegar (light on the oil) or vinegar and mustard, and others do greek yogurt based ones, but of course there are low cal ones that you can buy.

But again, 540 is really not crazy high for a lunch, IMO, and if you love the salad, why not? Is it hard to fit in your day or not satisfying?

French_Peasant

Yes, salads at restaurants can easily have many more than 1000 calories--they can truly be insane. The more salad tchotchkes you add, the more the calories are going to add up. Dressing, croutons and cheese in particular are the killers. You can look for Bolthouse dressing which is tasty and very low calorie, made with a yogurt base. Or I make my own vinaigrette, with very high quality (this is crucial!) 2/3 balsamic vinegar and 1/3 olive oil (and a touch of Dijon to emulsify). I think for the mix I make, 20 grams had 50 calories or so.

When I was on a 1200 calorie base, I would generally eat a 4-ounce grilled chicken breast on a bed of romaine for lunch, and a pile of raw veg alongside, all drizzled with vinaigrette and with a good cracking of black pepper across the top. It is delicious. Spinach with olive oil just sounds sad. Figure out what you really love, really need, and strip your salad down to simplicity. Or eat the 540 calorie salads and balance it with taking a walk fro an hour in the evening.

kwtilbury

If you have a salad with meat, croutons, cheese and thousand island dressing, it's essentially the same ingredients as a Big Mac. Adding a bunch of lettuce to the mix doesn't reduce the caloric content.

AliceDark

The Marketside salad you described has protein, fat, carbs and a bunch of different vegetables that will all give you different nutrients. Spinach and oil just has carbs and fat, with nutrients from one type of vegetable. Neither one is "healthier" than the other, but in the context of everything else you're going to eat for the day, one may fit better than the other. Calories aren't the only thing that are important.

I feel like the bigger issue, though, is that you seem to feel cheated by the salad. You should be eating it if you enjoy it, not because it "seems" like a healthy choice just because it's a salad. If you'd rather spend those calories on a sandwich or a Big Mac or whatever, you should do that instead.

ritzvin

The high-calorie items in pre-packaged salads are usually separately contained (otherwise the salad wouldn't keep on the shelf for long enough). You can opt to only add half the packet of the dressing or oil-soaked croutons or cheese or nuts.

ETA: (the calories in the leafy greens and carrot slivers will be practically nil).

OliveGirl128

I don't label food, that way lies dragons And yes, salads can definitely be calorie bombs, (restaurants like Applebees have salads that hit over 1,000 calories).

I eat a LOT of veggies and fruit at home, so if I'm going out I'll usually get a non-veggie centered meal, and in the case of McDonalds I would get a Fishwich with extra tartar sauce, because it tastes yummy

bbell1985

I have seen salads that are 1000 calories. Yours isn't so bad. Admittedly I like my salads for lunch to be in the 200-300 range. I use a whole bag of salad greens, 100 cal can of tuna, hot sauce...maybe a wedge of laughing cow cheese. Dressings, toppings like nuts, cheese, really add calories.

jennybearlv

I have a cobb salad in my dinner rotation that is over 1000 calories and worth every single one. It's a well rounded meal. I learned long ago not to associate healthy with low calories. Not a thing.

It's also worth noting that you are eating 4.5 servings in one sitting. I'm not sure if those are side salad servings, but the manufacturer thinks you should be taking all week to eat that salad.

ladyhusker39

I had quite an awakening when I started counting calories and realized that my default restaurant dinner salad had more calories than my husband's go-to meal of steak, potato, and side salad with ranch dressing.

I watch salads like a hawk now when I eat out. Obviously, it's not the veggies that are the problem. It's the add ons and dressing that'll get you.

I have since figured out that I love the Spicy Southwest Chicken salad from Chick fil A. I get it with the chili lime vinaigrette instead of the creamy options. It's about 350 calories and very enjoyable.

So it really does depend on how you order it, like anything else. It's just so easy to assume that a salad is healthy and low calorie. I've been educated.

grinning_chick

AliceDark wrote: »

Spinach and oil just has carbs and fat...

Fresh raw spinach has 2.9 grams of protein per 100 grams of weight. That is roughly the same amount of protein as half a large white egg.

A 500 calorie salad is worth it if I want a 500 calorie salad. A 500 calorie Big Mac is worth it if I want a 500 calorie Big Mac (although the one I had in 2012 was pretty gross taste and texture-wise vs. what they were like when I was a kid so I no longer have any real interest in eating them).

I adore Taylor Farms Sweet Kale salad kits and can eat an entire bag (3 servings) as a $4 meal for 450 calories before adding any protein. There's never enough dressing, imo, but I make due (no buying a bottle of poppy seed dressing) and somehow at the end am still happy I ate it. Namely because it tastes so awesome to me and lights up those parts of my little lizard brain.

I eat based on what I like and what I can eat for the calorie amount I have available. It means sometimes having to get creative either with number/type of meals or ingredients (substitutions) to make it fit and other times not having to worry about any of that at all and eating the unadulterated version. It all depends on what else I've eaten/will eat for that particular day and is not something considered in a vacuum.

Chaagy

One of my emergency "forgot my lunch" go-to meals is the Big Mac salad - Big Mac combo, substitute side garden salad instead of fries. Throw away the dressing they give you. Take all the Big Mac toppings including mac sauce, cheese (basically no bun) and put it onto the salad. It's only about 350 calories.

Now, I happen to like a Big Mac, so this meal is actually pretty enjoyable for me. I get that Big Mac hankering out of the way, and it's actually really great in terms of calories - nutritionally, that's debatable!

amtyrell

I read this thread while eating my favorite Asian chopped salad from aldi. It is 385 calories for the whole bag. I log all 385 but use only half the dressing but all the dressing wonton bits. Yes the crispy cheesy dressing things are usually high calorie. However, a good salad can also add bulk to a diet and fiber.

AliceDark

grinning_chick wrote: »

AliceDark wrote: »

Spinach and oil just has carbs and fat...

Fresh raw spinach has 2.9 grams of protein per 100 grams of weight. That is roughly the same amount of protein as half a large white egg.

That really doesn't make 100g of spinach a significant source of protein. I wasn't being 100% literal; I was pointing out that we shouldn't compare a salad with chicken/cheese/eggs/veg/dressing to a salad of just spinach and oil in terms of nutrition.

PaulaWallaDingDong

My question is, do you really need a 4.5 serving salad? I get individual pre-made salads all the time that range from 250 to 390 calories and they suit me just fine, though not as cost-efficient as 4.5 servings for $3. Something with over 500 calories I'd save for dinner.

everher

I know the salads you are talking about OP and they're huge. I eat one of the smaller premade salads sometimes for lunch. About half the calories.

VintageFeline

Lots of good points. Salad doesn't default to being better than anything else, it's context.

And there are good things for you in cake. Carbs, protein and fat. Is it micro dense? Probably not but it still has things essential for human life, not least calories.

seltzermint555

So many good responses already and I don't wanna echo a bunch of the other stuff that has been said.

I eat salads sometimes, but I think one of my favorite things about using MFP is being able to play around with my cals/macros and come up with surprising lunches that fit. Veggie burger with homemade sweet potato fries. Tuna melt and 2 types of fruit/veggies. Homemade veggie soup and a small cupcake with a spinach/oil type salad.

I know not everyone has a ton of time on their hands especially during work days, but you might find that making your own meals ahead of time is worth it. A lot of my friends who eat salads daily are so sick of salads they want to scream.

Francl27

A 350 calorie piece of chocolate cake will be tiny, lol. Really... go for what you like, fills you up, and fits your calories. Dressing, nuts, and cheese, are what's making most salads high in calories and fat.

Cost wise, yeah, sometimes it's just cheaper to buy the prepared stuff.

Mr_Knight

skatardrummer wrote: »

I started reading online, and my 540 calorie salad was actually quite modest compared to other pre-prepared salads and restaurant salads. That's just insane.

As a general rule, restaurant salads truly are insane, in size and in calories. I totally avoid them.

JeepHair77

I really like my salads, so to me, 540 would be worth it.

That said, if you're looking to cut the calories, look for a different dressing, because that's usually where they get you. Creamy dressings luke ranch tend to be the worst, but not always, so read carefully. The vinaigrette at Salata is their highest calorie dressing.

cwolfman13

It's called salad dressing...

inertiastrength

eat the one you prefer. Curious to know what inflammation 'feels' like tho