Questions

elsie6hickman

when I have a salad, I am listing each individual ingredient and estimate how much I consumed of each ingredient for my portion. Is this the right approach? (I will make a salad for my husband and me, I typically add 2 Tbsps of dressing, then we divide it.)


My second question is this: Some days I stay under my 1200 calories, but then one of my Macros will be above the recommended goal. As long as I stay at, or under, my overall goal, is that okay? (I never add salt, but sometimes my sodium will be a bit over).

livingleanlivingclean

Or you could just make two individual salads on your plates, save a bowl, and know exactly how much you ate?

It's your total calories that matter. Sodium isn't a macronutrient.

lynn_glenmont

Depends on what's in your salad. If it's all energy-sparse veggies (lettuce and other leafy greens, peppers, cucumbers, cruciferous veggies, alliums, etc.) that are mostly water and fiber, estimating should be fine. If your salad has lots of relatively energy-dense ingredients (avocados, beans, potatoes, beets, eggs, cheese, bacon, etc.), you might run into problems, unless you are an above-average estimator.

For fat-loss purposes, calories are what matter.

L1zardQueen

Calories are what matter.

NovusDies

You actually need to get a food scale and start weighing your food. I think it is best to weigh even the low calorie stuff initially to give you a better idea how to eyeball it. Your salad tonight was 186 calories before the dressing. That is enough calories that being more precise will help so I would definitely make the salads separately.

I think it is best to start with being very precise and then eventually figuring out where you can estimate it.

elsie6hickman

I have a food scale and I do weigh. At home it is much easier to figure out, because I know exactly what is going into it. And I am logging each individual element. I serve half to my husband and half to me. But it may be a better idea to just make two individual salads and not have a problem. I assure you my kitchen scale sees a lot of action.
But today I had the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays - I avoided the things I know are high in calories, but I don't know specifically how much of each thing was there. I was out for lunch last week and got a Greek salad. I knew the components, but not how much of each one. So when I am talking about estimating, I'm mostly talking about restaurant meals. I am not much for dressing and when I can, I get the dressing on the side and dip the tines of my fork in it. I try to consume as little as possible, but who knows what is in it? (I use vinaigrette).

callsitlikeiseeit

i dish up my plate and my fiances plate individually. everything in my salad gets weighed on my plate, on the scale, then tared out for the next thing.

for eating out you have to learn to estimate and most chais will have calorie counts on their website or menu items. i wont go near any kind of buffett or salad bar with a 10' pole (disgusting things, they are) but veg has next to no calories. its the added cheese, croutons, dressings, etc that have the calories

mariluny

I do like you, I weight everything but divide by two when I dish it out in my plate. For most things, I can't just prep in 2 separate bowl, I find that just too time consuming and I always stop weighting my food after a while. So now I weight the whole thing and enter what I actually eat.
It will not be as accurate as it could be but between that and just giving up, that's what i'm the most comfortable with.