Salad calories

earlnabby

I weigh everything that goes into my salads with one exception: I eyeball my leafy greens. I use the same bowl for salads and know how 2 cups of greens looks in it. It is only 10 calories a cup so I can afford to be a little rebellious in this one thing.

floofyschmoofer

I try and account for everything. Calorie counting is a bit of a switch from other programs like WW or similar where certain foods don't count. I know when I did WW years ago, I could eat all the fruit and veggies I wanted for 0 calories. But I try and be meticulous so that I can see all the data and find a solution if there's an issue.

LyndaBSS

earlnabby wrote: »

I weigh everything that goes into my salads with one exception: I eyeball my leafy greens. I use the same bowl for salads and know how 2 cups of greens looks in it. It is only 10 calories a cup so I can afford to be a little rebellious in this one thing.

You rebel you! 😀

nooboots

I count salad and although there are some items like lettuce and cucumber which are so watery (add celery into that too), they really have minimal calories others will be more calorific and will impact on your calories if you are very limited such as, sweetcorn, beetroot, carrots, avocado (of course), tomatoes if you like a lot (and I like a LOT), onions if you have a lot, fennel, peppers etc

In terms of veg, onion, garlic (I eat a LOT of that), carrots, sweetcorn, peas, peppers, celeriac, broccoli and cauliflower, cabbage, could all add up (without any cooking or dressing fats) to around 100-200 cals dependent on how much, so thats a lot to leave out

ConfidentRaven

I weigh and log everything. While that 15 extra calories of lettuce is not even close to reason I’m overweight, it’s about habits. Personally if I let the lettuce slide how long until it’s not worth weighing or logging the dressing. I mean that dressing is only 50 calories, surely it’s not a big deal and before I know it there’s food anarchy.

VioletRojo

pontious11349 wrote: »

I completely understand this. And excuse my tongue in cheek comment.

My intent was simply implying that those odd 50-100 calories are not the culprits for exceeding daily budgets however strict it is. Its the snacks, the dressings, the marinades, etc.

When you have a very small deficit and a tiny margin for error, every single calorie counts.

cwolfman13

When I logged, I was a lot more loose with low calorie vegetables. For a garden salad I made a recipe once that I just used generically whenever I had a salad...figured it was good enough.

BarbaraHelen2013

LyndaBSS wrote: »

You'd be surprised. English Cucumbers have 3 times the calories that regular Cucumbers have, for example. Adds up quickly. That's why I weigh everything.

I figure, if I take a shortcut and don't weigh my salads, what's the next food I'll take a shortcut with?

For me personally, that's a recipe for disaster.

Can I ask what might be a stupid question...I’m English and 58 and until very, very recently I’ve not even heard the term English Cucumber. You’ve said these cucumbers have 3x the calories of a ‘regular’ cucumber. What I’m curious about is what are you referring to as a ‘regular’ cucumber?

The only cucumbers we generally see here, in England, are maybe 12 inches long, and probably 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter. I’ve once or twice seen and bought what are simply called ‘baby cucumber’ which are just mini versions as far as I knew.

So yes...I’m now curious as to what I’ve been eating and logging! I always log using an entry that corresponds to the specific supermarket that I bought it from, but I’m mostly just curious about what you guys mean!

SuzySunshine99

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

LyndaBSS wrote: »

You'd be surprised. English Cucumbers have 3 times the calories that regular Cucumbers have, for example. Adds up quickly. That's why I weigh everything.

I figure, if I take a shortcut and don't weigh my salads, what's the next food I'll take a shortcut with?

For me personally, that's a recipe for disaster.

Can I ask what might be a stupid question...I’m English and 58 and until very, very recently I’ve not even heard the term English Cucumber. You’ve said these cucumbers have 3x the calories of a ‘regular’ cucumber. What I’m curious about is what are you referring to as a ‘regular’ cucumber?

The only cucumbers we generally see here, in England, are maybe 12 inches long, and probably 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter. I’ve once or twice seen and bought what are simply called ‘baby cucumber’ which are just mini versions as far as I knew.

So yes...I’m now curious as to what I’ve been eating and logging! I always log using an entry that corresponds to the specific supermarket that I bought it from, but I’m mostly just curious about what you guys mean!

English cucumbers are longer and skinnier than the “regular” cucumbers people are talking about. They have grooved skin instead of smooth and very small seeds. Picture below. If they do indeed have more calories, I would think it’s because they have less water content.

SuzySunshine99

And for comparisons sake, here’s what people are calling a “regular” cucumber.

LyndaBSS

Thank you for explaining. ☺

BarbaraHelen2013

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

And for comparisons sake, here’s what people are calling a “regular” cucumber.

Thank you! The picture here is definitely of something I’ve not seen in real life as it were! The first pic is what we get everywhere. Your regular cucumber is quite different. It’s weird and fascinating how the oddest things are just not the same country to country although we never really acknowledge it! Now I’m wondering how many other things that we all refer to are not actually the identical things at all! 😂

lemurcat2

Also I really don't think they are meaningfully different in calories per the same number of grams, for the record.

LyndaBSS

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Also I really don't think they are meaningfully different in calories per the same number of grams, for the record.

I stand corrected. I got those calories from the database when I had just started and didn't realize how many errors it contained. Shame on me.

Slicing (regular) cucumber (peeled): 3.0 calories per ounce

English cucumber (peeled): 2.6 calories per ounce

Thank you @lemurcat2

BarbaraHelen2013

Having done some poking around the database and google, I’d agree. I think the difference might lie in the fact that an English Cucumber appears to be about two thirds bigger than the regular one referred to. Therefore on recipes that state ‘one cucumber, diced’ for example the difference would show if weighed gram for gram. To be honest, if I see this in a recipe and it seems like a silly amount in comparison to the other ingredients I’d probably just use half of what I’d call a cucumber, anyway, 😂

thanos5

i don't log everything for just calories. i like knowing the nutrients too. so i log everything that goes into my salads.
also, i hate cucumbers, they have a weird texture to me.

wilson10102018

Cucumbers can be tamed. Try peeling 2/3 of the green rind off, cut it lengthwise and scrape out the seed and pulp and discard that part. Then cut the cucumber into bite sized pieces. Squirt a bit of balsamic glaze on it and it is finally edible.

Lynzdee18

I log everything. Vegetables add up..... I’m skeptical about the ‘free’ foods one of my Weight Watcher friends speaks of.... nothing is ever free in life, I’ve found.
Not logging consistently is the reason I don’t lose during a week.... need to be mindful of what I put into my body.

dkeofkfbdjsgdvfl

I count my salad stuff if they are high calorie or contain a lot of nutrients, like avocado or beans, or if I'm low for the day. But for low calorie salad stuff, I never take the time to weigh them, just put in a generic 100 grams more to remind me that I have indeed eaten vegetables that day.

geiznekcm

Hello!

I really appreciate all the posts and commentary here. Everyone is so helpful.
I hope it's not inappropriate of me to add a question to the original post.

From what I gathered reading this discussion, most people here are talking about smaller portions of salads -- like a generic "side salad" -- Are there any people who eat in VOLUME here, people who consume very large salads?

Thank you.