ok to eat potato salad?

slemonfit

is it ok to eat potato salad a couple times a week?
sometimes i make a sandwich with honey ham and potato salad, i think the calories of each sandwich comes out to 400 calories (140 for the bread, 60 for the ham, and 200 for the potato salad)
is it ok to eat this like 4 times a week? i still keep the total to about 1200-1300 calories a day
also chocolate squares a couple times a week

mactaffy84

Other will probably not agree, but I say no, it isn't healthy. Of course, I'm assuming you make your potato salad with white potatoes and mayonnaise. I think you'd be getting too much saturated fats with the mayonnaise and not enough nutrients (for four times a week) with the white potatoes. I think you would be doing yourself a disservice. Might not be what you would like to hear, but you asked......

GiveMeCoffee

Why wouldn't it be ok? Does it fit in your day? Do you enjoy it? Why are you only eating 1200 calories a day?

Chocolate is always okay in moderation of course

notworthstalking

If you enjoy it yes. The only thing is on such low calories you need to make sure you get a good amount of protien. Fats are good though for keeping you satisfied.

oboeadam

Firstly, you have to find what works best for you - all we can offer is our opinions.

As for my opinion, I personally think as long as you stay within your calories you should eat what you'd like. This is the way that I've been eating and I have lost almost 50 pounds. I will say that over time I definitely started eating healthier, but it was totally by choice as I got used to not eating mountains of crap - but I NEVER would have gotten this far had I taken the alternate route by cutting out anything unhealthy because of different macronutrients that are contained in the food. I strongly believe that by refusing to restrict yourself and/or placing rules as to what you 'can' and 'can't eat, it keeps one from binging later on and therefore sets that individual up for success.

Just my two cents.

geebusuk

If it meets your macros AND doesn't negatively affect other stuff - ie you end up overly hungry or miss out on micronutrients, go for it.
The way I work it, if I want nice food that doesn't fit, I tend to do some exercise to 'earn' some calories.

Fuzzipeg

In general you are probably fine with this unless you are me, and the mayo ingredients get me. Main crop potatoes great, onion fine too but the olive oil is high in salicylate and that is very bad for me as are herbs and spices. Going the light mayo option this is high in maize starch which is supposedly moderate on the salicylate foods scale put together by an Australian dietitian and her colleagues many years ago and added to by other scientific institutions.

So for me it is a very definite sad, NO. I've made such gains without salicylate I can't afford to go back. Much more needs to happen for me though. The battle is not over just yet.

jdad1

Ummm.....are you asking if potato salad is going to kill you? It's just like every other food, eat a lot and you will get fat and die. Eat to little and you will starve and die. Find the balence.

melaniecheeks

I don't like to demonise any particular foods - it's all down to portion control. So that means - how much potato salad and how often. Is it home made or bought? I struggle with the idea of putting potatoes into a bread sandwich, but if thats what you enjoy, then you can find a way of fitting it into your diet.

earlybrd7

Ohhh potato salad is one of my favs, so yes go for it if it fits your cals. I know potato salad is heavy on the kcal side, but if you are good with portion control then you'd be fine. Potato salad is like a trigger food for me, I can't just eat a little of it and the problem is that it doesn't satiate me for very long - but again, if you have control then go for it. I'd recommend eating it on a workout day, will give a great carb boost.

Unknown

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JesterMFP

Other will probably not agree, but I say no, it isn't healthy. Of course, I'm assuming you make your potato salad with white potatoes and mayonnaise. I think you'd be getting too much saturated fats with the mayonnaise and not enough nutrients (for four times a week) with the white potatoes. I think you would be doing yourself a disservice. Might not be what you would like to hear, but you asked......

I couldn't disagree more. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about potato salad, assuming that you are not allergic/intolerant to the ingredients, and assuming your diet doesn't only consist of potato salad.

OP - make sure you know how much you're eating (a food scale is helpful), log the calories, make sure you're getting a well balanced diet and enjoy your potato salad and chocolate. Unnecessary food alarmism on the other hand can be very harmful to your health.

geebusuk

Oh and yes, as above - mayo is REALLY high in calories from the fat. More than chocolate by weight.
The extra extra light options I find pretty palatable and they are massively lower in calories. Not as nice as full-fat, but you do get used to it and we're talking something like a tenth of the calories!

_Zardoz_

Oh and yes, as above - mayo is REALLY high in calories from the fat. More than chocolate by weight.
The extra extra light options I find pretty palatable and they are massively lower in calories. Not as nice as full-fat, but you do get used to it and we're talking something like a tenth of the calories!

or you could just eat less of the good stuff and actually enjoy it

paperpudding

I think potato salad, in moderation, is fine - just like any other food.
In fact, seems odd food to demonise.

I use low fat mayo when I make it as I really can't taste the difference.

geebusuk

or you could just eat less of the good stuff and actually enjoy it

But I do "actually enjoy" eating the extra, extra low mayo.
I certainly enjoy eating it a lot more being able to have 10x as much for the same calories or whatever.
I just had some with my 5 chicken dippers, as it goes.
To have the same calories as my spoonful, I'd have been limited to about 1.5 grams of 'full fat'! I'm sure I enjoyed my food much more having a good quantity of the slightly less tasty version.

Hannah_Hopes

Just popping in to say I love Potato salad
I don't see the issue in eating it, just watch the fat&portion size
:flowerforyou:

tennisdude2004

I might be totally off track with this idea - it might be worth a bit more investigation.

But my understanding is that the starch in cold already boiled potatoes turns to resistant starch and therefore most of the calorie and carb content of the actual potato is not digested or absorbed by the body.

Plus if this is the case then the resistant starch element of the potato salad is actually feeding your gut flora so is beneficial for the good bacteria you have in your gut!

Slacker16

Oh and yes, as above - mayo is REALLY high in calories from the fat. More than chocolate by weight.
The extra extra light options I find pretty palatable and they are massively lower in calories. Not as nice as full-fat, but you do get used to it and we're talking something like a tenth of the calories!

or you could just eat less of the good stuff and actually enjoy it

Even better, ditch the mayo and eat it with oil, vinegar and onion. So much tastier.
I never manage to get the oil : vinegar : salt proportions right though.

rockmama72

My little town grocer has something called "Grandpa's Potato Salad" that is the most delicious, creamiest, delicious, addictive, and delicious potato salad I've ever had. I think it would be wrong to not buy and eat it, as I want to support local business. They should not suffer because of my calorie restrictions.

_HeartsOnFire_

Other will probably not agree, but I say no, it isn't healthy. Of course, I'm assuming you make your potato salad with white potatoes and mayonnaise. I think you'd be getting too much saturated fats with the mayonnaise and not enough nutrients (for four times a week) with the white potatoes. I think you would be doing yourself a disservice. Might not be what you would like to hear, but you asked......

To each their own, but I do not agree that the person who is eating or wants to eat potato salad 2x a week is doing a disservice to themselves. If they can make it fit into their calorie intake there's nothing wrong with it.

My sister tried to lecture me yesterday because I had 2 cupcakes in 1 day last week. "All that sugar and processed food"...I made those cupcakes fit into my daily goal, I lift heavy, I walk 5 miles a day, and I lost weight during the days I did that...which I did that 2 days in a row. Do I do that weekly? No. But there's nothing wrong if it fits into their daily goal.

lemurcat12

Whether it's okay or not depends on you. If you are asking whether there's something about it that would hinder weight loss apart from the calories, there is not, unless you can't stick to your calories when eating it for some reason.

Perhaps too much info, but this is how I'd think about it:

1. Does it fit in my calories without throwing off the rest of my day? IMO, 400 calories is a good number for lunch at your calorie limit, so I'd say sure, if you are confident in the calorie count.

2. Is it enough/the right mix to keep me from getting too hungry before my next meal? That depends on you--try it and see. If not, maybe you need to modify or make it more of a special occasion thing.

3. Does it fit your macro goals and other nutrition goals? This would be my problem, but it might not be one for you. Without modifying my typical lunch and dinner--okay for a special occasion but not 4 times a week--I'd have a hard time meeting my protein goals without adding more calories and messing up the calorie balance plus I like to have non starchy vegetables at each meal.

4. Can 3 be met with a modification? For me, sure. I'd add vegetables or a salad without extras which wouldn't mess up the calorie balance plus I'd sub some kind of protein--Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, a hard boiled egg, whatever--for the bread, since to me ham and potato salad sound better without bread. (But then I don't care about most bread, so try not to waste my calories on it.). If the bread is an important element to you but you think you need to modify--and since our macro goals vary as do our other meals, you may not--come up with your own, which could be smaller portion, low fat mayo, etc.

One problem with the health response is that there are lots of grey areas. I'm not assuming there's some huge amount of mayo in potato salad and while I prefer mustard I think the idea that mayo on a sandwich even 4 times a week is out just bc you are counting calories is kind of extreme. Also the health benefits of mayo vary based on how it's made--I know I eat olive oil every day and don't consider that unhealthy--and saturated fat is overly demonized, especially here where it might be a quite small amount. And I really don't agree that potatoes should be demonized. I eat fewer than I might because I keep carbs at about 100 g, but there's no reason others should. There are other foods I choose to eat only sparingly if at all, but I'd be hesitant to impose that on others, since it makes no difference for weight loss if the calories fit, and matter for health mostly if other things are being squeezed out.

tycho_mx

I try to make things work. So if I'm eating a burger and fries (which I love), I make sure to eat less at other points during the day (maybe skip a snack) and/or exercise a bit more.

Or as a reward for a hard race/workout. Hm... I just did 2:45 of eye-bleeding effort. I think I need a beer.

geebusuk

I might be totally off track with this idea - it might be worth a bit more investigation.

But my understanding is that the starch in cold already boiled potatoes turns to resistant starch and therefore most of the calorie and carb content of the actual potato is not digested or absorbed by the body.

I opened some tabs earlier and am STILL avoiding doing useful work, so have just read through some of them (have got a webcast about Cisco QOS config in the background, woo.) - from what I can see we're talking a few grams per 100g of food. So could be say 7g in the potatoes alone, then up to 10g when cooked and cooled. (Now closed the tabs, forget the numbers, wasn't an amazing difference.) Overall, I don't think it's anything worth getting amazingly excited over unfortunately - certainly can't just fill up on cold potatoes. Also, general suggestion is that you don't want any more than 50g or so in a day as it can upset your stomach. So you've got a possible 'saving' of 200 calories maybe - although it's all a bit fuzzy anyway.

tennisdude2004

I might be totally off track with this idea - it might be worth a bit more investigation.

But my understanding is that the starch in cold already boiled potatoes turns to resistant starch and therefore most of the calorie and carb content of the actual potato is not digested or absorbed by the body.

I opened some tabs earlier and am STILL avoiding doing useful work, so have just read through some of them (have got a webcast about Cisco QOS config in the background, woo.) - from what I can see we're talking a few grams per 100g of food. So could be say 7g in the potatoes alone, then up to 10g when cooked and cooled. (Now closed the tabs, forget the numbers, wasn't an amazing difference.) Overall, I don't think it's anything worth getting amazingly excited over unfortunately - certainly can't just fill up on cold potatoes. Also, general suggestion is that you don't want any more than 50g or so in a day as it can upset your stomach. So you've got a possible 'saving' of 200 calories maybe - although it's all a bit fuzzy anyway.

You're probably right, resistant starch is something I've only just started looking into.

Seem quite interesting regards the probiotic potential benefits.

sodakat

I just feel so bad for white potatoes. They get such a bad rap, potassium notwithstanding.

Edit to add: my potato salad recipe came from a friend's mother who always made a thin deviled egg mixture from the yolks of boiled eggs, then chopped the whites, celery, onions and potatoes, adding that to the deviled egg mixture. Best ever. I add some sweet pickle relish.

chrisdavey

this is the definition of majoring in the minors and the reason the IIFYM acronym came about.

slemonfit

its one of my favorite foods and keeps me full

according to this website, i should eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight, according to some others around 1250 to a little over 1300, so i keep it around there
im 5'1', very sedentary, i work from my computer and am sitting down pretty much all day and dont get any other exercise
and i have no muscle mass

it fits into my diet easily and is an easy and quick lunch, i could probably eat it every day, its just the one from the container from the store, white potatoes , mustard, etc not sure what else they put it into

i wasnt sure if it was good to eat it so much because of the starch and heard bad things from potatoes but i noticed even when i ate it that i am still slowly losing weight

thanks for the replies

hajenkatt

In to say that a potato salad and roast beef sandwich is one of my all time favorite sandwiches. Moved to Sweden, thought it sounded gross, tried one, and I never looked back. Thank you, Sweden, for teaching me about this amazing lunchtime miracle.

Seabee74

My 2 cents or maybe a dollar or more.....
When I was still eating and not caring, mayonnaise was one of my favorite items to eat.. I loved it in potato salad, on sandwiches and especially in deviled eggs.. I even used to spread it on bread and have mayo sandwiches........ Well since I have turned a new leaf and started to get healthy I have experimented with, no fat, low fat and light mayos .. Reason is because there is a lot of calories there and I wanted to eat other things throughout the day besides mayo.. Even though I now use light or low fat in such things as sandwiches and tuna etc.. When I make deviled eggs It's The Full Strength, High Test Mayo because I love a good deviled egg with real mayo. Now don't get me wrong, I don't eat them weekly or when I do eat them I may eat about 3 at the most, unlike the dozen I'd put away in the past.. So to answer your question, eat what you want as long as you are eating at a calorie deficit.. If you are are using regular mayo, I myself would not eat that much that often, but watch yourself and adjustnhownyou need to. The best way I have found to enjoy getting healthy is not restrict anything !! Have everything you want in moderation ! Enjoy and good luck my friend !

misschoppo

I love potato salad but make my own as I find the shop bought ones are swimming in mayo and don't taste as good. If you enjoy it & can make it fit with your calorie goals then eat it!! My only concern would be that if you are eating quite a low calorie diet, there are a lot of alternatives things you could eat a lot more of that would keep you fuller for longer for the same calories.