Is my salad unhealthy?

juggernaut1974

My best advice would be to carb control, maintain low refined carbs in small portions throughout the day to maintain your blood sugars. Don't have too much of an emphasis on fats, as long as they are good fats in moderation (Walnut Oil / Nuts etc) you will be fine, ramp up your protein intake to keep you full and help you recovery post-workout. My favourite advice is Eggs for Breakfast!

Education,Education, Education.

The better you education yourself in Nutrition, the more enjoyment and understanding you will have on your journey!

Kyle Bonsor PT

Please quit spouting false BS on the boards

ceoverturf NOT a PT

ashesfromfire

Your salad sounds delicious. I'm more concerned you only ate 782 calories. eating that low, in the long run will be unsustainable and unhealthy. Just because you want to eat healthy doesn't mean your body doesn't need fuel. Try and have breakfast or add healthy snacks throughout the day to add calories and nutrition to your diet.

Athijade

I eat more fat then that on a daily basis, have lost weight, and improved my health markers.

I am more worried about the fact you ate less then 800 calories.

laureneliseashton

Sorry, but yes that salad is definitely unhealthy. Adding cheese and processed meat to a salad defeats the purpose. A salad should be an abundance of veggies, (fruit if you want), some nuts, etc. Adding cheese and meat to it is excess fat, calories, and cholesterol. Worried about not enough protein? Add some garbanzo or black beans to it! Worried its not filling enough? Add some brown rice or other grain to it.

Also, the dressing alone can be killer. Try doing an oil or vinegar based dressing, not cream.

We tend to dress our salads too much in this country, which turns something that is supposed to be healthy, into something unhealthy.

I have worked at a health food company, and have read a lot of literature on proper nutrition. Trust me, try to steer clear of processed meats and cheeses! Those are killer to any healthy diet.

Happy eating

W31RD0

I'm brand spanking new and really know nothing about proper diet. I mean,have an idea BUT when I see a big -13 for my daily fat consumption it throws me off and maybe I'm not eating as healthy as I thought I was? I don't even want to eat anymore today because of that -13!! Today is my first day logging and I really want to start off on the right track so I would like some advice seeing as how I don't know what I'm doing. Was my salad at lunch healthy ?! If it wasn't I'm not surprised because it was delicious! lol Any advice would be great! Thank you everyone!

oh, I am insulin resistant, I don't know if that matters...

It's quite hard to get your other macros when trying to make fat under a certain amount. 13 extra fat grams is only comes to about 117 calories, you still had a deficit because of having less protein and carbs. Please don't allow yourself to get overworked on such a small amount when you still went under your calories for the day.

I would honestly worry less about the salad and more about the fact you practically didn't eat that day.

itsbasschick

when you're eating low calorie, almost 200 calories of salad dressing is going to make life very difficult. i've never figured out why salads are considered "diet foods", when almost every salad dressing is so high in calories. you might want to try galeo's world's best miso and galeo's ginger wasabe dressings. they're much lower in calories and fat - one is 20 calories per tablespoon, the other is 25 - and i find both of them deeelish..

btw, i was type 2 diabetic - am now insulin resistant and heading toward normal - and i cut my calories drastically when starting out. i almost ended up in the hospital, i got so dizzy i couldn't stand up (literally!), and so weak and headachy it was scary. eat 200 calories every 2 1/2 hours or 250 every 3 and you'll cut out those blood sugar spikes, helping normalize your blood sugar. you'll also keep from blood sugar drops, which beside making you not feel well can also cause your blood sugar to spike.

ja20102004

200 calories is alot. But just use a small amount or enough to lightly coat the salad. My problem is sodium. I need to use less salt.

Akimajuktuq

Wow. This is the problem with MFP. They have the defaults so messed up for people with metabolic disorders (ie excess body fat!) and people don't think/research for themselves. Probably only athletes could eat all those carbs and be fine (or shirtless 18 year old males).

OP, if you are insulin resistant you should likely be consuming far more healthy fats (from animals, coconuts, avocado etc) and far fewer carbs than MFP defaults. Hint: do some research, change your macros, experiment, and find what works for you. MFP is a tool, not God.

susanhallberg

I have finally found the right mix of calories for me is to try to even out how many calories I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My trainer also recommends more protein in the mix than fat. Your salad looks healthy, but pay attention to portion control (my biggest downfall). If you don't have one already, invest in a good food scale, it will help a lot.

I also echo that you should be eating breakfast and 782 calories is way too low. You have to eat to lose!

smarieallen85

That's more calories than I would put in my salad, but if your diet can afford it, it's not ridiculous. Not like you're eating a cobb salad drenched in creamy dressing. I'd take the bacon out and use those calories somewhere else in the day.