A salad a day.... My Method

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LaLa_Ventura
LaLa_Ventura Posts: 94 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been trying to incorporate more vegetables and fiber into my daily diet. So I started bringing salad ingredients to work in a larger lunch tote and making my salads fresh at work everyday. I've gotten quicker with my cutting, preparing and clean up (10-12 minutes) so that I may enjoy the rest of my actual lunch break and I honestly enjoy it. I have a couple of coworkers who sometimes pitch in with money,ingredients and/or preping. I try to switch up ingredients and dressings all the time so I don't get bored and I also incorporate my left overs with my salads. Some days I'll have a tuna pouch and some days someone will bring leftover chicken and rice or lasagna and we have a meal. Or if I decide I want chinese I'll buy a small portion and add it along with my salad.

I never skimp on the portions becasue I'm a women who likes to eat and I will be famished if I try to eat like a bird, especially by dinner time and I know I will get tempted to buy something on the long commute home. So I pile on the veggies and the lettuce. If I don't finish it then, I simple put my lid on my glass tuperware bowl and save it for commute or home. After my salad I usually have a nice cup of herbal tea or some lemon water and I am truly satisfied.

It was a personal decision that somehow turned into an on and off "salad club"..I know it sound dorky and I don't call it that but...it's kind of what it is.

What do you guys do to make sure your eating right for atleast one meal of the day?
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Replies

  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    I'm a little (okay a lot) spoiled because my husband makes dinner for us nearly every night. And he's great about making the healthiest meal possible. So while he's cooking, I do up our dinner salads. My goal is make them as colorful as possible, so I use spring mix with a little spinach or other greens, colorful small peppers, grape or cherry tomatoes, and whatever veggies we have that need to be eaten up before they go bad. Then we top it off with a teaspoon of chia seeds and teaspoon of hemp seeds.

    So for at least one meal, we are getting a ton of veggies! :smile:
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
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    I do the same! I love eating a huge salad! I load my salads with whatever is in season, like cucumbers, 'matoes, etc, and then i eat until i'm full. Nothing like a huge salad.
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
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    I love salads so I really wish we worked together so we could be in the salad club :)

    I always bring extra fruit with me for snacking purposes. So if that 3pm craving comes in...I grab that orange, banana, apple, grapes that is in my bag instead of venturing to the cafeteria for chips.
  • LTKeegan
    LTKeegan Posts: 354 Member
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    I found awesome tupperware with a little cup that snaps into the lid, so I pack my salad: usually as much spinach as I can force into the tupperware, carrots (I love to shred them), cucumber, onion, sometimes olives or cheese, and basically anything we have in the fridge, I put my serving of salad dressing in the awesome little cup, et voila!


    I don't know if you've ever used a mandolin (not the instrument) but I bought one for like $5 at a cooking store and it REVOLITIONIZED salads for me. Seriously. I can now make my amazingly overflowing salad with all the veggies I could ever want in less than 5 minutes. (I sound like the slap chop guy. haha) but seriously. Though do be careful, I've hacked off parts of my finger before, the blades are sharp :(
  • archaichoney
    archaichoney Posts: 132 Member
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    I do this. Every afternoon I have a spinach salad with chicken and Newmans Own lite raspberry dressing (so good). Depending on prices and what's at the grocery store or what I'm in the mood for I mix up the veggies I toss into it. This week it's been shredded zucchini, strawberries and chopped walnuts. I put it into a nice sized plastic salad bowl. I never get tired of it somehow.
  • jenchamb1
    jenchamb1 Posts: 73 Member
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    I have salad everyday for lunch too! I never get bored because I mix it up. Romaine, purple cabbage, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, snap peas, peppers (red, orange, yellow or green), red onion, scallions, mushrooms, radishes, cucumber, green beans...any combo. For protein, I use one of the following: almonds, walnuts (especially love roasting the nuts first), sunflower seeds, chicken or tuna.
    And I usually have 3 salad dressings I use: Bolthouse honey mustard and salsa ranch, and Panera fat free poppy seed.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    I like to do that too. Last week I bought a salad mix that had carrots, cabbage, bleu cheese and sunflower kernals, I bought a chicken from the deli and had 3 meals for the work week.

    Bonus: it's pretty low-cal. More food for dinner!
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
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    my 10am salad is the best thing about my eating during the day.

    i keep it simple, lettuce, kraft 4blend mexican cheese, new york texas toast croutons, Mccormick - Salad Toppings, and some kind of mix of dried cranberries and walnuts (bought at walmart)

    add to that one delightful cup of hidden valley ranch dressing (lite) and i am in heaven
  • LoriA6724
    LoriA6724 Posts: 98 Member
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    I eat salad every day for lunch too! I bring enough to work to last me all week. I make it up daily. I keep a variety of things on hand so that I can mix it up and I don't get tired of it. It's so much easier than remembering to make it up the night before or rushing in the morning to get it made.
  • tibby531
    tibby531 Posts: 717 Member
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    I do my salads for dinner, but I bring a (star trek:os) lunchbox filled with fruits, veggies, yogurt, jerky, beans, cheese and almonds in attempt to snack healthily throughout the day.

    I love the idea of a salad club. "tres adorbs." :)

    keep up the great attitude, it'll take you farther than you ever thought possible.
  • elainecroft
    elainecroft Posts: 595 Member
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    Love salads! My new favorite is broccoli slaw, blue cheese, zucchini, and poppyseed dressing!
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
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    That's wonderful! I love salad and I feel like your making a great decision!

    I found a meme on Facebook showing a farmer handing a guy a head of lettuce saying "Take one daily, call me if it doesn't clear up in a few weeks." Well, I took that way too literally, and try to have a salad daily myself, although right now I'm fasting.

    I get so excited about my yummy salads I wind up having 800 calorie salads, so I really need to scale it back!

    Good for you and good for us both, though!
  • rpmtnbkr
    rpmtnbkr Posts: 137 Member
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    My daily staple as well... some sort of salad mix, handful of carrots, a serving of fat free cottage cheese, grilled chicken and some shredded cheese, along with whatever garden veggies are available.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I eat a salad almost every day as well!

    I bring all of my stuff in a tote too! And pile on veggies I know I like so that when I'm invited out to lunch I won't cave. However coworkers aren't really into the eating right thing, so I'm doing it by myself.

    :-D Truth is my salads always taste so good, because they are hand made just for me! <---makes it easier to stay on track too
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
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    What do you guys do to make sure your eating right for atleast one meal of the day?

    I eat right every meal of the day (not trying to be snotty - just do). We plan our dinners on the weekend so we know what we are cooking when we get home (I have 3 shelves full of cook books). I make our lunches every morning. We take turns making breakfast.

    MFP allows me to monitor the qty of food I put in my gob, which has always been the problem.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    I am far too lazy to cut and prep salad every day. I do it once or twice a week, cut up my basics of green leaf lettuce, baby spinach, shredded carrots and broccoli and mix it all up. I put that in a gallon ziploc bag, squeeze out the air and close it up. It stays fresh for a week while I just reach in, grab a handful (or two) and then add in whatever I may want to change it up. I don't include cucumbers or anything that's wet so it doesn't get soggy and it's much easier than having to cut everything up every day.
  • LaLa_Ventura
    LaLa_Ventura Posts: 94 Member
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    Oh wow. I never thought to put chia seeds in my salad. I have some at work that I put in my water periodically but I sometime forget. Thanks for the tip.
  • LaLa_Ventura
    LaLa_Ventura Posts: 94 Member
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    I love salads so I really wish we worked together so we could be in the salad club :)

    I always bring extra fruit with me for snacking purposes. So if that 3pm craving comes in...I grab that orange, banana, apple, grapes that is in my bag instead of venturing to the cafeteria for chips.

    Yes. I have those cravings and I ALWAYS want something sweet. I have granola bars but I know the sugar content is through the roof. lol
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
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    You guys are making me hungry. I had switched from salads to green smoothies so I could use my 30 minute lunch break for walking, but some days, like today, I find out that the green smoothie I made tastes like ... well, it tastes bad. And unfortunately, I fill two 28 oz shaker bottles at a time, freeze one, and bring the other to work. So I have another bad green smoothie that I'll be eating tomorrow.

    I want a salad. Maybe I'll try salads again and see if I can get away with eating them at my desk in the afternoon. My salads tend to be pretty big with a wide assortment of veggies, lots of fruits, and tofu or chicken.

    And no salad dressing. Somebody on MFP said something about eating their salad without dressing, which got me to thinking. So I tried it and I liked it.
  • Cynner2007
    Cynner2007 Posts: 46 Member
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    Thanks for all the salad ideas! I can't wait for summer and all the fresh veggies..

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