Is my salad unhealthy?
CocoBeans8
Posts: 2
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...
oh, I am insulin resistant, I don't know if that matters...
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Replies
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You're doing fine. Just get some carbs and protein for dinner and carry on.0
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As above, just mainly concentrate on the calories0
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Personally I treat MFP's recommendations as minimums for fat and protein as they are set quite low.0
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Your salad is fine. I would worry that if you are finished for the day that your calories are so low. Try to get as close as possible to the calories even if you are over by a small number. Once you have that under control you can focus on your macros.0
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Don't fear the red and green numbers!
Calories are what matter for weight loss, but even going over slightly on that number isn't always a setback. If your calories are in the correct range you will lose weight (assuming no medical issues).
Macros (carbs/fat/protein) help with things like body composition, hunger and health. For instance, fats help with healthy skin and nails, hormone control, and they help keep you fuller longer.
Going over on any of your macros won't hinder your weight loss (medical issues not-withstanding, of course). And a lot of us choose to customize those numbers anyway.
Unless you have a medical reason to avoid fats, then a -13 won't make any difference.0 -
Ask your doctor. They can recommend foods to avoid and tell you if you should be low fat or whatever. They may even refer you to a nutritionist.
Your doctor knows best!!0 -
I don't know. Is the lettuce still green and crisp, or has it gone all brown and wilty?0
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Ask your doctor. They can recommend foods to avoid and tell you if you should be low fat or whatever. They may even refer you to a nutritionist.
Your doctor knows best!!
Doctors usually know very little about nutrition. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. If you want actual advice find a registered dietician, and even then there's good and bad.
The salad sounds pretty yummy!0 -
No foods are unhealthy, if eaten in moderate portions. Even fried croutons or pepperoni (see below)0
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It depends on what's in your salad. :flowerforyou:
As long as you stay away from processed ingredients you should be fine. No fried croutons, pepperoni, etc.0 -
It depends on what's in your salad. :flowerforyou:
As long as you stay away from processed ingredients you should be fine. No fried croutons, pepperoni, etc.
Those things can help make a salad healthy.0 -
I think it looks good! You could've added a hard boiled egg, too.
ETA this. It's really helpful for learning how to fill out your diary. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity0 -
It depends on what's in your salad. :flowerforyou:
As long as you stay away from processed ingredients you should be fine. No fried croutons, pepperoni, etc.
She will be fine even if she doesn't stay away from processed ingredients.
Nobody tells me I can't eat pepperoni anytime I want.
:flowerforyou:0 -
-13 for fat isn't bad at all. I usually just ignore those numbers, in all honesty. I personally pay more attention to my carb number because I had gestational diabetes, so that puts me at a higher risk for diabetes. I agree with what other posters have said. If your diary is complete for the day, you haven't eaten enough. It's important to eat enough, or your body will slow down your metabolism to compensate.0
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The salad looks fine. A lot of your fat is from eggs and almonds, which are great foods to include as part of your diet, too.
MFP has certain macro levels that are fine, but there is a wide range of healthy macro levels that you will probably eventually want to adjust for your personal goals. Rather than making everything too complicated and difficult at the beginning, I would recommend just getting used to logging and hitting your calorie goal for a while. After you do that, you can go back and see where you were each week on your macros and if you are significantly over or under the MFP recommended default on some of them you can think about whether it matters to you and if so how to fix it.
For example, after doing this for a bit I found that I felt better and more satiated when I ate more protein, and researched recommended protein levels for people dieting and exercising and decided that I wanted to up my protein to 105 grams (30% of my calorie goal before I add any exercise calories, and also my estimated lean body mass). Once I did that, I saw that I was routinely falling short, so I changed my diet around a little to increase my protein.
No need to do that kind of thing at the beginning, though. You aren't going to be able to hit your macros perfectly most of the time, and you aren't supposed to stay under all of them, so instead maybe use them to help make decisions about what to eat. Like now you can focus on protein for dinner. But really that you are over on fat and under on carbs is no reason to be bothered. Lots of people intentionally eat fewer carbs and more fat because they feel fuller. The typical source of your fat matters more, and it seems fine.0 -
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 PT0 -
Your salad looks delicious and pretty nutritious. If you want suggestions to make it a little lower in calories, you could try using less dressing or a lighter one..but if you love that dressing, just know it's relatively high in calories and plan accordingly.
And please eat dinner.0 -
I would say the salad looks fine. May want to try a low fat version, if it bothers you. Says there was 18 grams of fat in that. Just a thought. Oh...and eat breakfast too! And please eat more than 2 eggs for dinner! You need to eat, sweetie!0
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Thank you for all of your replies!! Very very helpful!!0
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I wouldn't worry so much bout the fat as getting enough calories. You want to find something thats sustainable longterm.0
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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 PT0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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!0 -
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.0
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