How can Salad Help You Lose Weight? - By: Abdullah Salim

The first step on your journey of weight loss starts with identifying things that are contributing to your weight. We all know that salads are healthy foods, and that they can be quite delectable and filling. One of the biggest reasons why salads make a great food is that you don’t have to turn on your stove. You eat them fresh and raw. However, many of us do not know that there are many salads and salad add-ons that work the other way round and increase our calorie intake.

What Makes a Great Salad?

When you hit a salad bar, do not just start taking two scoops from every tray and stuff your plate. No doubt, a blend of different hues will make your salad platter look really sumptuous but what is more important is to keep healthy choices in mind in advance. The foremost thing that should occupy maximum space on your plate should be leafy greens. This will leave less room for stuff that is high in calories. Even in leafy greens, spinach, lettuce and other darker greens make a better choice than iceberg lettuce. Spinach leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals.

The following nutritious foods make great salads that are low in fat and calories:
• tomatoes
• beets
• peppers
• sprouts
• red cabbage
• cucumbers
• carrots
• peas
• beans
• mushrooms
• onions

If you have a sweet tooth, increasing salads in your daily diet may seem a daunting and unsavory task. The best thing to do is to add fruits that make great salads add-ons. You may choose from sliced strawberries, red grapes, cranberries, apples slices and tangerine sections. These fruits are also great when it comes to giving a boost to the nutrition level of your salad, especially when you replace your salad dressing with fruits.

What Makes a Calorie Rich Salad?

Sometimes we tend to increase the caloric level of our salad by sprinkling it with or adding one to two scoops of the following:
• 1 oz. marinated artichoke hearts - 60 calories
• ½ cup noodles - 118 calories
• 1 tbsp peanuts - 50 calories
• ½ cup tuna salad - 192 calories
• ½ cup regular cottage cheese - 116 calories
• ½ cup fried noodles - 172 calories

Some other mouth-watering things to avoid are macaroni or pasta salads (made using mayo), croutons, blue cheese, pepperoni slices, potato and cheddar cheese.

Remember to keep all these points in mind before you visit your favorite salad bar the next time.

About the Author

GNGH has more than a decade’s experience in motivating and helping people attain their health and weight loss goals. Visit gngh for more information on how you can enrich your health.

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