Let's Talk About Salad

Wow I havn't posted all week. I've been so busy trying to get ahead of my work because I'm going home tomorrow! I can't wait.

But anyway let's get to business. So a healthy option at the dining hall-or in general- can be salad. Emphasis on the can. Some people go overboard and their salad turns into being a nightmare. So step by step we are going to build a delicious, and healthy salad.
1. Lot's of greens! They are very low in calories and filling too so load up on them.
2. Pile on the veggies! As long as they're raw they also have very low calories. Try to get as many colors as possible to get different nutrients. Beware of veggie salads that are premixed and have some kind of dressing on them. Usually they are soaking in the dressing and that is a ton of calories.
3. Add protein but don't go overboard. Protein is important for keeping you full but it can also add a lot of calories to your meal. Try to stick to healthy choices like eggs(yes they are healthy despite misconceptions), grilled chicken breast, salmon, legumes and tofu. Aim for about half a cup of these choices.
4. Fruit- it's delicious on salad, try it! Sometimes I use pineapple juice or applesauce as a replacement for dressing and it's amazing.
5. Toppings- beware of these. Dried fruit has much more sugar and calories than regular fruit. Seeds have a lot of sodium. If you always have toppings try only choosing one at each meal now. My strategy (for sunflower seeds) is have them on a salad maybe once every week or two.
6. Now comes dressings, which everybody knows is bad! And even worse at dining halls they usually don't have light versions. I have gotten into balsamic vinegar lately. It is nice and light and soaks into the tofu well to flavor it. If you absolutely don't like vinegars try to stay away from creamy dressings and don't overload your salad. The salad is about the veggies not the dressing on top.

Hope this helps,

Fit girl over and out.