[happygal]

My daughter is on a healthy kick! Let’s eat better – salads and water (and G2)… She is driving me crazy! She was shocked when she started to look at calories in the items she put in her salad! Croutons, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, ranch dressing – all full of calories. Of course she put tons of veggies in too. She has since switched to Fat free Ranch and no bacon bits! How healthy is your salad?

[ash]

For the most part is it pretty healthy but I have my bad days too. I used to grab a chicken salad on the way for lunch when I worked downtown. I switched to light dressing a while back too and it really helped!

[Buttercup]

My salads are very healthy, but I completely understand the trap your daughter fell into. It's a common one. A typical salad for me has a base of romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spinach, and radicchio. Then I add a little of each of the following: radishes, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, roasted beets, grape tomatoes, red cabbage, grated carrot, avocado, and olives. It gets topped with a homemade vinaigrette, so I save a ton of calories and fat there too.

[craftykris]

Yum buttercup - I want one of those. It's all in the dressing, perhaps you can get her to switch to a clear based dressing. I don't know how many calories sunflower seeds have - I wouldn't think a lot?

[jollyrancher]

My favorite salad is chicken Cesar salad, and I toss in a few craisins. I'm very careful to pay attention to the serving size of the salad dressing, and also how much chicken I put in my salad. Most light Cesar dressings are as delicious as regular. Sometimes I do a homemade balsamic vinaigrette instead of the Cesar dressing, but I always measure it out before I put it on.

[Bella]

Dressing is usually one of the main offenders when it comes to adding calories and fat to salads. Personally, I love creamy dressings. My solution to the calories and fat is to make a homemade vinaigrette and whisk in a teaspoon of fat free plain yogurt. I've tried it with several different vinaigrettes and it's worked well so far. Granted, it's not as creamy as bottled ranch or what have you, but it satisfies my craving for a thicker, creamier dressing.

[hayley]

For sure it's the salad dressing that can add empty calories. If I'm making a meal out of a salad, the more stuff I add the better. I add seeds, nuts, fruit and bits of chicken at times. And I'm full when I finish.

[homemaker]

This is why I love our low carb lifestyle. If you cut out the carbs you can have all the fat you want and still lose weight. Full fat ranch dressing and cheddar cheese would be my downfall otherwise.

[OCDQueen]

Homemaker, low carb isn't all it is cracked up to be either. Trading in healthy carbs for fats isn't a good idea. I put all veggies in my salad like romaine, red cabbage, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Then I top it with a little low fat dressing.

[wreckedmess]

The extra's get us every time. Most never realize that there is nothing wrong with coffee until you add a ton of sugar and creamer to it.