{"id":16141,"date":"2020-08-28T12:18:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T19:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/?p=16141"},"modified":"2020-08-28T12:18:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T19:18:06","slug":"how-eating-a-salad-to-lose-weight-may-actually-work-against-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/health-insurance-blog\/how-eating-a-salad-to-lose-weight-may-actually-work-against-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How Eating a Salad to Lose Weight May Actually Work Against You"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of first things many people do to lose weight is to switch to eating salads for lunch, unaware it could actually work against them. They figure it\u2019s got to contain less fat and calories than a burger or piece of pizza, but (here comes the shocker) \u2013 depending on the salad in question, that\u2019s not necessarily true.<\/p>\n

The average burger contains about 450 calories and 19 grams of fat. So, to combat your battle of the bulge, you opt for the seemingly healthier meal of a salad at your local fast food restaurant. McDonalds\u2019 Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken drizzled with Ranch dressing sounds like the perfect alternative to those greasy burgers and fries, right? Wrong, actually.<\/p>\n

The Southwest Salad just mentioned adds more calories and fat to your diet than the average McDonald\u2019s hamburger. That \u201chealthy\u201d salad, explains Sharon Palmer (who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the author of Plant-Powered for Life) is worth a minimum of 530 calories and 28 grams of fat. Eat a salad like this every day and you\u2019re not likely to drop many pounds at all!<\/p>\n

All this said, fresh vegetables, legumes and fruits are the cornerstone of a healthy diet. Eating salads to lose weight and get healthy can be a great idea \u2013 but there are a few things to watch for. Aside from making sure your salad greens have been washed thoroughly, try to avoid:<\/p>\n

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1. Creamy dressings<\/strong>
\nBleu cheese and ranch dressings may taste good and may be the difference between you having a salad and avoiding one, but if you\u2019re looking to lower your calorie and saturated fat intake, you\u2019ll be failing miserably. Try vinaigrette instead. It\u2019s a great deal better for you than pouring globs of bleu cheese and ranch all over your tossed lettuce and cherry tomatoes.<\/p>\n

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2. Don\u2019t be fooled by Fat-Free<\/strong>
\nBe aware that when your favorite dressing manufacturer removes the fat from his product, he\u2019ll replace it with a slew of substitute processed ingredients to maintain a high-level of flavor, according to Jim White, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. Those may include: higher sodium, increased carbohydrates in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, among others. And, if the dressing is handed to you in a generic packet from a fast food place, it could contain even more things that aren\u2019t especially good for you.<\/p>\n

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3. Heavy taco salads<\/strong>
\nYou don\u2019t have to completely avoid eating taco salads. However, keep in mind that many Mexican-inspired salads can be high in fat. Taco shell bowls, complete with fried tortilla strips, shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream can wreck even the best laid plans to lose weight. The cheese alone can account for 250 calories and almost 20 grams of fat, says nutritionist Rebecca Lewis, R.D, who recommends having your taco salad with lettuce, beans, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, but not fattening dairy products.<\/p>\n

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4. Bacon Bits<\/strong>
\nCome on, everything tastes better with bacon on it. But, if you actually believe bacon bits are part of losing weight with your \u201chealthy\u201d bowl of lettuce \u2013 guess again. Consider this: one tablespoon of bacon bits packs 50 calories, 500 milligrams of water-retaining sodium, loads of trans fats and preservatives. Those same trans fats have been linked to a higher incidence of weight gain, obesity, type2 diabetes, and heart disease.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t play with your health. Eat healthy and make sure you fulfill the Affordable Care Act health insurance requirements with a low-cost health insurance quote<\/a> from Freeway Insurance<\/a> today?<\/p>\n

How\u2019s your diet going? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of first things many people do to lose weight is to switch to eating salads for lunch, unaware it could actually work against them. They figure it\u2019s got to contain less fat and calories than a burger or piece of pizza, but (here comes the shocker) \u2013 depending on the salad in question, that\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[339,306],"tags":[53],"importance":[],"type-content":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16141"},{"taxonomy":"importance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/importance?post=16141"},{"taxonomy":"type-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-content?post=16141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}