Salads

[Fat2Skinny T]

I am a bit confused about salads.

I've read a lot of people have HUGE salads for lunch...What is considered Huge and what are people putting on them to make them Atkins friendly.
I know I can put bacon, eggs, Cheese, chicken, steak, etc...but how much of the protein do I use and How much Salad dressing.

Ugh, I have read and read atkins several times and have either missed the think on salads or it didn't sink in.

[julirama723]

Re: Salads

Well, salads count towards your veggies. During induction, you may have up to 3 cups of salad veggies a day, or TWO cups plus one cup of OTHER veggies.

How much stuff do you put on? You'll need to check fitday percentages and keep your carb/fat/protein ratios in check.

I had a large salad for lunch today after I got home from the gym...keep in mind, I'm in OWL, so what I can put on my salad is different than what you can put on yours. I had 3c. mixed baby greens, 1 oz. shredded cheese, 1 strip of bacon crumbled, sliced bell peppers, crushed pecans, and vinagrette dressing. Like I said, I'm in OWL so my options are different--since I can have more carbs, my salad was a large amount of dark leafy greens, with some protein and fat thrown in.

Obviously you want to avoid binging or going overboard--so don't do a cup of lettuce with 12 oz. of chicken on it LOL! A nice dinner salad would be a cup of lettuce, packed, with perhaps some celery, bell peppers, mushrooms, whatever veggies you want, a bit of cheese, hardboiled egg, and I usually used ranch dressing during induction, less than a tablespoon, simply because I'm not a big dressing fan. Just remember any veggies you put into your salad need to be counted either towards "salad" veggies or "other veggies."

[Fat2Skinny T]

Re: Salads

Thanks Julie.

I love salads and I will check out Fitday to find my percentages. I didn't know you had to follow percentages, I thought you just eat 20 carbs or below during induction.

[higgies]

Re: Salads

Typically, during induction and OWL I have found that a typical caesar salad or lunch style salad you get at a restaurant is about 3 cups of lettuce, plus any additional veggies that might be on there. I also include about 2-3 tblspns of salad dressing whatever kind it is.

[Fat2Skinny T]

Re: Salads

Thanks Higgies.

[Chasin2Kids]

Re: Salads

I read somewhere that the average salad in a restaurant is 7 cups of lettuce. Crazy!

[higgies]

Re: Salads

Serious?? Well, at least lettucce is essentially chewy water and has the least nutritional value (including carbs). If you go over on any kind of food, veggies are the one to make the mistake with.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Salads

I made a point a while back about salads....Here are my thoughts.
1) during induction you are allowed 3 cups of "salad vegetables" which lettuce is only ONE of the veggies on that list. I'm horrified when I see people eating all 3 cups of their veggies in lettuce. As higgies said, its just crunchy water with little nutritional value. There are other vegetables on that list that are far more satisfying than just lettuce IMO.
2) This is one of my pet peeves...If you are eating a whole restaurant salad (even from McDonalds or from Ruby Tuesdays) that is a whole lot more than 3 cups just in that one package. There is nothing wrong with this if you are past your first two weeks. This is ONGOING WEIGHT LOSS RUNG 1 vegetable portions. Don't call it extended induction. You are on rung 1. Period.
3) Vegetables are CRITICAL to your Atkins WOL for the vitamins, minerals and FIBER they contain. Make sure to pick vegetables from the list that give you the most bang for your buck. Jicama is an EXCELLENT "salad vegetable". Leafy green vegetables are also wonderful for their fiber content as well as their nutrient content (spinach, collards, mustards, turnip greens and kale) Peppers are another nutrient powerhouse--having more vitamin C than an orange.

[julirama723]

Re: Salads

Valid is right--be bold and daring with lettuces/leafy greens--the darker, the better. STAY AWAY FROM ICEBERG! It's a waste of time. And don't be afraid to put things in your salad that you wouldn't think of normally. Be creative--there are 54 veggies on the list, so there's lots of room to expirement!

[Fat2Skinny T]

Re: Salads

Thanks everyone on your posts about salads. It does help me a lot in figuring how to create a nutritious lunch.