Today's #NutritionTipTuesday is to eat more salad. (Crazy, right??) Salad is awesome. It helps me feel my best and tastes great. It also helps my clients lose lots of weight, which I know many readers are interested in.
Somehow salads gotten a bit of a bad name over the years. I have theories on why, but they are not important for this post. Entertaining perhaps, but really not nice. Finger-pointing isn't gonna solve anything. I just wanna shine some light on why I love salads and look forward to eating them 5+ times a week:
- I LOVE adding honeycrisp apples or various pear varieties to them. Cut 'em up. Your taste buds will love it cuz it's delicious. Your waistline will love it because it's going to be more filling for less calories. (I'm also gonna get more experimental with berries this year when they're in season!)
- Bagged salads are SO EASY to make! Not even I can screw it up. They're also relatively cheap for how many servings of nutrients you get.
- There's SO MANY different kinds! I'm partial to sweet kale in the bagged world, but love trying different ones out at restaurants. If someone says they don't like salad, I'd argue that's too broad of a statement and they just haven't tried enough types. There's something out there for everyone!
- It's the simplest way to get in your recommended 5 fist-sized servings of veggies a day. Most contain at least 3, so with just one salad you're over half way there!
- Dressing is delicious. There's been a lot of articles and blogs demonizing the calories in dressing. Yes, dressing has calories. A salad with dressing is still healthier than what most people eat for lunch, or for dinner, or as a side for either. I've mentioned how awesome and low-calorie the greek yogurt ranch is (in the refrigerated dressing section by the prepackaged salads). I'm certainly a big fan of that, but the reality is most people just need to get their vegetables, with or without extra calories from dressing. I'm yet to work with a client where dressing was a long-term obstacle.
There's nothing revolutionary about saying that salad is good for you and is a staple in many people's weight loss journeys. The trick is just eating it. My goal here was to remind you how awesome it is, and get you looking for new (or old) varieties that you like, regardless of your dressing choices!
Down With The Fitness is here to give you simple, actionable tips that will improve your health. If you found this helpful, feel free to check out the archives for more.
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Have fun and do your best,
Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach (American Council on Exercise; Precision Nutrition)
