How To Make The Healthiest Salad (Best Ingredients To Use) 

 

 

 

Ok, so if you have been following me for a while, you are probably like WHAT?

 

I thought you really don’t like salads?

 

And the truth is I really don’t love eating salads, and I talk all about that in this post about why I don’t like to eat salads.

 

I mean, I love the taste of salads, but they just don’t satisfy me.  I usually eat them and then feel hungry about an hour later.  So I tend to “over-eat” when I eat salads so they are just not the best option for me even though I do enjoy eating them because they taste yummy.

 

What I am against, is those people who JUST eat salads in an attempt to “lose weight” and “eat cleaner”.  There are so many foods and recipes and meals that you can eat that are just as healthy.  It’s just not NECESSARY to just eat salads in order to get in great shape or lose weight.  

 

But I know people eat salads to not eat carbs.  But people, carbs are not the enemy and I talk all about CARBS and why “Trying Not To Eat Carbs Doesn’t Work”, you will be surprised, but it may change your life.  Make sure you read this link/why-trying-not-to-eat-carbs-doesnt-work

 

Now, let me tell you when is a good time to eat salads.

 

There are some occasions where I will eat a salad and that is when I eat out and the place has no good or healthy options.  If I feel like the food is too salty, too greasy, and there aren’t any clean options, then I will opt for a salad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I talked all about “Eating Out” and how you can eat out without sacrificing your results or weight loss.  Most people are in a vicious cycle just because of the weekends and eating out, event though they eat clean all week.  So this is a must read, I think you will really benefit from it:  Eating Out Without Gaining Weight.

 

I really don’t make salads at home.  

 

But I know that a lot of you do.  But most people don’t eat salads the right way.  Most of the time, salads are filled with empty calories (no real nutrition to them).  Which is part of the reason why they aren’t filling.

 

So I want to give you some tips on how to build a salad that is more nutritious and will be more filling, because I know that a lot of you do enjoy eating salads.  So if you are going to eat one, you may as well make it a nutritious one.

 

If you have been having a hard time LOSING WEIGHT and you have been trying to eat more salads in an attempt to do so but still nothing…

 

Your lack of weight loss is probably not because you are eating too many calories, it’s probably most people’s problem…  EATING THE WRONG TYPES OF FOODS.

 

There are some foods that are just DETRIMENTAL to your weight loss, muscle gain and results.

 

The digestive track is one of the biggest and most important processes of the body.  And if digestion is off, it can completely prevent you from LOSING WEIGHT and BURNING FAT.

 

So how do you prevent yourself from having your digestion be off?

 

Easy… Don’t eat foods that are INFLAMMATORY.

 

Too much inflammation in the digestive system doesn’t allow you to burn fat and lose weight.  That means that even if you are eating only 500 calories a day and exercising 7 days a week but you are consuming some of these “inflammatory” foods, its possible that you don’t lose ONE OUNCE of fat.

 

Pretty crazy huh?

 

I know, its insane, but true.

 

And when I finally understood this, and took out of my diet and my clients diets all those foods that cause inflammation, it was soooooo much easier to lose weight.

 

So before I give you this awesome recipe, I want to make sure that you take these INFLAMMATORY FOODS  out of you diet.  There are 5 foods you should take out of your diet that will make a huge difference.

 

Seriously, when I take these foods out of my clients diets, its like the drop 10 lbs in like a week or two.  They totally de-bloat.  It’s crazy.

 

What I’m going to do for you is give you a list of the foods in a nice PDF so that you can print it and keep it in your kitchen as a reminder.  I also went ahead and gave you 5 foods that you MUST include in  your diet if you wan tot maximize your results.  I figured, if I’m giving you what you CAN’T eat, I better give you what you CAN eat.  It’s all right here in this PDF for you.

 

If you take these out of your diet, I promise, you will definitely see a change.  I did! I actually saw a huge change in my body, and I was already pretty lean before that.

 

I finally saw ABS the way I never saw them before.  But I also started doing some amazing ABS EXERCISES. So I want to show you what those exercises are.  So I made like a 30 seconds video of those exercises for you.  You can get all of this, the PDF and the short video here.

 

Once you go to the link to get access to all of this (which by the way is totally free), you will also receive a few emails from me for a few days.  Make sure you open and read them.  I have taken a lot of time to give you plenty of tips and tricks and strategies to help you get rid of these foods and make better options.  There’s a ton of golden nuggets in those emails that will really help you lose weight and get more toned.

 

Ok, now that I got that super important information out of the way, which by the way can be life changing for your results, lets get back to “SALAD BUILDING”.

 

Steps To Building A Nutritious Salad

 

1.  Choose greens that actually have some nutrition to them.

 (iceberg and Romain lettuce would be the least).  The best greens to choose from are Arugula, Watercress, Spinach.  So start the base of your salad with these greens.

 

2.  Add tons of vegetables.

 

 Vegetables are very thermic (hard to digest so your body has to use a lot of energy in order to break them down, in essence, burning a ton of calories just by digesting them.)

 

Most salads people will add some cucumbers and celery and call it a day.

 

No! Add broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, carrots.  

 

Don’t be afraid to add as many veggies as you can.  The more veggies, the greater your caloric burn.

 

I love to add ROASTED VEGETABLES to my salads.  That is one way I love to eat salads.  

 

And I usually roast veggies on a weekly basis and if you do this also, its great to just throw your left over roasted or grilled veggies on top of some arugula and spinach…  Yum!

 

By the way, did you get my Marinara Roasted Vegetable Recipe?

 

If you didn’t, you are going to die die die, I mean, these vegetables are unbelievable.  I literally stood on top of the stove with a spoon and ate out of the dish, I almost ate half of it before dinner even started…  that good 🙂

 

And make sure you are following me on PINTEREST because I post tons of workouts, exercise videos and even tons and tons of healthy recipes and weight loss tips.  

 

They are all organized in boards for you to find what you need easily.  So go there now and hit FOLLOW ALL so you don’t miss anything.

 

3. Add some healthy carbs.

 

Now, I get it, most of you are eating salads in order to “not eat carbs”. But really, its not necessary.  It’s not the sweet potato or brown rice that is preventing you from losing weight.  Its the crap you are eating in between meals.  Its the chips, the crackers, the pretzels, the ice cream, the cookies…

 

So just get over it.  Carbs are good for you and they help you feel full, they give you energy, and they will help prevent you from over eating or eating bad options.

 

Here are some healthy carbs that are great in salads:

 

• Beans:  garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, cannelini beans.
• Grains:  quinoa, brown rice, brown rice couscous
• Fruit:  fresh fruit because the sugar content in “dried” fruit like dried cranberries is much higher.  Add some strawberries, blue berries, raspberries, pieces of oranges, etc.

 

4.  Add some healthy fat.

 

Fat is not only essential to a healthy diet and a precursor to “burning fat” (you can’t burn fat if you don’t eat enough healthy fats), but it helps you feel fuller longer.

 

Here are some healthy fats that are great in salads:

 

• Avocado
• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Hemp Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Nuts:  almonds, cashews, walnuts, pretty much any nut other than PEANUTS (peanuts are not a tree nut and are a highly allergic food which makes it hard to burn fat when consumed).
• Oils at room temperature: avocado oil, walnut oil, olive oil, coconut oil (these are great for making dressings).

 

5.  Add PROTEIN

 

If you are trying to get leaner and you are working out, its crucial for you to add protein to your salads.  Not only is protein a MACRO-NUTRIENT (which means essential to life), but you can not build lean, toned and sexy muscle if you don’t consume the proper amount of protein.  It will also help your salad fill you up more if it has a good amount of protein.

 

Here are some health proteins that are great in salads:

 

• Chicken
• Turkey Meatballs
• Grilled or baked fish
• Shrimp, Scallops, Lobster
• Egg Whites
• Lean Steak

 

Now you have it, the best way to build a nutritious salad that is filling, thermic (so you can burn calories in the process of digestion), delicious, and full of nutrients.

 

What is the best dressing to use?

 

This is a topic for a whole other blog post so stay tuned and let me know in the comments if you would like some insight into my thoughts on SALAD DRESSINGS.

 

The short answer is, YES, anything that is oil and vinegar based.

 

Any “creamy” dressing is going to be higher in sugar, fat and sodium content.

 

But is the dressing you put on your salad really the culprit for your weight gain or lack of weight loss?

 

Hmmmmm…  a good topic for another day!

 

Cheers to you making a more nutritious salad.

 

I did make a short video on SALAD DRESSINGS that you will find tons of information on.  Its super short and informative, see it here:  The Truth About Salad Dressings.

 

By the way, there is one salad that I absolutely love that I do make at home….  Its not made using “LETTUCE”, but its divine.

 

Here is the recipe to MMF’s Fave Salad:  Hearts & Avocado Salad

 

Hey, before you go, make sure you are following me on FACEBOOK as I post daily workout videos, healthy recipes and tons of weight loss tips.  I also hang out there all the time and answer questions.   I love connecting with my peeps.