Beware the 1,000-Calorie Salad!

Those entree salads restaurants serve sure look good, don't they? And they have to be healthy choices--after all, they're salads, right? WRONG! You'd be wise to look very closely at any salad before you choose to eat it. Ask yourself WHAT is in it, and HOW MUCH of any ingredient is in it, as well as how big the salad itself is. When we examine the ingredients and portion sizes of these seemingly healthful restaurant salads, it shouldn't surprise us that some of them tip the scales at well over 1,000 calories and over 90 grams of fat

WHAT: Opt for any fresh vegetable, but be careful about canned and marinated vegetables. Canned veggies may contain lots of sodium, and marinated veggies can hide lots of oil and sugar--in moderation, these are OK, but be aware. Also opt for grilled, poached or steamed fish, chicken or beef--avoid crusted, breaded chicken or fish, especially "popcorn" shrimp, which is mostly fried breading. Cheese contains loads of fat, so either ask for it on the side or only have a small amount of what you're given. Eggs are OK if you don't have issues with cholesterol. Bacon should probably be avoided, but a sprinkling now and then is OK. Nuts and seeds are healthful and add variety and crunch. Generally, vinaigrettes are better choices than creamy dressings, unless the creamy ones are low-fat or fat-free.

HOW MUCH: You can pretty much have your fill of any fresh veggie (except for avocado, which is high in good fats, but it's still fat); in fact, try to make sure that the salad is mostly veggies and/or fruits, with a sensible portion of protein (i.e., chicken, fish, beef, tofu, nuts). If you're served a salad that has tons of meat and cheese in it, try to eat as many of the veggies as you can first, then pick at the high-fat/high-calorie meats, cheese, nuts, seeds, etc. Choose dressing on the side and dip the tines of your fork in it before spearing a bite of salad--much better than drowning your salad in dressing, yet you'll be assured of getting dressing in every bite (which is not necessarily the case if you pour on just a little bit). Finally, if you can't avoid being served a diet disaster salad, use portion control to your advantage: just eat half (or 1/4 of it) and take the rest home for a later meal or two. Most of these entree salads are easily three or four times what you should be eating in a meal.

One more thing: You want to be satiated by your salad, so do eat enough of the higher-fat ingredients to make sure you don't leave hungry or down a messy sundae for dessert! Remember: the idea is balance, not deprivation!