Salad Dressings & Low Carbing

[orionburn 1,023]

I'm gearing up to get back to a low carb diet. Salads have become a staple in my diet (coming up on one year out from surgery). One thing I'm mentally struggling with is that shift from low/no fat dressings that have reduced fat & calories to regular dressings that have higher fat & calories but very low carbs. My salads can't do a back stroke in my dressings, but I also can't get by with only a single tablespoon either...lol

For you low carb gurus is this something you simply have to adjust to mentally? In the early days post-op I was low carbing but was pretty limited on what I could have. I've had a normal diet but the past two months I've been stuck in a stall and usually low carbing is the only thing that helps me get things going again. Haven't gained any weight but have been stuck. Salads are one of those things that help keep me regular so it's important that they stay in my diet.

[FluffyChix 17,409]

Keep in mind that your volume will change...You no longer sit down to a 5cup salad and have to subsist on 2 tbsp of dressing...You will be more like 1cup of salad max...

[Healthy_life2 8,319]

11 minutes ago, orionburn said:

I'm gearing up to get back to a low carb diet. Salads have become a staple in my diet (coming up on one year out from surgery). One thing I'm mentally struggling with is that shift from low/no fat dressings that have reduced fat & calories to regular dressings that have higher fat & calories but very low carbs. My salads can't do a back stroke in my dressings, but I also can't get by with only a single tablespoon either...lol

For you low carb gurus is this something you simply have to adjust to mentally? In the early days post-op I was low carbing but was pretty limited on what I could have. I've had a normal diet but the past two months I've been stuck in a stall and usually low carbing is the only thing that helps me get things going again. Haven't gained any weight but have been stuck. Salads are one of those things that help keep me regular so it's important that they stay in my diet.

I'm back in weight loss mode. Love salad. I don't drown it in dressing. I log to make sure I don't go over my carb goal. im at 1200 calories Protein 150 carbs 75g.

I use ken's lite sweet vidalia onion dressing 2 tablespoons 80 cal - 11g carb 4.5 fats

wholly guacamole chunky avocado minis 100 cal 5g carb fat 9g - (healthy fats)

Marinated artichokes by reese - The marinade makes a nice dressing for the salad. 6 artichokes 60 calories 2g carb. 3 fats

favorite salads

cobb - bacon bits - hard boiled egg - cubed turkey breast - avocado mini

taco - 99% lean ground turkey - fajita seasoning - salsa -( small amount of cheese and avocado mini sometimes)

Sweet onion chicken - Cubed chicken breast - mild banana peppers - sliced olive - sweet vidalia onion dressing

greek - tomato, cucumber, onion, Marinated artichoke ,olives and feta

[esskay77 785]

So, first let me get this off my chest--Salads freak me out! The thought of salads anyway. lol. I have a book somewhere that is called "nobody ever lost weight eating salads". It's not really 100% true but...

Anyway, to answer your question: I also can't get by on a tablespoon of dressing. I don't know how anybody can. I have switched to using just balsamiq vinegar. Sometimes a little bit of olive oil but usually just the vinegar and I use a fair amount. But it helps to get the expensive balsamiq vinegar -- such a difference!!

One other thing that i have used is Salsa as my Salad Dressing. It's a lot of veggies in it so I don't get too worried about how much I use.

But now, I don't really do salads like I used to. I do go to the salad bar at work but start with some chicken, add some green and red peppers, some red onion, pretty much everything but lettuce. I use balsamiq on these too.

I just find the whole idea of salads exhausting and I get really angry when someone hears that I'm trying to eat healthy and that's ALWAYS the response -- "well, they have salads". Grrr. I'd rather have a chicken breast thank you very much. lol

[BigViffer 3,544]

I love salads. I akways have. I remember several times when food was brought to our table that my wife would get my salad and I would be handed her burger or ribs or whatever. We always chuckled.

If you love salads and want to pack them for work lunch, a good idea is to get a sealable bowl/container. Put on your pre-measured amount of dressing and then shake the crap outta that bowl! Get dressing all over everything in a mostly even manner.

[RickM 1,747]

You can try dressings that are yogurt or buttermilk based, rather than oil or mayo based - they are still low in carbohydrates but also naturally moderate in fats to keep the calories in check. They are typically around 2g of carbs and 3-4 on fats, yielding 50ish calories for a couple tablespoon serving. A lot more comfortable than 150 cal servings typical of full fat dressings. Bolthouse Farms has a line of yogurt based dressings in the refrigerator case, and Trader Joes has a few refrigerated dressings that fit in the moderate category, too.

I'm carb and fat agnostic, so don't really care about those counts, but do want to get the most nutrition for my caloric buck - I'd rather spend my fat calories on the avocado in the salad than on just a bunch of oil.

[esskay77 785]

37 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

I love salads. I akways have. I remember several times when food was brought to our table that my wife would get my salad and I would be handed her burger or ribs or whatever. We always chuckled.

If you love salads and want to pack them for work lunch, a good idea is to get a sealable bowl/container. Put on your pre-measured amount of dressing and then shake the crap outta that bowl! Get dressing all over everything in a mostly even manner.

Yes -- this!! Putting it into a container, putting on the dressing and then shaking it to get the dressing all mixed in is exactly the best way to do this.

[orionburn 1,023]

Thanks for all the tips/suggestions. I suppose a big part of having to change my thought process is that yes, I'm not sitting down to a gigantic plate of salad that needs half a bottle of dressing to cover it. I'm only doing about a cup or so along with either tuna, eggs, chicken, etc. I've always loved salads but I struggle trying to shift into low carb mode and adding in some foods that normally I wouldn't eat as often.