How to make a Healthy Salad that tastes Great and keeps the Calories at Bay!

The first thing most people think of when going on a diet is salads. But did you know that many salads actually have more calories and are more fattening than other choices? Applebees grilled shrimp and spinach salad with dressing is a whopping 860 calories! Their oriental chicken salad is 709 calories! TGIF's Pecan-crusted Chicken salad is 750 calories and some dispute this number saying it's more like 1360 calories! You wont lose weight on these salads unless that's all you eat for the day! Here are several tips that you can do to make your salad as healthy as you already think it is! In other words, you can have your salad and eat it too!

Get a salad spinner. Yes, get one, go and get one now! The reason you want to buy a salad spinner right now is because if you don't use a salad spinner you end up using more dressing (which is usually the most fattening part of the salad) because the dressing wont adhere to watery leaves. The spinner dries the leaves so that you can use less dressing but it tastes like you've used more and voila you are saving calories right off the bat and making your salad tasting better just by spinning it!

The next thing you'll have to run out and buy is a oil mister. An oil mister helps to distribute the oil in a mist instead of a glob therefore economizing on the salad dressing without sacrificing taste.

Now that we have those two tips out of the way, the other ways that people mess up on salads making them more fattening than lets say pizza, hmmm pizza, I love pizza, sorry had a Homer Simpson moment, is to load them up with fattening foods. And, I'm not one to say that you should forgo all the goodies in a salad but what you should do is pick one or two items and use them sparingly. If you love cheese, have cheese but grate it finely so that it is evening distributed and use an ounce not a half cup! If you like nuts do the same as with the cheese. Treat the more fattening items as garnish, but I am of the mind that you should still enjoy them.

Use items that spice up your salad without adding calories. Use feta cheese, it's very strong in flavor but low in calories, use jalapeno peppers; they too will spice things up but are very low in calories. Use items like bacon bits (sparingly) or a drop of Tabasco sauce in a taco salad. Even garbanzo beans or non-fat re-fried beans in a taco salad, these items are very high in fiber which offsets the calories a bit. Try new things, add fruit to your salad or some exotic vegetable that you've never tried before, be creative! These things will spice up the salad without making them more fattening.

Finally, make sure you add some form of protein to your salad. Throw in some diced chicken or add tuna or even left over steak. Protein helps the body reach the satiety state and once their helps to keep it their longer.

I hope you enjoy these tips, too many of us think that just because we are eating a salad, any salad that we are eating healthily. I think salads are wonderful and a great way to lose weight but as with anything you have to watch what you put into it.

Good Luck and Bon Appetit!