salad ideas for weight loss | how to make salads to lose weight

Are you here because you're looking for salad ideas for weight loss for your summer diet?

No one likes a boring salad, that is why I am excited to inspire you to learn how to make salads to lose weight and feel amazing.  Unfortunately, when we are working to lose weight, we tend to eat quite a few of them. It doesn’t have to be that way. Don’t get stuck in the rut of throwing lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers into a bowl and calling it a salad. There are so many salad ideas you can try to make a salad a feast for your eyes and your taste buds.

One important idea for making a salad for losing weight is to make a salad zesty by properly using fresh herbs or spices that are in your kitchen cabinets. Dressing should begin with seasoning the vegetables in the salad. So don’t be afraid to open that spice cabinet and grab your favorites. Just go easy at first. I like to use garlic and onion powders, pepper, oregano, basil and even paprika. You can also use garlic infused olive oil which is one of my favorites or make a basil and olive oil pesto. 

You are only limited by your imagination. When you are using spices, you can add more interest to the vegetables without adding a lot of calories or carbs. When the veggies are seasoned you don’t need the store bought stuff.  Grab your favorite vinegar or squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice or and a little olive oil. You can also find many recipes online to make dressings using berries and citrus juice.  

Everyone loves summer because it brings us delicious produce at its peak in summer with a large variety of fruits and vegetables that can be purchased at local farmers' markets and in grocery stores. I like growing my own every year and so I just started my garden this week now that the warmer weather has finally arrived. 

Here is a great salad idea for weight loss: don't just save those oranges and apples for fall, try adding them to salads and even use them to make healthy salad dressings. You can load up on fresh berries, melons, greens, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and so much more. Keep reading and I will show you how. 

Before I get into all the details just know that adding salad to your daily diet is designed to instill healthy eating habits, help you enjoy the idea of a salad and to help you lose weight. If you are so inclined, you might want to participate in an upcoming challenge in a few weeks to form a new good habit!

Start by asking yourself these questions:

• Do you want to lose weight?
  
• Do you want to feel better?
  
• Do you want to improve, stabilize, or even reverse a chronic condition such as heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure?
  
• Would you like to take fewer medications?
  
• Are you open to changing your diet if it could really improve your life?
  
  

Start Eating Salads and Keep A Food Diary FOR WEIGHT LOSS

 
Filling out a food diary can be an extremely useful tool to help you control your weight. The thought of writing down what you eat may seem daunting. However, it may seem like a lot of work to write everything down but if you have an iphone you can use voice to text in a matter of minutes so you can see everything you’ve eaten. By facing up to reality you’ll feel that you’ve already won half the battle.

Your food diary will help you identify what changes you need to make to your diet and will reveal patterns in your eating habits that you may not have noticed before. This can help you succeed in your weight loss plan – for example if you can identify what times of day you are more likely to want something to eat, you can plan to find something you like to do to turn your mind onto something else so you don’t eat between meals.  When you plan activities to help redirect yourself from snacking on foods high in fat or sugar you will experience a sense of achievement and self-respect. 

To keep your food diary use the kitchen table whenever possible and on the following page to write down your mood. Did you have a fairly good day or was it very stressful? 

Don’t worry about what the results look like on the scale or in the mirror for a while.  Just be committed to being honest with God and with yourself and you will be taking the first steps to losing weight for your health and to honor the Lord. 

GET YOUR COPY OF THE FREE GUIDE BELOW:

Don’t Just Eat Salad But Create Goals For Weight Loss

Now you are ready to make some healthy changes to your eating habits. It's important to set your goals so you can move on to your weight loss plan. Once you’ve decided what changes you need to make to your diet and feel ready to make them, set yourself some goals. Goals help you focus on making realistic changes that will make a real difference to you. When setting your goals make sure that you think deeply about your specific needs and try to write in your food diary as clearly as possible about the changes you are willing to make to succeed. 

For example, don't just say “I’m going to eat less” think about the exact path you will follow in how to make your weight loss happen and include God. As God in prayer to give you the courage to change the things you can and then write down what your action plan will be. There's a little saying, Plan what to do and do what you plan. If you don’t plan for success then you plan to fail. 

Not that when you fall off track you fail, we only fail when we don’t put forth any effort to make progress. Will you create goals that are achievable? Are you being realistic about the changes you plan to make? You’re more likely to succeed if you make small, gradual changes rather than trying to do everything at once.
So start with the key areas you need to work on and and create a grocery list on foods you need to stock up on for the week and start removing junk food that will hinder your daily goals. 

So let me ask you, are you going to reduce your portion sizes, cut down on snacks or change what you drink? You should be able to measure your success. So decide how many of your snacks you are going to cut out or
what you will have for breakfast each day. By making your goal measurable, you’ll be able to check whether you’ve been successful in making the change and you can add on more small challenges from there. 

Make sure your goals focus on what you really need to change. For example, do you always eat at night after dinner? Do you crave bread and potatoes too much or do you feel you are addicted to fast food restaurants?  Your food diary will help you pick out the most important areas to work on.

Write down when or how often you will make the change. Write down when you want to have achieved the change. This will make it easier for you to work
out if you have achieved your goal.

If you just cannot be home to make your own salad here are some ideas for eating in restaurants to keep you on track! 

Eating at home is the best plan, but sometimes we want to eat out. Restaurants may have healthy food choices, but knowing what and how to order is important. If your on a budget and need to eat at a fast food restaurant, fast foods too often can lead to weight gain and low intake of healthy nutrients. Here are some salad ideas for weight loss.

Three Rules to Follow when Eating at Restaurants:

• Balance your plate with a nice big salad. You want to make an effort to add more color to your plate by starting the meal with a salad or order a salad with lean protein.
  
• Look for options with added vegetables or ask for more vegetables in a sandwich, stir-fry or stew.
  
• Ask for fruit in salad on the side instead of eating bread or french fries. 
• Ask for lemon wedges and olive oil for dressings on the side instead of using high fat dressings full of sugar. 
  
  

A PERFECT SALAD MEAL FOR WEIGHT LOSS

Here’s a measurement guide to making a salad that’s fit for a meal:

• 2 cups loosely packed greens
• 1 ½ cup of chopped vegetables
• ½ cup of cooked beans or chicken 
• ½ cup of cooked grains
• 1 tablespoon of raw nuts (sliced almonds)
• 2 tablespoons of dressing

That’s 4 cups of food, with enough fiber, protein, and fat to keep you satisfied for hours.

Don’t believe us. Try it. If you’re still hungry after this giant salad—we’re pretty sure you won’t be—add another ½ cup of beans and another ounce of nuts.
Salad: Food for less Here’s the beauty of salad! It really is the Fastest Food you can prepare. No cooking, just chopping and you can still have a small portion of something else on the side. Any other meal of this size would likely be higher in calories, have less nutrition and will not feel as full and satisfied.  One other option would be to use the same amount of veggies as a cooked stir fry meal? Forget the lasagna! 

Let’s break down the calories amounts for a typical salad or stir fry we make in the Real Food Real Faith Lifestyle Program using the guidelines for optimal health and weight loss success. 

• 2 cups lettuce = 12 calories
• ¼ cup shredded carrots = 14 calories
• ¼ cup shredded  red cabbage = 7 calories
• ½ cup chopped tomatoes = 20 calories
• ½ cup chopped cucumber = 10 calories
• ½ cup cooked edamame = 100 calories
• ½ or less cup cooked quinoa = 110 calories
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds = 50 calories
• 2 tablespoons lemon/basil dressing = 50 calories

 TOTAL CALORIES 373 JUST FOR THE RECORD!

By the way we don't count calories here at Conquer Cravings For Christians instead we count the cost. Ask yourself this question...Have you ever known anyone count calories their entire life and kept the weight off by doing just that?
                                                                
Try This Homemade Walnut Dressing: 

Combine in a blender 

• ¼ cup toasted walnuts  OR almonds

½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves or Italian seasoning

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
  WATCH THIS VIDEO TO HEAR ELLY"S SUCCESS STORY

---