so far, so unproductive. I haven't gotten much studying done today, but how can I be expected to study when there are so many things going on? like my room being a mess, legally blond 1 & 2 being on today, one after the other, and so much sleeping to do? these are troubled times to study. So I'm going to put it off until its almost unavoidable.
I posted a picture of yesterday's lunch: a veggie burger from morning star, in an open face sandwich on barely bread, with a side of red peppers and carrots, with some sliced cucumbers. i was a little antsy to try these, I am not a big morning star fan, their products are good calorie and fat wise, but ingredient wise....eh. My mom bought them a few weeks ago, but i didn't eat them until yesterday because i was wary of the content of milk in them, having an allergy to whey can really put a hold on things. They were actually very good though, and to my surprise mostly made of vegetables! The first few ingredients were carrots, red peppers, and water chestnuts, along with a few other things. so i plan on eating those again.
today's lunch was a salad. i love salad. They're packed with nutritional value, and they are incredibly versatile. While they can be nutritional, they can also be very bad for you. I'm saying this because I know it's the new year so alot of people are going to be on a salad kick, so this just needs to be said
Not all Salads Are created Equal.
they're not. For example, let's look at restaurant salad's. you can order a salad from a restaurant and think that its good for you, but fact is, it's probably not. At the 99 restaurant, one of their Grilled Cobb salad adds up to about 860 calories! and more than half of those are from fat! many restaurants like to make their salads huge in portion with guilty add ins, like bleu cheese dressing, bacon bits,pounds of cheese, mayonnaise, pasta etc.
so whether you build a salad from home or order from a restaurant, stick to these guidelines:
- 1 protein ( grilled chicken, a hard boiled egg, beans, tofu) to help keep you full
- 1 item containing healthy fat ( nuts, avocados, or low fat dressing)
- 1 carbohydrate (whether it be a sweet potato, whole wheat pita bread, or brown rice,)
- 3 or more vegetables( make sure to see if they have been grilled or fried, both of which would add a lot of unhealthy oils and calories to it)
- top it off with some fruit!( many seasonal salads contain fruit which is full of vitamin, and very good for you)
- always try to make sure that you can get dressing on the side. most restaurants drown their salads in dressing for reasons unknown
- make sure it has dark leafy greens, ice burg lettuce is a no go. ice burg lettuce has the lowest of nutritional value, so you're bound to be hungry later, stick with spinach, kale or romaine.
- stay light on the cheese, you never really need more than the healthy amount of 1 oz.
- go light on croutons, won tons, pita chips on top etc. they add unnecessary calories
- because it has the word "salad" in the name, does not make it a salad ( i.e. pasta salad)
i feel as though this needed to be said because i go out and see people who are trying to lose weight, eat salad s that are actually very bad for you, but to be kind I've kept my mouth shut and not said anything until now.
Have you ever eaten a ton of something thinking it was good for you, then having it turn out not to be?
Like on Seinfeld when Jerry thinks all the frozen yogurt he is eating, isn't going to cause weight gain?
tell me, I'd love to know!
