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Are You Ruining Your Healthy Salad With These 7 Mistakes?
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2. Too Little or Too Much Fat
Although the media has tried to portray fat as the bad guy when it comes to your diet, that’s not entirely true. In fact, your body must have fat in order to function. The difference here is in choosing natural, healthy fats, not the highly processed GMO based fats most people eat. There is a huge amount of difference in the fat found in French fries and the fat found in an avocado!
It’s not good to pour on tons of those full fat, commercially made dressings in addition to other items, but if you are using a healthy alternative dressing, such as vinegar and oil, then adding some of these other fats to your salad (in moderation of course) will go a long way towards keeping you feeling satisfied with your salad. Try adding a handful of raw nuts, olives, shredded coconut (fresh, raw coconut, not the sugary stuff sold in most stores), hard boiled eggs, or avocados. All of these are good salad choices.
3. Too Much or Too Little Protein
This is another mistake that most people make with their salads. Like fat, your body must have protein to survive. Without protein, your body cannot make hormones, bones, muscle, and brain cells. However, too many people eat far too much low quality protein, such as hamburgers. You need about half a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. To find this out, first measure your body fat percentage and subtract number from 100. For example, if you have 30 percent body fat, then you have 70 percent lean mass. Now multiply that by your current weight to get your lean body mass in pounds. Pregnant women or those with aggressive exercise schedules should add about 25 percent more protein to their diets but most people only need between 40 to 60 grams of protein each day.
Once you know how much protein you should eat per day, you can feel comfortable adding some to your salad. Generally, a 3 ounce serving of meat, such as free range, organic chicken or beef will work well. You can also add cheese (protein varies with the type of cheese, so read the label), about a quarter cup of nuts, or about a half a cup of cooked beans. Find out 14 super sources of protein.
Adding the right amount of protein will help keep you full and satisfied so that you aren’t searching for potato chips by 2PM.
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