With the warmer weather, many of us are trying to eat lightly and are choosing more salads for lunch. Or perhaps you are eating more salads instead of sandwiches in attempts of cutting down on calories. Here is the bad news…depending upon your choice of salad dressing, your salad can contain more calories than a Big Mac! Some salad dressings can contain double the amount of calories of your actual salad. The problem is that most of the dressings - even those that sound healthy - are loaded with calories and fat.

For example, balsamic vinaigrette dressing sounds healthy - right? While the ingredients (oil, vinegar and seasonings) are healthy, a small container can pack in over 300 calories! The same goes for other dressings such as blue cheese, Russian, caesar, etc.

This “small” container is the typical 2 oz portion ( 4 Tablespoons) that many restaurants serve on the side or the one scoop of dressing add in when they are “tossing” your salad.  Actually, I have watched many servers who are tossing salads add 2 scoops of dressing. FYI - this container looks quite small… I never would have imagined it was actually 4 T. unless I measured it out myself!

Check out the list below to see the calories in some of your favorite salad dressings. They are all based on the standard sized portion of salad dressing you get at the various restaurant (ie. Cosi, Au Bon Pain). Many restaurants do not list the nutritional content of their salad dressings. In that case, I would tell you use this chart as a guide when it comes to estimating the calorie/fat content of a similar dressing. The caesar dressing from your local diner likely has similar calorie/fat content to the caesar dressing listed in this chart.

A few suggestions for eating salads outside the home:
1. Order light dressing when possible.
2. Get it on the side and use it sparingly.
3. Order extra vinegar on the side. Use all of that container and 1/2 of the container of the other dressing
4. Try the dip method. Rather than pouring the dressing on your salad, dip your fork in the dressing and eat the salad that way.
5. At home, measure how much salad dressing you put on an entrée sized salad (I doubt you want to bring your measuring spoons on your lunch date!).
6. If you have a refrigerator at work, keep a bottle of your favorite healthy low cal dressing. Add this to your salad instead of the dressing they give you.

Check out these individual packets of salad dressings. You can carry them with you. Here are the links as to where you can purchase the individual packets: Kraft Fat Free raspberry vinaigrette, Girards, Walden Farms.

Related posts

• Your Plate or Mine? An Excerpt from my Colleague’s Book (4)
• Work While You are on the Treadmill… and Lose Weight (1)
• Will Eating Late at Night Make Me Gain Weight? (0)
• Will Diet Foods Contribute Towards Making Your Child Obese? (1)
• When it’s No Longer a Diet (0)