Salad Bar - Diet Friend or Foe?

I've written in the Kimkins forum previously about 2 sisters at a salad bar restaurant who loaded up their plates so high I figured it must be their dinner. Except they went back 3 times and then their pizza arrived.

The other day I saw a woman (early 30's) with a newborn & toddler. She was with a group of friends and mentioned she was trying to lose baby weight so she was going to get a "loaded salad". (You read a lot of low carb menus with "loaded salads").

Take a look at what she added. Might you make the same choices? Might you also have figured your salad came to less to 5 carbs instead of the actual 18? Would you probably guess the salad at 200 calories (and not the actual nearly 450?)

This is how she decked out her salad:

• 4 cups mixed greens cal: 38 carb: 7
• 3 cucumber slices cal: 4 carb: 1
• 2 bell pepper rings cal: 4 carb: 1
• 3 raw onion rings cal: 7 carb: 2
• 3 cherry tomatoes cal: 9 carb: 2
• 2 boiled egg "quarters" cal: 39 cal: 0
• 2 tbsp cheddar cheese cal: 49 carb: 1
• 4 tbsp ranch dressing cal: 290 carb: 4 (2 ladles)
  

Salad

• calories: 440
• carb: 18 grams
• protein: 11 grams
• fat: 38 grams
  

Her husband also made a salad and added more items (it was a HUGE salad!)
(For a visual reminder 1/4 cup is half of a tiny jello cup)

• 1/4 cup cottage cheese calories: 54 carb: 1
• 1/4 cup kidney beans calories: 54 carb: 10
• 1/4 cup potato salad calories: 65 carb: 9
• 1/4 cup shredded beets calories: 15 carb: 4
• 3 broccoli florets calories: 11 carbs: 2
• 1 tablespoon bacon bits calories: 33 carbs: 2
• 6 croutons calories: 7 carb: 1

Extras
calories: 237
carb: 29

Salad + Extras calories: 677 carb: 47 grams

• protein: 35 grams
• fat: 46 grams

Imagine making a salad like the woman (or man) above. Since you figured you made a "healthy" salad you might go ahead and get an order of chicken wings since they're 0 carb:

1 order wings (6) calories: 441 carb: 0
1 order ranch dressing calories: 290 carb: 4 (typical 2 oz container)

Wings & Dressing

• calories: 731
• carb: 4 grams
• protein: 37 grams
• fat: 31 grams
  

Wings + 2 Dressing (wow!)

• calories: 1021
  

Salad + Wings

• calories: 1171
• carb: 22 grams
• protein: 48 grams
• fat: 69 grams
  

Salad + Extras + Wings The calories racked up for this guy's "light"lunch:

• calories: 1408
• carb: 51 grams
• protein: 72 grams
• fat: 77 grams
  

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