My rules for keeping salads actually healthy

Salad: organic romaine lettuce, mushrooms, roasted beets, raw tomatoes, roasted carrots! Avocado on the side :)

I'm really on a huge salad kick (take that two ways- I am loving salads all the time AND I like my salads huge :D).

Now, just because something is a salad doesn't automatically make it healthy or a good choice for a meal. So I have some rules I stick to rather closely to make sure my salads are doing what I MEAN for them to do - fill me up with fresh, nutritious vegetables!!

1 - make sure salad dressing has good ingredients (no HFCS!! and no vegetable oils... stick to olive oils!)

2 - stick to the correct portion size for the dressing (the one pictured is 2 tablespoons, which is more than enough if you've taught yourself to like the REAL taste of vegetables)

3 - main ingredient: vegetables

4 - make sure there are several different colors in the salad (I've got red, REALLY red, orange, white, and green in my salad above)

5 - add either a healthy fat (like the dressing or avocado) or a lean protein (like shredded chicken) to round out the meal

5 - absolutely no crap processed foods, no croutons (duh, I'm paleo), no cheese (paleo, again) or other unnecessary items. A salad doesn't need bacon to taste good!

6 - I'll say it again: make vegetables the star!!

It's been a really important step in the past few years of weight loss/maintenance to really, actually, truly take the time to taste and appreciate a variety of vegetables. Raw or roasted or lightly sauteed. Veggies at their most basic are delicious. Especially if they are good quality (fresh or organic!).

If you hate eating "healthy foods," I think your tastebuds are still pretty confused by processed stuff. For years and years I thought I couldn't stand any vegetables, but that was because I was focusing on bread and sugars and chemicals that ruined my palate.

It took a long time, but my palate is back to normal... I appreciate the simple things that are grown on this earth.

Been enjoying my salads... lots of fiber leads to me staying full for a long time, lots of nutrition keeps me satiated.

Off to get some statistics done before Chris comes home. We are off to deposit our tax refund today and buy some new flooring for our sunroom (and we might just use some of the money we aren't putting into savings into a new TV.... we still watch my childhood 24 year old tube TV!).

Namaste!!!