Salads For Weight Loss: How Eating Vegetables Contributes To Weight Loss

Men, women and children all over the world are struggling to lose weight. Thanks to technological advances, fast and processed foods are a big part of the average person's diet. This combined with a sedentary lifestyle has created what experts are calling "the obesity epidemic".

The term obese refers to people who are extremely overweight. Both overweight and obese people can benefit from adjusting their diet and starting an exercise regime.

Salads for Weight Loss: What Does a Healthy Diet Consist of?

In order to lose weight, a person must burn off more calories than they eat. This means that dieters must keep a food diary. Doing so will allow them to track how many calories they consume on a daily basis. If dieters are eating too much, they can find ways to reduce their calorie intake.

The ideal diet will comprise of fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein and complex carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend that dieters eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

Why Does Salads for Weight Loss Work?

Leafy green vegetables are an important part of every diet. These vegetables are packed full of nutrients and are low in calories. One of the easiest ways to incorporate vegetables into the diet is by eating salads.

Studies have shown that people who eat a salad before a meal, consume less food throughout the day. This cuts down their calorie intake and increases their rate of weight loss.

The reason that eating salads is so effective for weight loss is that most vegetables are very low in calories.

When Are Salads for Weight Loss Not Effective?

Sometimes dieters will put on weight when they eat salads. People in this position often cannot figure out what they are doing wrong. The answer is simple - they are putting store bought salad dressings on their meals.

The salad dressings found in the grocery stores are high in calories and contain a number of harmful ingredients. These can be avoided by making salad dressings at home.

Listed below are some simple and affordable home made salad dressings.

- A tablespoon of light cheese. Portion control is important when it comes to cheese as it contains a lot of fat.

- Roasted chickpeas are a delicious and crunchy alternative to breadcrumbs.

- Real fruits such as strawberries and raspberries.

- Fresh, unsalted nuts.

- Vinegar.

- Olive oil.

- Salt.

- Raw honey.

While salads can help people lose weight, dieters should vary their foods. Most people on a diet eat a couple of salads a day. The rest of their diet is made up of lean meats, dairy and complex carbohydrates.

A healthy and varied diet will ensure that dieters do not get bored of eating salads all day long. Having salads on a regular basis will allow dieters to eat less than 1500 calories week. This calorie restriction will usually result in dieters losing 1 to 2 pounds per week.