Introduction
In today’s markets, there are ways to support your weight loss goals in healthy ways. And when it comes to salad dressing, you still want to include it in your salad. For losing weight, you will be looking for dressings with limited calories in, as well as limited sodium and sugar.
Usually, the best and healthiest option is to whip up a low-calorie salad dressing of vinegar, healthy oils, and herbs. Yet, you will be able to find healthy store-bought ones if you don’t have time to whip up your own. Below, we will show you at least three excellent dressings for you to choose from.
What’s the Best Salad to Burn Fat?
This article is about fantastic salad dressings for weight loss. But you also need to know what the best salad is to put together that will burn fat and help you lose weight! You need to combine your salad with healthy grains.
When you add your meals with a portion of healthy greens in a salad, you will be amazed at what a difference it can make to your weight loss plans. Raw veggies are the best way to add greens to your diet. They are fast to prepare and complement so many meals.
Look at these two fantastic recipes that do an excellent job of burning fat and helping you to lose weight. Try the best, healthy homemade salad dressing straight away and incorporate it into your diet to start seeing results.
Thinking about your diet overall, you won’t be able to sustain yourself only on the salad, though. You will need a diet where you get in all the macronutrients. These will include healthy fats, carbs, and lean protein, as well as a fitness plan.
Exercise changes your dietary habits directly. It means you have time to make healthy choices when you are engaged in physical activity over time.
Without getting involved in exercises while you are trying to lose weight, you will find abrupt changes in your dietary habits to be very difficult to sustain. The longer you make healthy choices, the more likely they are to become a habit and a lifestyle.
Fats Are Not the Enemy Here
The body needs fat to function. There are several oils that you can use in a low-calorie salad dressing, offering you incredible health benefits. Let’s see what they are:
- Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs): You will find these in peanut oil, olive oil, and canola oil. Avocados have this oil in them too, and most nuts.
- Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs): You will find these in plant-based oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, sesame, and cottonseed oils. Omega -3 is also a polyunsaturated fat, necessary for good cell function.
Remember to choose or make your low-calorie salad dressing with good fats, bearing in mind that you are also looking for the healthiest ones. Try and aim for fewer than 50 calories per tablespoon.
Three Recommended and Dietician Endorsed Bottles for You to Consider
We are going to give you some salad dressings for weight loss, which are dietician-endorsed bottles!
1. Bolthouse Farms Pomegranate Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
You would expect sweet salad dressings to be high in sugar and oil. But this is a yogurt-based one and has only 50 calories with 4 g of sugar in it. Sodium might be a ‘teeeeeensy’ bit on the high side, so if you are watching your sodium intake, just be aware of it.
- Calories: 50
- Total fat: 3g
- Saturated fat: 0.5g
- Sodium: 135mg
- Sugar: 4g (from natural sources)
2. Annie’s Balsamic Vinaigrette
This one is all-natural and heart-healthy. It is a healthy full-fat salad dressing made from organic canola oil. It has 100 calories per serving (2 tablespoons).
- Calories: 100
- Total fat: 10g
- Saturated fat: 1g
- Sodium: 60mg
- Sugar: 1g (from natural sources)
3. Newman’s Own Low-Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
This dressing has healthy sesame oil plus ginger. It also has some Asian-style spices in it to give you added flavor. This salad dressing is so versatile; you can use it as a delicious and healthy flavoring to your marinated fish or steamed veggies. Here’s what you get in 2 tablespoons:
- Calories: 35
- Total fat: 1.5g
- Saturated fat: 0g
- Sodium: 290mg
- Sugar: 4g
Some Weight Loss Mistakes You Could Make with Salad Dressings
- Not using any salad dressing at all – The fat in the salad dressing makes the nutrients more available such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. It is the organic fat in these salad dressings for weight loss that help you feel fuller for longer.
- You choose only “light” salad dressings – Remember, seeing the word “light” on the best, healthy homemade salad dressing or store-bought bottles doesn’t make it healthier for you. A lot of times, you could be ‘deceived’ because the fats from these bottles might be taken out but replaced with sugar.
- Don’t use too much or too little salad dressing – If you put too little on, you will no doubt end up dissatisfied and not even get sufficient calories in your salad. Putting too much on; well, then, you are simply pouring on the calories. Salads can be fully dressed with around two tablespoons of dressing on with just a tiny bit more or less if necessary.
Want to Know How to Make Your Own Healthy, Natural Balsamic Vinaigrette?
It comes from non-other from the world-renowned health expert, Dr. J. Axe, because the real healthy organic store-bought ones can get pretty pricey. By making your best, healthy homemade salad dressing, you know exactly what you are adding to it.
Vinaigrettes usually have two basic ingredients – some vinegar and oil but they can be a great low-calorie salad dressing. Anything else you add makes it tastier, and this one is a lot lighter than some of the heavier, creamier ones you get. Try this simple balsamic dressing on your healthful salad, for example, pecans, feta, cranberries, and spinach.
Usually, for making your low-calorie salad dressing or vinaigrette, you will add three parts of oil to one part vinegar. You probably are asking what kind of nutrition is in your serving of the balsamic vinaigrette. Let’s check it out:
- Calories: 106
- Fat: 10.91 grams
- Carbohydrates: 2.01 grams
- Sugar: 1.62 grams
- Vitamin E: 1.55 milligrams
- Manganese: 0.54 milligrams
- Vitamin K: 2.5 micrograms
How to Make Your Own Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1–2 tablespoons beet juice
- 1 cup avocado oil
- ½ cup basil, chiffonade
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon pepper
Stir all the ingredients together. Whisk it until the homemade balsamic is emulsified.
You can use your best, healthy homemade salad dressing immediately on a salad you have prepared or keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for around 4–6 weeks.
This low-calorie salad dressing balsamic vinaigrette pairs perfectly with salad ingredients like fresh mozzarella and fresh, juicy tomatoes. You will love it!
Conclusion
If the salad you are eating is something you don’t want to eat – you are only eating it because you are trying to lose weight and think you have to eat it – you are never really going to enjoy it.
If you are trying to consume a whole lot of dry lettuce, don’t be surprised if you end up compensating later with some cookies or crisps, just to get some bulk or flavor! That will have nothing to do with you having no willpower, but more with not eating what your body needed earlier when you ate just lettuce.
Eat your salad with the best, healthy homemade salad dressing that satisfies you and gives you pleasure. Then you will get all the benefits of eating more veggies too, with delicious low-fat dressings that will cut back on binge eating and make you look forward to your next veggie or salad snack. It’s not what you get out of lettuce, for instance, but what you put in, and our salad dressings can work for you!