Enjoy Salad Dressing Without All the Fat and Calories

Today’s Works for Me Wednesday tip is a truly simple one that I learned from my Weight Watcher’s leader many years ago when I actually went to weekly meetings. In March of 1998 while I was home from college, my dad sat me down and gently suggested that he and I could both stand to lose a few pounds and exercise more. Neither of us was obese by any standard, but he was right. I cheerfully agreed and then returned to college without giving it another thought, since I was focused on finishing my honors thesis, graduating, and getting married all in the next couple of months. Then he died, suddenly of a heart attack in December. I think it was the following March that I signed up for Weight Watchers, followed the program faithfully and lost over 30 pounds.

Eating healthfully almost necessarily involves a lot of salad. I am not a fan of salad without a really tasty salad dressing, and most super low fat dressings are disgusting. So here’s the tip that rocked my world. Especially at restaurants where dressings are delicious and especially fattening.

Ask for the dressing on the side. Then take your fork and dip it in the dressing first, then stab some veggies and eat. 

You will be amazed at the result. You get all the taste of the dressing, but a teeny tiny fraction of the calories compared to pouring the dressing over the lettuce. Try it sometime and see how much is leftover in your dressing cup when you’re done.

So tell me what your favorite salad dress is. Mine? Is the Tangy Tomato at Outback Steakhouse. Yum!