Whenever friends of mine decide it’s time to shed a few pounds, I hear them say, “I guess I’m having nothing but salads for a while.”

I don’t think of salad as “diet” food because I love it so much, but I always feel proud when I eat one because I think I’ve made a smart choice. Salad is healthy, right?
Turns out, not always.

With all the toppings, dressing options and side items available at a seemingly healthy place like Souper Salad, for example, a well-intentioned meal is a calorie catastrophe waiting to happen.

Luckily, there are ways to avoid falling into a dietary danger zone. The nutrition information for Souper Salad’s menu is available at soupersalad.com. I get the same salad every time, so let’s see how it measures up (calories are according to the serving sizes designated on the site):

Romaine lettuce, mushrooms, black olives, onions, cucumbers, ranch dressing, spicy peanuts — 400 calories, 36 grams of fat. Gasp!

More than half of those calories are in the dressing. My only consolation is that there are six other dressings that have a higher calorie count than ranch, the highest being Thousand Island at 300 calories per serving.

So, 400 calories, give or take depending on the serving size. That’s an hour and a half of brisk walking on the treadmill. For a salad. Hmm .....

If I switch out the peanuts for Goldfish crackers, I save 75 calories. As much as I don’t want to (because it doesn’t taste the same, I don’t care what anyone says), if I substitute reduced-calorie ranch for regular ranch, I save 100 more. That brings my total down to 225 calories and 12 grams of fat. Much more acceptable.

I had no idea how badly I was eating at Souper Salad until now. Thanks to this, I know exactly how to prepare so I won’t unknowingly consume more calories than I want.

As when choosing a car or candidate to support, research is the best way to make the right choice. Just because something looks or sounds good doesn’t mean it’s automatically the best option.