If you're want to look good in a bathing suit or just to get in shape for the activities that come with outdoor weather, it's a good idea to plan your summertime eating in advance. Take advantage of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Visit farmers' markets to create your own light soups and salads. Planning your meals based on seasonal eating patterns will help you stay on track with your weight-loss goals.
Considerations
If your daily routine changes during the summer, consider how this could affect your eating. For example, if you attend more kids sporting events, you might tempted to eat fast food more often. Combat this by preparing snacks and lunches to take with you. If you attend more parties, food festivals or other events, plan your other meals that day accordingly. The more you are outdoors and active, the more likely you are to dehydrate. Keep water available so you don't mistake dehydration for hunger and eat instead of drink.
Produce
Take advantage of seasonal produce. Create a list of soups, salads and entrees you can make to provide you with healthy, low-fat options. Add homemade soups to your daily diet; researchers at Penn State University found that study participants who started meals with a bowl of soup ended up eating 20 percent fewer calories each meal. Create salads using different greens, a wide variety of diced vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grain croutons and low-fat cheeses. Buy several different low-cal, low-fat dressings for variety. Turn any salad into an entree with a lean protein such as salmon, marinated flank steak or grilled chicken breast.
Plan Eating Out
With increased dining out comes decreased control over what you eat. Avoid overeating at summer events by eating something at home before you head to a backyard cookout or pool party. If you don't think you'll be able to resist the ribs, hot dogs or grilled chicken, take only a little and then fill your plate with fresh fruits and veggies; this way you can eat less of fatty side dishes and balance your protein and carb intake.
Be Prepared
Summer is busy and you are more likely to be on the run, so prepare meals and snacks in advance. Make large portions of healthy entrees, divide and freeze. Freeze family-size and individual portions of entrees and soups you can re-heat quickly in the microwave. Keep your refrigerator stocked with sliced fresh vegetables such as carrot and celery sticks, julienned peppers and slices of zucchini. Keep healthy dips and spreads to go with the veggies, including hummus and peanut butter. Prepackage sensible portions of treats in plastic sandwich bags to control snacking. Keep fresh fruit in a bowl on the kitchen counter.
Planning Convenience Foods
When you're tired at the end of a long summer day, popping something in the microwave or opening a can is a tempting way to create a quick dinner. Buy convenience foods with this in mind. Look for low-fat, low-cal frozen dinners. Choose low-fat canned soups and chilis. Buy frozen pizzas with veggies to avoid the calories, fat and cholesterol from sausage and pepperoni. Read nutrition labels on convenience foods to learn which ones are lowest in fat and calories, paying special attention to number of servings per box or can.
Daily Grazing Plan
Start each day with breakfast, even if you only have a few minutes. Eating breakfast can help reduce your body's tendency to store calories as fat after a long period without food, according to MayoClinic.com. Balance carbs and protein, and have fresh fruit. Have a mid-morning snack to keep your metabolism going and prevent overeating at lunch. A granola bar, piece of fruit or handful of nuts will do the trick. Don't eat lunch in your car. If you can't eat at home or take time to sit down in a restaurant, bring a piece of fruit or some veggies to go with a fast-food grilled chicken sandwich on a whole grain bun with no mayo or cheese. Eat a mid-afternoon snack even if you're not hungry; waiting to eat until you are hungry will led to overeating. Have dinner, starting with soup, and wait a couple of hours to eat a low-fat dessert.
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