Summer Dieting Recipes - Easy, Cheap and Without the Fad

Summer is a great time to diet because our bodies naturally need less food. Also there are so many great tasting foods that are good for you available. I have tried fad diets before many times and they just don't work. The weight comes back and you windup spending tons of money. I will share some of my favorite recipes and also some tips to look and feel better this summer.

Burgers

½ lb. Lean ground beef or turkey

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup carrot puree (or any vegetable puree baby food jar)

black pepper to taste

non- stick cooking spray or olive oil

spray grill with cooking spray or rub with olive oil. Then heat up grill. Mix together meat, bread crumbs, vegetable puree, and pepper. Form into patties. Cook until desired color.

Veggie Salad

2 medium cucumbers sliced

2 bell peppers (any color) diced

4 large tomatoes quartered

Dressing- ( or can substitute for lite Italian dressing)

½ cup olive oil

black pepper and salt to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

make dressing mixture in small bowl. In second bowl mix together all vegetables ( can add others if you choose). Then pour dressing over the vegetables and allow to chill in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

*remember any summer vegetables will work but look for ones high in fiber.

Fruit Salad

1 watermelon

1 cantaloupe

1 honey due melon

1 pineapple

2 medium mangoes

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blackberries or strawberries

slice up the watermelon, cantaloupe, honey due melon, pineapple, and the mangoes. Then mix all of the fruits together in a large bowl. Chill for 3-4 hours the longer the better and allow to mix and form a small amount of juice. Then enjoy! * remember any summer fruit will work as long as they are dense in water.

Tips:

- avoid eating heavy food during the summer such as oranges, apples, potatoes, ect. Instead eat foods rich in water such as watermelon.

• exercise... I know exercise is something that makes a lot of people want to run and hide however here are a few tips that have really helped me and I hate it too.

  1) exercise first thing in the morning this way you cant talk yourself out of it.

  2) set short term goals and then reward yourself when you achieve them. Remember to not use food as a reward try something like a new shirt or CD or a movie out.

  3) chart your progress then you can see how you are really doing and don't expect to drop 50 lbs over night.
  

• My final tip is to get a partner someone who will hold you accountable yet will give you encouragement and keep you motivated. This could be a friend, neighbor, family member, ect.

The reason I picked these recipes is they are easy to make and all contain ingredients that will help with weight loss. Such as watermelon contains at least half water and lots of water aides in weight loss. Another thing is Fiber. Fiber helps the stomach to feel fuller with less food. Mangoes, raspberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, sweet corn and more are all high in fiber. The other great thing about fiber is it helps to maintain normal cholesterol and blood sugar. Eating right and having fresh fruits and vegetables will aide in weight loss and provide more energy.