96 Days to Swimsuit Season

Written by Calgary's Child

Wow! It’s only about 16 weeks until summer! Now’s the time to get ready to look and feel your very best. Healthy eating and active living are key to looking and feeling great. Here are 16 tips – one for each week until summer, to help you shed the extra winter pounds , tone up your body and get a ‘feel good’ glow! Cut this out, talk the ideas over with your partner or family to decide which will work for you. Then tack it on the fridge and go for it!! You’ll look good and feel great by the time you’re ready to put on your shorts and sandals!

 

February

Plan dessert first – life is uncertain! Most of us love a delicious dessert after a meal. To help lower the fat and calories in your desserts while keeping flavor:

Try frozen yogurt or sherbet as an alternative to gourmet ice cream. Make a mud pie with alternating layers of chocolate and cherry frozen yogurt, top it with a strawberry or raspberry puree and finish it with a dusting of cocoa powder.

Fruit and vegetable purees such as applesauce or banana keep lower fat baking moist and flavorful. Substitute half the fat in the quickbread or muffin recipe with an equal amount of applesauce or pureed banana.

A bowl of assorted fresh and canned fruit topped off with rainbow sherbet makes a refreshing, attractive and nutrient packed family dessert.

Try yogurt cheese instead of sour cream or cream cheese in recipes. To make it, line a strainer with cheesecloth, paper towel or a coffee filter. Place 3 cups of unflavored low fat yogurt (without gelatin or thickeners) in the strainer, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator. After 3 hours, you’ll have soft yogurt cheese which is a great replacement for sour cream in dips or on baked potatoes. After an overnight stay in the fridge, you’ll have firm yogurt cheese similar in texture to soft cream cheese which can be used as a spread for bagels.

March

Healthy eating begins in your head – but action comes in the grocery store!

Each week until summer, buy a new fruit, vegetable or fibber rich grain. Kiwi fruit, acorn squash or canned lentil soup can add interest, great taste and nutrition to your meals.

Choose a lean meat such as eye of round, inside or outside round, sirloin tip or sirloin roast or steak. Surround it with white and sweet potatoes in a roasting pan along with carrots and onions and roast for healthy and hearty meal.

Buy lower fat dairy products such as 2%. 1% or skim milk, yogurt or cottage cheese. Vanilla yogurt with sliced bananas on top of your favorite whole grain cereal makes a delicious breakfast, after school or bedtime snack.

In the snack aisle, try lower fat items such as pretzels or baked chips instead of those that are fried or made with cheese.

April

Nothing beats a home cooked meal!

Although we’re all pressed for time, plan to all eat a home cooked meal together one night of the week. Plan the meal together and give every family member a food to prepare. The joy and conversation at the dinner table will be priceless!

Break out the barbecue and grill some vegetables. For easy grilling, use a vegetable grilling basket. Slice your favorite vegetables such as carrots, green peppers, mushrooms and onions; place in a grilling basket and brush lightly with vegetable oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, ground oregano and salt and pepper. Grill until tender and serve with your favorite chicken, fish or meat.

When making soup, stew or casseroles, make a double batch and freeze one for later. Then, on those days when there’s ‘nothing in the house’, you’ll be thrilled to find a healthy meal waiting for you.

Try the same with muffins, quickbreads or cookies. Bake an extra batch and freeze away. Then, when you need a breakfast change or a quick dessert or snack, help is close by.

May

We all do it – so let’s keep it healthy – Eating out right!!

We’re all tempted at food courts by the different delicious aromas – go ahead and have your favorite fast food – Once in a while! The rest of the time………

..skip the Mayo on the burger; …order your salad with the dressing on the side; ...buy the small fries instead of the giant size; ...hold the butter topping on the popcorn at the movie theatre.

If you’ve had a larger meal than you’ve planned, get walking! Take a longer walk with the dog, use the stairs instead of the elevator or park your car further from work or the store entrance.

Reward yourself for your healthy eating efforts over the last few months. Stop by the library and pick up your favorite book, call a friend you haven’t seen in a while and go for a walk or ask them to come for supper and try your new healthy cooking!!

There, you’ve done it!! June is here. You’ve tried and enjoyed new foods, spent precious meal time with your family , expanded your exercise program and are feeling great!!