With Memorial Day just around the corner, we’re all starting to think a little more about our weight and what we will look like in a bathing suit this summer. No wonder this time of the year is the prime time to start a new diet or weight loss program. And of course we want to drop those pounds as quickly as possible, but that may not always be in our best interest. I came across an interesting blog post here about quick and healthy weight loss. It talks about various ways you may be risking you health and may even cause damage to your heart by losing weight to quickly and restricting your calories too much.

One of the problems of those crash diets that so many of us tend to go on is that it forces our bodies to go into starvation survival mode. Basically if we don’t eat enough, our bodies turn on an old survival mechanism back from the days when food wasn’t always as plentiful as it is today. Our metabolisms slow down and the body tries to store every gram of food it does get as fat. Unfortunately it stays in that “survival mode” for a while after we’ve given up on the crash diet (after all, who can stick to eating just cabbage soup or drinking a bright orange drink all day for long). That’s why we often gain even more weight after a diet… this is also referred to as the “yo yo effect”

So, how should you lose weight? By making changes to your lifestyle that you can stick with. Drink plenty of water, eat 3 to 5 balanced meals a day including plenty of lean protein, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables. A great way to get into this new healthy eating lifestyle is to use the Healthy Meal Plan that’s part of the Menu Planning Central Menu Pack.

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Are you running out of ideas for snacks to make for your kids after they get home from school? By the way, these are great for just about anyone who needs a little something to keep hunger at bay before it’s time for dinner.

Fruits, Veggies And Dip

Keep some cut up veggies and fruits ready in the fridge. Offer them alongside a fun dip. Ranch dressing or sour cream seasoned with some fresh herbs are always popular choices for raw or lightly steamed veggies. If your kids (or you) enjoy spicy food, set out a small bowl of salsa for dipping.

When you’re serving fruit and want to add a dip, try some flavored yogurt, or plain yogurt sweetened  with honey for a yummy treat.

Meat, Cheese and Crackers

This is an old favorite in our house. Grab some lunch meat and cheese and cut it into small pieces. Serve them with crackers and let the kids make their own cracker sandwiches.

If you have leftover chicken, turn it into chicken salad and serve with crackers. Of course you can do the same with canned tuna.

Peanut butter and jelly or banana slices on crackers make for some fun mini-sandwiches.

Smoothies

Get out your blender and trow in some frozen fruit, along with some yogurt and/ or milk for a quick healthy snack. By varying the fruits and yogurt flavors you can make almost endless variations of these cool treats.

In A Hurry

When you’re in a hurry, pour a bowl of cereal, or grab some portable fruit (like apples or bananas). It’s also a good idea to make up a batch of trail mix with mini pretzels, dry cereal and various dried fruits and nuts. It’s great to take along in the car or for after-school activities. Add some water or juice and the kids are ready to go.

There’s been quite a bit of talk in the news lately about the rising cost of food and I don’t have to tell you about the rising cost of gas. We’ve all been feeling that one for a while. As far as food goes, anything from milk and eggs to meat and veggies seems to have gone up by quite a bit in the past few months and I don’t see those prices going down anytime soon.

One of the results of this trend has been that more and more people are starting to plan their meals. Makes sense, doesn’t it? By planning what you’re going to cook ahead of time, you avoid buying a bunch of food that you end up throwing out and make sure you only get what you really need and what your family will actually eat. It’s a great way to get your grocery budget back under control in spite of the rising cost.

But what does gas have to do with it, you ask? Simple… when you plan your meals for the entire week, you can make just one trip to the store, instead of driving over there several times a week to pick up things you forgot or to get whatever you’re going to cook for dinner that night.

Give it a try… start by grabbing your free meal planning guide at www.menuplanningcentral.com and see if you can’t start saving on your grocery bill.