Regardless of whether you want to lose weight or not, the change of the seasons to warmer fare is certainly a time for changing yourself. As new produce becomes available and the days become brighter, this is the perfect opportunity to give your diet a fresh new start. Not only will your health benefit, but your body will too – and that means you'll be ready for bathing suit season before you know it.

Why Change is Good

Many people are in a rut – in fact, chances are good that you're one of these people. Whether it's because of budgetary concerns or from simply not really wanting to try anything new, many people simply eat the same thing every day, whether they realise it or not. And while there's nothing inherently 'wrong' with eating in this way, there are a number of benefits to eating a more varied diet:

• You don't get bored as easily – When you're constantly changing your diet, your body doesn't begin to crave the things you never eat. In fact, in many cases of overeating or overindulging a bit, these moments are driven by the fact that you simply have become bored with what you are eating, so you try something new. And it tastes so good that you simply can not stop.


• Your body will get more nutrients – When you're eating the same things day in and day out, your body is also getting the same nutrients each day. Since most people aren't getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals each day, this usually results in the person being undernourished. By introducing new foods to your diet, you will give your body more 'chances' to get the vitamins and minerals that you need.

• Your body will be satisfied with less – As you introduce new foods and new tastes to your body, more of your senses are engaged in the act of eating. If you find foods that stimulate the various kinds of tastes – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, etc. – you will make your body feel more satisfied (even with less food).

Change is certainly a good thing when it comes to your diet and your life, but especially to your health.

Changing Your Figure, One Food at a Time

Regardless of whether you want to lose weight, you will change your body as you begin to eat more a summer base diet. Adding more vegetables and fruits to your everyday meals will help increase the tastes you have in your every day routine, while at the same time, diminishing the amount of calories and fat you are taking in – even without taking the time to add up the numbers.

But since the process of change can be a difficult one for those that are used to the routine, you might want to start off this process slowly. There are a number of ways to slowly change up your diet to be summer-ready:

• Try one new food every week – Each time you go to the market, be sure to pick up one new fruit or vegetable. This will encourage you to try new things and to find out what you like and don't like. While it's true that you won't like everything you buy, you will probably like a majority of the things you put into your basket.

• Investigate new recipes – With the internet at your fingertips, you can find recipes for anything with any ingredient imaginable. In fact, there are some recipe sites in which you need only type in the ingredient you want to feature and then you will get a list of appropriate recipes. If there is a certain vegetable that you want to use, for example, you can come up with a new dish in this way.

• Cook the fruits and vegetables with other things – If you're not already eating a lot of fruits and vegetables; try to incorporate them slowly into your diet. Maybe a few carrots in your plain soup is a good start or adding a few pieces of apple to your salad. Try to find ways to put just a few new foods into dishes you already enjoy to help increase your satiety and to increase your diet variety.

• Share recipes with friends – Every week or month, whatever works best for you, try to swap recipes with friends to see what they're eating. This will help you break out of your routine and will allow you to learn new ways of cooking ingredients.

Looking at Food Differently

Another way to change up your diet is to find different ways of cooking the same old things. For example, a piece of zucchini can be steamed, fried, breaded, and boiled. It could also be cooking in a tomato sauce or sliced thin to take the place of lasagne noodles. When you have a free day, try to figure out new ways of cooking the same old things.

Look into these types of healthy cooking methods:

• Broiling
• Boiling
• Steaming
• Simmering
• Baking
• Dry frying

The summer months are also a good time to begin to look at the freshness of foods and how close to natural you can serve them. This means that you should try to find produce that is ripe and bursting with flavour so that it doesn't need to be cooked or seasoned a lot to still be enjoyable. You might want to try something like always having raw fruits and vegetables in your home to eat whenever you get hungry. While this may not sound appealing at first, over time, it will become second nature.

Creating a diet that's ready for summer is a great first step towards making your body healthier and your diet habits more positive. Without counting calories or eating just cabbage soup for weeks on end, the changes you make to break your eating rut will help you trim down for the summer too. You're eating fewer calories with more nutrition – and that adds up to a healthy life.

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