Summers here and it’s time for fun in the sun, water sports and lazing on the beach. However, what if at the end of it all you’ve put on unwanted weight instead of losing the fat you have gained over the winter.

Here are some great tips will help you avoid extra pounds and get you proper nutrition.

Go red for Tomato: this lycopene-rich fruit has many health benefits. Use it in all your dishes to get good nutrition and it is low in calories as well. Select fresh, firm, and dark red tomatoes and keep them at room temperature. The canned variety can also added to your pastas, soups, and salads.

Roast your peppers: to get a great extra dish or add peppers to any preparation to enjoy their nourishing benefits. Black peppers are high in vitamin C, calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.

Cool yogurt: on a summer’s day is a treat and full of benefiting calcium plus proteins. It offers a double benefit in that it has weight reducing effects and makes your bones strong and keeps you full. Replace ice cream with this wonderful cooling snack full of nutrition. It has the good bacteria.

Berries: Blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry are tasty, color rich and come filled with the strength of antioxidants to prevent cell damage. They also pack loads of fiber and have low calories. Munch on them or cook them, as you like. Toss some of them on your cereals or mix them into your salads for a filling meal. Better still chomp on a bowlful of mixed berries and enjoy the benefits of them all.

Mango: This juicy and delicious lovely orange colored fruit is fiber rich and filled with potassium and vitamins A and C and very low in calories. Eat it in whatever way you like. Juice it, make a milkshake, and use it in fruit salads, on pancakes, cereals, yogurt, waffles, puddings, and cakes.

Beans: They are a great substitute for meat. Store up plenty of tinned beans into your kitchen for mixing with salads, pasta, salsa, soups or stews or any others. Don’t forget to soak dried beans the night before to soften them for cooking. Make a great, protein high, and fiber filled salad with various beans like black, chickpeas, and pinto with a light salad dressing. Beans are gas producing, however, so take proper pills to prevent any embarrassment.

Water Treatment: Instead of sugar rich juices go for plain water in the hot summers when the body easily is de-hydrated. Water is the ultimate thirst quencher with a calorie count of nil. Do not wait until your thirsty, just drink up throughout the hot day.

Ice creams and frozen desserts:  Knowing the high calorie count of ice creams, the only way is to plan special ice cream days of the week, just twice a week. Plan alternatives on non ice-cream days. Remember yogurt is a great way to go healthy.
A last tip is to say a polite no to all those summer barbeques as they usually dish out high fat foods.