Try These Simple Nutritional Strategies to Get Lean and Feel Great For Spring Break

Spring Break and bikini season will be here before you know it and chances are, you want to look and feel your best when you hit the beach. 

There are several simple changes you can make in your daily meals and food choices that can make a big impact on how you look and feel year-round.

One key strategy: choose vegetables instead.

Daily, we hear about how important vegetable intake is to our overall health.  Vegetables provide an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and plant nutrients (phytonutrients) that help our bodies grow and repair as well as everything in between. Substituting processed foods with vegetables is also extremely effective for fat loss.

However, many people don't really eat any vegetables on a daily basis.  Why? Well, in my experience with clients, it's because vegetables aren't in the fridge, or if they are around, they sit in plastic wrap (as opposed to being chopped up in advance and stored in a 'ready-to go' container).

So, try these steps: 

1.  Next time you shop for groceries, buy any and as many vegetables as you want.
2. As soon as you get home, chop or peel your vegetables and store them in containers. This makes them easy to 'grab and go' when you are in a rush.
3. Look at one of your daily meals and take note where the carbohydrates come from. Chances are good they're from a bagel, cereal, crackers, a wrap or some other form of processed grain product. The strategy for this meal is to take out the processed grain product and replace it with vegetables.  This strategy alone will make a big difference to your waistline over time - and all it requires is changing one meal.

By implementing these quick and easy strategies, you’ll begin to lean out, have more energy and look great in time for Spring Break.

Ashleigh Gass is a certified strength and conditioning specialist at Brilliant Athlete.