When you include sea bass, grapefruit, sweet potatoes and apricots in your diet, you’ll cleanse your system of winter and be ready for your favorite sun-drenched fun in no time. Here’s why these four spring treats are just perfect for you:

Sea Bass

This gourmet favorite is less expensive and easier-to-find than you might think, and it includes high amounts of protein and little fat. That makes it easy to digest, so you can enjoy a plate of sea bass for some extra energy before you hit the gym or the jogging trails.

You can cook sea bass very simply with just some lemon and herbs, or you can cook it in exotic fruit and herb sauces that are as healthy as they are delicious.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit has always been a favorite of nutrition specialists and the people whom they advise, and its high content of vitamin C, balanced with a low calorie count, is the reason why. Vitamin C boosts your immune system, and just the right amount of natural sugar occurs in grapefruit to give you real energy without weighing you down.

Eat a grapefruit every morning to start the day full of natural energy that only fresh fruits can provide. If you find grapefruit a bit on the sour side, try sweeter pink grapefruits or mix grapefruit with orange, kiwi and other power-packed fruits to make a delicious breakfast fruit salad.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a sweeter alternative to the regular spud in many ways. First of all, as their name suggests, they have a sweet taste that makes them easy to eat and has you wanting to fill up on their vitamin-laden goodness.

They are also far lower in carbohydrates than regular potatoes, and they can be used in everything from simple side dishes to sweet desserts.

Apricots

Apricots make a great centerpiece for a dessert fruit bowl or fruit salad, and you can also include them with anything from healthy honey-sweetened fruit and nut cookies to roast beef. Apricots are ideal as a base for a healthy fish or meat sauce, and they are also just the right size for a quick snack.

These tasty and versatile fruits are filled with nutrients, especially vitamin A, vitamin C and beta-carotene, and they are relatively low in calories.

You could certainly try making sea bass in an apricot and grapefruit sauce, and serving it with sweet potatoes, for a full meal, or you can combine any of these foods with other healthy favorites such as greens, nuts and other fruits for spring meals that will excite your taste buds as you begin spring with the right nutrition to get back into shape after even the longest, hardest winter.

Here are the top five foods you should avoid in order to keep your weight down during the holidays:

Eggnog

What drink better brings to mind the holidays than eggnog? Regular eggnog is a drink you need to avoid, however. It’s not just the calories, even though they are extremely high for the amount you’re drinking.

It’s also the high saturated fat content that makes eggnog an unhealthy heart choice.

If you drink your eggnog with a little extra kick, the alcohol giving you that kick is nothing but empty calories without any nutrition. Guess where those calories will end up? You got it. Your waistline.

If it just wouldn’t be the holidays without eggnog, look for healthier, lower-fat recipes to make yourself or even buy low-fat eggnog from the store.

Stuffing

Another staple of the holiday meal is stuffing. It, too, should be on your “avoid” list. It’s no surprise to most people that stuffing, made mainly from bread crumbs, is high in carbs and therefore calories as well.

What does come as a surprise is the fat content. Stuffing is baked inside the turkey, where all the turkey fat drains down to absorb into the bread. When you combine high calories and high fat, stuffing becomes a real diet killer.

If you can’t give up on stuffing altogether, some varieties of dressing made on the stove instead of in the turkey can reduce some of the calories from this dish.

Spiced Nuts

Spiced nuts may not be on most people’s radar as a food to avoid. After all, nuts are healthy, right? Generally, they are healthy in small portions. However, nuts tend to be high in calories.

The spices that make these nuts so delicious also work against your ability to just say no to another handful–and another, and another. Before long, those tiny nuts have added up to a huge calorie count.

Cinnamon Buns

If part of your holiday tradition is to have cinnamon buns for your special holiday breakfast, you might want to start thinking of a new tradition. Cinnamon buns are high in fats and simple carbs, which break down quickly into sugar.

Sugar causes your insulin levels to rise quickly, which in turn signals your body to store fat.

Cinnamon buns just aren’t a diet food any way you look at it. Consider replacing the cinnamon buns with a bowl of oatmeal, possibly with fruit mixed in to give it an extra “yum” factor in a healthy manner. If oatmeal’s not your thing, a slice of whole grain toast with some protein makes a healthy meal that will keep you both energized and unworried about your diet.

Chocolate Truffles

Most people know that chocolate isn’t the most diet-friendly food out there. Chocolate truffles can be deceiving, though, because of their small size. The idea that “one or two won’t hurt” is hard to avoid.

When chocolate truffles come with over 100 calories per piece, one or two can actually hurt your weight loss efforts.

As a substitute, try a cup of hot chocolate with low-fat milk to curb your chocolate cravings.  Avoiding these five foods over the holidays can help you reach your weight loss goals.

If you need a little extra help with burning some of the fat you’ve gathered during the holidays, check out Phen375. Read our review of this natural fat burner here.

I would like to talk about the healthy stuff you can get at fast food joints. Not that it’s better than home made food you would cook and prepare on your own, but if for example you order a burger, leave out the mayo and cheese. You’ll cut a lot of fat out just by doing these simple step. If your sandwich is to dry, use ketchup. It will help you slide it down easier. The cheese you find in these burger is processed garbage loaded with oil and other junk. Just compare your regular cheese you buy in the supermarket with the burger one. A very different look.
Also avoid anything with bacon in it. The bacon in the fast food restaurants if awful. They don’t cook it, just put it under heavy lights till it gets hot. You can thank me later. It’s very unhealthy, really. Another good rule of thumb is to stay away from deep friend sandwiches. Those that have fried fish and chicken in them. The frying process makes them very unhealthy for your body. But if you must choose, go with chicken. They have lower fat percentage than deep fried fish. Avoid mayo.

If possible, change the French fries for a salad. You might think that fast food sucks without fries. Yeah, sure, but from time to time it’s good to order salad. Make it like 1 out of 3 times that you order fries and you’ll be good. Generally, it’s good to avoid fast food, but once or twice a month won’t hurt you either.

Ever heard of those meatless burger from some fast food joint? Well, they exist and I can tell from experience they have less fat than normal burgers. And it’s good for the vegetarians too. Maybe you can try the Subway sandwiches. They show you the fat content and calories of each sandwich. You can load up all kinds of veggies and not even worry about cheese or mayo. Well, about the sodas – it’s pure sugar. Avoid them at all cost. Water is the best if you ask me. If you need more taste, use a lemon pressed in a glass of water. Well, here’s my guide to fast food. Hope you can find anything useful in it and lose some pounds or so.

This diet is the most discussed and used of the top 10. It’s a low-carbohydrate diet which means it encourages you to eliminate any carbohydrates in your daily food consumption. It’s proven that this diet really works and you can intake as much fats and proteins as you want. But before you start with this one, study a bit how sustainable this type of diet is to you and your body.

South Beach Diet

Also a very successful diet. It’s not a low fat or a low carb diet, but instead you should focus on eating the correct amount of fats and carbs. It’s all about the glycemic index. You limit the intake of carbs in the first two weeks and then start eating carbs with a low glycemic index. It’s necessary to eat 3 health meals a day, plus some snacks which are healthy enough.

Cabbage Soup Diet
The good about this top 10 diet is, that it contains a really small amounts of calories. You will see an instant weight loss if you stick to the cabbage soup diet for 7 days. It’s basically like this: the more soup you consume, the more pounds you lose.

Grapefruit Diet
If you’re really obese, this diet is for you. The advantage comes from addition of grapefruit to your low calorie and low fat diet which helps you lose weight more efficiently.

SlimFast Diet
You surely have heard of this diet. It restores your breakfast and lunch meals with two slimfast shakes and puts ahead for a usual meal for dinner. These low calorie shakes will help you lose some pounds for sure.

Subway Diet
It’s also a good diet. Basically, it’s low fat Subway sandwiches which help you lose weight over a long term. And they’re healthy too.

The Beverly Hills Diet
A great diet that focuses on natural chemical reactions of foods. You should really eat exactly what you’ve been ordered to. Proteins should go with proteins, and carbs with carbs. The diet is restrictive but it motivates a rapid weight loss.

In the late 1980’s doctors evolved a surgical procedure that can really remove those unwanted fat. It’s called liposuction. But you must realize, that it’s a surgical procedure. That means it carries risk and should be only made as a last resort. Always try a healthy diet an lot’s of exercise first.

Those highly skilled doctors put tubes into the targeted skin, before which they make tiny incisions where the fat is then sucked out through the tubes. It does generally not take lots of time to do these kind of procedures and you can leave the hospital the same day. Only when large quantities of fat are removed, a overnight stay is recommended. You are treated under local anesthesia.

But there are people like diabetes patient that are not suitable for liposuction. For the procedure to be successful the patient should not be overweight and have a firm, elastic skin. That’s why surgeons advice that you should start a healthy diet and exercise much before the actual operation. Bear in mind that a liposuction should never be an alternative to healthy living and exercising.

As the liposuction is not a procedure for really obese people, there’s another type of procedure available for those kind of people. It’s called bariatric surgery of which the most popular is called Gastric Bypass. Some call it Obesity Surgery. In these kind of procedures, doctors alter the patients digestive system (stomach and small intestine), which basically means they make your stomach smaller. This has the effect of you not having those hunger attacks anymore and you only eat small portions. This procedure is recommended for people who have over 100 lbs of excess weight.

Bear in mind that this kind of procedure also isn’t for everyone with obesity issues. Your gastric anatomy is altered permanently. You will have to make permanent lifestyle changes and be very patient. You should therefore fully understand the risks and consequences of Gastric Bypass before doing it. The success of the surgery lies up to the patient.