How to Overhaul Your Heavy Winter Diet for Spring!

With summer (and all its skimpy fashions) right around the corner, we're getting bombarded with many "shape up" questions. And, since we're as guilty as the next girl when it comes to having holed up all winter with loads o' comfort foods (mac n' cheese and buttery baked potatoes are my go-to guilty pleasures), we thought it'd be a good idea to talk to a personal trainer to find out how to start weaning ourselves off the cold-weather foods and start getting lean and mean!

Enter Brooke Marrone, a lifelong fitness fanatic and New York City-based trainer who was only too happy to help get us all on the right track.

Brooke honed in on a question we'd received from Cathy in Minnesota who'd written, "I have been hibernating all winter eating fatty comfort foods and now that spring is here I would like to eat healthy lighter fare --any advice on easy ways to implement these changes?"

Here's Brooke's advice:

"With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start replacing your bad habits with good ones! Here are a few quick tips to help you eat right and get back on track with your workouts."

1. Think GREEN! Focus more on salads, grilled veggies, and seasonal produce such as asparagus, peas, artichokes, etc. instead of opting for heavier wintery choices like pastas, creamy soups, and desserts.

2. Drink lots of water, at least eight 8-ounce cups a day. Drinking water is essential for weight loss and dehydration is often mistaken for hunger and can lead to feeling tired and having low energy, which can cause you to make poor food choices.

3. Be smart when dining out. When you're choosing a restaurant, try and avoid the ones with the breadbasket you can't resist or any place with unlimited chips and salsa. Try and pick places with a lighter menu that make it easier for you to eat healthfully.

4. Grocery shop and stock your fridge with healthy options. It's a great idea to prepare a few healthy-eating options (cut up veggies and store them in containers so they're easy to reach for or grill a couple of chicken breasts) at the beginning of the week so you have some healthy go-to choices for snacking and meals.

5. Check out all of the new healthy living apps that are available. Most are inexpensive or even free. You can get great recipes, learn how to eat and shop better, count calories and more. There are some great fitness apps out there as well!

Those are some great ideas for getting your eating habits back on track, now, if you'd like some effective, easy-to-do exercises that you can even do while sitting at your desk, click here.