Swimsuit season is here - eat your calories when you need them!

How did we ever get to the point where we skip breakfast or work through lunch? We then settle down to a nice BIG evening meal where we reward ourselves with excess food after a long day of work and stress. Maybe an anthropologist could explain how dinner became such a cultural phenomenon – the only time spouses and families eat together. Dinner may be the most relaxed meal of the day, but it can do the most damage to weight loss efforts. So pardon the rare, Better Living radical moment. If you must ship one meal tomorrow, skip dinner!

Okay, so we don’t really want you to skip any meals, but calorically-speaking, dinner is the least important. It should be the smallest meal of the day especially if it is eaten within 4 hours of bedtime. Food is our fuel. You will not need much to power you through the last few evening hours of unwinding whether it be reading, watching television or doing light housework.

Here are some good waist-trimming dinner choices:

• Soup and salad: whether the soup is homemade or canned, a broth-based bowl is a perfect compliment to a fresh green salad.
• A serving of Chinese stir-fry: hold the rice! Order it with light oil and lots of vegetables and you’ve got a low-calorie tasty hot meal.
• 4-oz chicken breast with honey mustard and 2 cups steamed vegetables makes a meal you can savor with your family without adding a notch to your belt.
• Microwave a veggie burger and serve it on 2 slices whole-grain toast with a dollop of salsa or hummus.
• Make it a salad night. Load it up with thawed frozen vegetables, baby carrots, hearts of palm or artichoke hearts. Top it with some smoked mackerel or a baked fillet of fish and your favorite light salad dressing.