Have you ever heard someone say: "Don't eat before dinner, you'll ruin your appetite." What a wonderful idea :) Go ahead! . . . Ruin your appetite. Just be careful HOW you ruin your appetite:

To take the edge off your appetite before a meal, simply eat a healthy low calorie snack to take the edge off your appetite. Keep healthy low calorie snacks in your refrigerator so they are quick to grab as a snack. If you already have prepared snacks ready in your refrigerator, you don't have to face temptation to eat the wrong things because you don't have the right choice of snacks ready! Good snack choices that are low in both calories and carbohydrates, AND are healthy for you include the following vegetables: Celery, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, green onions, leeks, and mushrooms.

Have these vegetable snacks already prepared by washing and cutting or breaking into snack size bites. Having these snacks already prepared will help you avoid temptation to grab something that is quicker!

These are great to eat raw "as is" WITHOUT embellishment. And these snacks satisfy that urge to chew something and give you a sense of satisfaction that you are able to snack and still stay on track in your weight loss regimen. And you should feel good about yourself for eating these particular snacks as they are healthy for you AND they will help you keep on track with your weight loss.

Another simple idea is to make a large container or bowl of salad greens in the refrigerator that should last up to 3 or 4 days when kept in a sealed container or a bowl with plastic wrap over it. You can keep the greens and cut vegetables in the bowl already mixed up WITHOUT any dressing on it. The dressing is what will make your salad NOT last as long. Having the salad makings all ready to just grab a few handfuls to put in a bowl and then add the dressing is a quick way to have a healthy meal or snack. This will help cut the temptation to grab something high in calories just because you don't want to take the time at the moment to make a salad.

And while you are shopping take the time to look at the label of prepared salad dressings and buy 2 to 4 salad dressings that are low in both calories and carbohydrates. This will give you the special treat of being able to have your salad taste different depending on which dressing you use - dressing variety is the spice of salads.