It’s time to examine the art of packing the perfect lunch.

While it is easy to rely on the school cafeteria for the kids and fast food meals for you, this method will quickly result in unwanted pounds. The only way to ensure that you and your kids are eating a nutritionally balanced, health promoting lunch is to pack it yourself.

According to Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes in their book, Lunch Lessons, “When it comes to nutrition, children are not just miniature adults. Because they’re growing, they have different dietary needs.”

Stay tuned this week for a 7 step guide to packing healthy lunches that cover the spectrum of nutrients that your growing kids needs. Don’t have kids? Keep reading. You’ll need these steps when packing your own nutrient-dense, fitness lunches.

Check out this new recipe from the New York Times health section: Cooked Grains Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette. You can use a variety of grains in this salad like a brown rice, farro, quinoa or bulgur. The mixture makes a robust main-dish salad for summer.

1/2 pound ripe, locally grown tomatoes

1 garlic clove, green shoot removed, finely chopped or puréed

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cups cooked grains, such as quinoa, brown rice, medium or large bulgur, or a combination

Kernels from 1 ear of corn, steamed four minutes (you can cut them from the cob before or after you steam)

1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, parsley or tarragon, or a combination

1. Cut the tomatoes in half across the equator, and grate on the large holes of a box grater into a wide bowl. Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients, toss together and serve.

Yield: Serves four to six.

Advance preparation: You can make this several hours ahead and keep in the refrigerator, but leave out the herbs until ready to serve. Leftovers are good for a couple of days.

Nutritional information per serving (four servings): 320 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 48 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 21 milligrams sodium (does not include salt added during preparation); 10 grams protein

Nutritional information per serving (six servings): 214 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 32 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 14 milligrams sodium (does not include salt added during preparation); 7 grams protein

For more recipes and nutritional information, visit The Body Firm or The New York Times Online.

A kitchen stocked with the makings for healthy meals and snacks will keep you on track, even when late-night cravings strike. On the flip side, a kitchen filled with unhealthy munchies will derail your weight loss efforts every single time.

So what should your cupboards hold and what should be off limits? I’ve designed this self-guided kitchen raid to help you sort out the good from the bad.

Go ahead, grab a garbage bag, print out the list below, and then head to the kitchen.

The Refrigerator
Let’s start with the fridge, the heart of your kitchen. If you find something in your fridge that is on the “Dump this” list, then you know what you have to do. Get that garbage bag ready.

Dump this: Beverages with high fructose corn syrup or sugar. Drinking calories is one of the quickest ways to gain weight, so quickly rid your fridge of any beverage that lists HFCS or sugar on the ingredient list.

• Replace with: Water. It is a well known fact that most people are partially dehydrated, a condition that is harmful to your health and wreaks havoc on your weight loss efforts. Keep plenty of cold water on hand for proper hydration.

Dump this: Rich dairy products. I know that cream cheese tastes amazing, but fat-filled dairy products are extremely high in calories and should not reside in your fridge. Eliminate high-fat cheese, milk and yogurt from your kitchen.

• Replace with: Fresh Vegetables. The produce drawer in your fridge should be overflowing with colorful nutrient-rich veggies. In fact, your fridge should hold more veggies than the drawer can hold. Veggies are filled with fiber, vitamins and nutrients and are a vital part of a healthy well-rounded diet.

Dump this: Fatty meats. It is important that you be selective about the meats that you eat. I may tell you that chicken is a great source of protein, but if you take that as a license to eat fried chicken everyday then the benefit of the protein will be lost in all the extra fat calories.

• Replace with: Lean meats. Skinless chicken breast, lean ground turkey, white fish – there are numerous choices when it comes to lean meats.

Dump this: Fruit-flavored yogurt. I hate to break this to you, but that cute individually packaged yogurt is going to do more harm to your waistline than you think. More than 50% of the calories in fruit-flavored yogurt come from sugar. Check out the ingredient list and you likely find both high fructose corn syrup AND sugar.

• Replace with: Plain low-fat yogurt, Greek yogurt, or low-fat cottage cheese. If you love yogurt, then get the low-fat plain version. You can even chop up some fresh fruit and stir it in. Another option is to have a scoop of low-fat cottage cheese with chopped fruit on top.

For more tips visit www.thebodyfirmaz.com.

Here’s what you need:

• 8 cups cleaned spinach leaves
• 3 oranges, peeled, sliced and quartered
• 2 cucumbers, peeled sliced and quartered
• 1/8 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/8 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced or whole raspberries
• 1/2 cup white balsamic raspberry blush vinegar

1. Combined the spinach, oranges, cucumbers, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds and strawberries in a bowl.
2. Add the vinegar and toss well.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 99 calories, 3g fat, 14g carbohydrate, 2.6g fiber, and 3.5g protein.

For more fresh and easy recipes visit The Body Firm.

In this hard economic time it is service industry businesses that must protect and nurture those assets. According to Heffernan, the quality of service diminishes during recessions because employees are working too many hours, under extreme pressure. Her solution? de-clutter your life and focus and quality services and production. She says this will only come when you put down the cell phone and tackle one task at a time.

For more on this intiguing story, click here.

Visit us at The Body Firm for more blogs, undated weekly!

1. Positive strength: the motion of lifting the weight.
2. Static strength: holding weight in a contracted position.
3. Negative strength: the motion of lowering the weight.

Most people completely miss the benefit of the negative in each repetition by allowing the weight to drop quickly with little control. It is understood that the negative portion of a repetition is just as important as the positive portion, and possibly more important.

Focus on the negative portion of each repetition by lowering the weight very slowly. Concentrate on the negative contraction, and make each repetition count.

If you are advanced, then use a training partner to assist you in moving heavier-than-normal weight into a contracted position, then lower it very slowly.

Another way to utilize negative repetitions on a machine is to lift the weight using two limbs but then lower it with just one. For example, use both legs to lift the weight on a leg extension machine, but then lower it back down slowly using only one leg.

For more weight lifting tips, visit us at The Body Firm.

Here’s what you need…

• 1 sprouted grain, flourless tortilla
• 1 Tablespoon hummus
• 1/3 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup cooked black beans
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken, chopped (or baked tofu)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh corn kernels
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cucumber
• 1/4 cup shredded arugula
• 3 cherry tomatoes, chopped

1. Warm the tortilla in a dry skillet. Spread the hummus evenly over the tortilla.
2. Top the tortilla with rice, beans, chicken and veggies.
3. Fold the two sides of the tortilla in over the filling, then flip up the bottom edge and roll tightly.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 380 calories, 7.8g fat, 45g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, and 31g protein.

Come in to The Body Firm today for more nutritional advice.

Here’s what you need…

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 small tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 (4oz) cans of fire-roasted, diced green chiles
• 12 egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons water
• Non-stick cooking spray

1. In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and chiles and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Season with pepper and salt and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the egg whites and water. Lightly coat a medium non-stick skillet with non-stick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add ¼ of the eggs and swirl to evenly coat the bottom of that pan. Cook until the eggs have set, about 2 minutes.
3. Use a rubber scraper to lift the eggs up and let the runny uncooked egg flow underneath. Spoon 1/4 of the Chile mixture onto half of the omelet, fold over, and slide onto a serving plate. Repeat with remaining egg whites and Chile mixture.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 163 calories, 5g fat, 6g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, and 26g protein.

3. The Party Binger:

• Stay more than an arm’s length away from the buffet or snack bowls.
• Put only two food items on your plate during each trip to the table.
• Make yourself feel full by eating the big healthy stuff first, like broccoli and carrots.
• Remind yourself why you are at the party: first to socialize or to conduct business and secondarily to eat.

If you need help planning a more healthy diet, visit us at The Body Firm.

2. The Snack Grazer: You eat whatever food is within reach, and snack at least three times throughout the day. You can’t walk past a candy dish without dipping in. Your snacking is rarely done out of hunger.

• Chew gum throughout your day to avoid mindless munching.
• Keep tempting snack foods out of sight and out of mind.
• Never eat directly from a package. Portion out your snack into a dish.
• Don’t purchase tempting snack foods for future snacking. Keep a wide variety of fruits and vegetables on hand instead.

For more nutrition and diet suggestions, visit us at The Body Firm.