Every week, in our CSA crate, we get at least two large bags or several bunches of greens. We've never eaten so many salads and sauteed greens in our life, and honestly, I'm getting a little bored. But today I've found new inspiration in Prevention's 25 summer salads.

These mouth-watering salads are loaded with fruits and/or veggies, many of them straight from the summer garden. Not only that, they're deliciously low-cal and low-fat, not overloaded with heavy dressings or fried meats. This gallery also reminds us, in the form of a yummy looking bean salad, among others, that salads don't always have to contain lettuce. I'm just not sure which one to try first!

What about you? What's your favorite summer salad recipe?

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KitKat's recently launched its biggest new brand in 10 years. It's called KitKat Senses, and from what I can see, it's touted as a 'healthier' version of the regular beloved chocolate bar. They hired British superstar band Girls Aloud to promote the bar in this multi-million dollar commercial.

Interested in knowing the nutritional down-low for KitKat Senses? Apparently, it's got 'just 165 calories,' which is not exactly 'low-cal' if you ask me, but it's better than the regular 220 cal. Still, it's probably loaded with artificial sweeteners, so nutritionally speaking, you'd be better off having a small piece of dark chocolate. Currently, it seems to be available only in the UK.

What do you think of the new bar?

(Via The Skinny Website)

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My e-mail inbox was full of promise when I received this article enticing me with calorie-free snacks! Are there even such things as calorie-free snacks? I mean, even chewing gum has calories. Turns out there are a few things that really are calorie-free -- namely, tea and water -- but can you really fill up on these? To a point, I suppose, but if you're having water or tea to replace a meal, you need help.

The other suggestions are not so much calorie-free as they are very low in calories and/or good for you. These items are:

• Veggies
• Berries
• Sugar-free jello (though it does contain processed chemicals)
• Egg whites
• Citrus fruits

You could eat these things to your heart's content and not see any significant weight gain, so next time you reach for that bag of chips to fill the mid-afternoon rumblings, remember these items.

What calorie-free or low-cal snacks do you enjoy?

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If you find yourself constantly hungry and struggling not to snack, you might be suffering needlessly. Believe it or not there are some foods you really can have as much of as you want of -- "free" foods, so to speak. Here's a quick list of calorie-free (or guilt-free at least) foods to curb your cravings and hunger pangs:

• Hot tea (with Splenda if you like it sweet). The volume and warmth will satisfy, plus you'll get the awesome benefits of the antioxidants and other properties tea has become so famous for.
• Water. Same principles as the tea in that the volume will help you feel fuller, plus it can suppress the appetite and help your body metabolize fat. Try drinking a big glass of water before you snack -- you'll eat less.
• Egg whites. As long as you make them without loads of butter or other additions they're low in calories, high in protein, and have no fat/no cholesterol.
• Crunchy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts. Again, as long as you pass on the fattening toppings and ranch dressing you can't really overdo it or eat too many!
• Citrus fruits and berries. Very low in calories and full of necessary nutrients and vitamins.
• Sugar-free Jell-O. Easy to make, sweet, and very low-cal!

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I'll admit, veggies aren't my favourite thing, and I'd always rather have the pizza than the salad when I'm ordering my meal at a restaurant. But I know they're necessary to a healthy diet so I'm always looking for yummy ways to get more produce in my diet.

One of my favourite bloggers, Linda aka Sundry, came up with this salad which she shared on her Sundry Buzz site. She aptly calls it the 'Spicy shrink-yer-butt Salad', since it is chalk-full of healthy stuff and free of all the high-calorie additives that can make some salads not so good for the waistline. And I had to share because it is delicious. And good for you. What more can you ask for?

What's your favourite salad recipe?

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Let's face it: sugar is bad for us. It's comprised of empty calories that don't give up an energy and end up being stored as fat. We know this by now. So what's the alternative for those of us that have a serious sweet tooth? Artificial sweeteners? Nah – they're often said to be just as bad for us, even toxic, and I find that they leave me feeling bloated. But there's a natural low-cal sweetener out there that you may have heard of: Stevia. So if we could switch from sugar to stevia, we would probably see a pretty big change in our weightloss. What do you think?

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Losing weight is hard enough without all these profit-hungry people and organizations using flashy ads and promising-yet-unrealistic statements to get your attention and get you spending money on their weight loss products. They're called diet traps, and they might be the reason you're still not shedding any pounds.

Here are the top 5 diet traps, courtesy of WebMD. The bottom line? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Unless you're working out 10 hours a day or have an extremely high metabolism, it's pretty much impossible that you can eat anything you want and still lose weight. Promising that you can is a trap. That fad diet? It might have worked for someone you know, but that doesn't mean it will work for you. Trap! Extremely low-cal diets? Unhealthy -- it's a trap. You'll lose X lbs in Y days? It's a trap -- the weight you lose will most likely be water loss.

Have you fallen for any of these traps?

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