Spring is a time of new beginnings and a perfect opportunity to overhaul your winter meals in favor of zesty foods with a fresh taste. Even better, most springtime foods are easy on your waistline and make shedding those winter pounds painless! Here are my five favorite springtime foods.

Asparagus Ancient Egyptians not only cultivated asparagus, they also offered it to their gods. And in the late 1800s asparagus was a rare and coveted spring vegetable. It makes you wonder why so many people turn up their noses at this fresh breath of spring. Asparagus is a good source of folate, potassium and vitamins A, C and K. It's also a great source of fiber (4 grams per cup, 14 percent of your daily needs). Skip the béarnaise sauce, and enjoy lower-calorie cooking methods such as roasting (which brings out the sweet taste), quickly stir-frying, adding to your favorite egg-white omelet to jazz up breakfast, or lightly steaming and serving with a dipping sauce as an appetizer. 

Strawberries Sure they've been available in the grocery store all winter, but if you're lucky enough to live in the southern part of our country, strawberries are an important part of spring. In the frosty Northeast we don't see local strawberries until June. One cup of strawberries contains only 49 calories but packs in 149 percent of your daily vitamin C needs along with 12 percent of your fiber. Toss them on your morning cereal, add them to fruit salads for lunch or whirl them into your favorite smoothie recipe for a refreshing pick-me-up.