To help women take 3 steps toward a slimmer summer and build life-long healthy habits, 3-A-Day of Dairy is offering a 3-Week Healthy Lifestyle Start-Up Plan. It includes tips for cutting calories, exercising and getting 3 servings of dairy a day as part of a healthy diet. Research shows that including 3 daily servings of milk, cheese or yogurt in a reduced-calorie weight loss plan can help adults achieve better results, when it comes to trimming the waistline and burning more fat, than just cutting calories alone and consuming little or no dairy.

To create the 3-Week Healthy Lifestyle Start-Up Plan, 3-A-Day of Dairy teamed up with Michael Sena, fitness expert, personal trainer and author of "Lean Mom, Fit Family." Each week features healthy eating suggestions, calorie-cutting tips, strength training and cardiovascular exercises to help women take small steps toward their weight loss goals. There's also a journal page that can be printed off each week to keep track of eating habits and physical activity. And just because it's called a start-up plan doesn't mean dieters have to stop using it after the first three weeks. The plan is designed to be followed beyond the initial start-up to help meet your weight loss goals.

"Building healthy habits is all about making health and nutrition a part of life and fitting it into daily routines," Sena says. "Starting out with small changes each day to increase physical activity, cut calories and improve eating habits - like including 3 servings of milk, cheese or yogurt - allows dieters to work toward small, achievable short-term goals and increase their chances for long-term success."

Get 3 Servings of Delicious Dairy as Easy as 1 - 2 - 3
The recipe and snack tips in the 3-Week Healthy Lifestyle Start-Up Plan make it easy to work in a serving of milk, cheese or yogurt at mealtime, snack time or anytime. And 3-A-Day of Dairy's easy 3-step recipes available at 3aday.org - such as Homemade Low-Fat Granola, Scrambled Egg and Mozzarella Breakfast Pizza and Mango Yogurt Smoothie - prove that dieters don't need to deprive themselves of delicious, satisfying foods when following a weight loss plan.

"People can optimize their diet by including a variety of nutrient-rich foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat milk, cheese and yogurt in their daily diet," says Michelle May, M.D., spokesperson for the American Academy of Family Physicians. "Dairy is a good choice because it's great tasting, satisfying and provides calcium, protein and other essential nutrients everyone needs, whether or not they are following a weight loss program."

3-A-Day of Dairy's easy 3-step recipes that prove dieters don't need to deprive themselves of satisfying foods while following a weight loss plan:

Mustard-Crusted Steak Salad With Blue Cheese

Iced Coffee with Milk
Recipe created by 3-A-Day™ of Dairy

Makes 2 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes (plus overnight freezing for the milk ice cubes)

2 cups low-fat milk*
2 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled
sugar substitute, to taste

Stir together 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of coffee. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight until frozen solid. Pour remaining milk and coffee into 2 tall glasses. Sweeten to taste with sugar substitute and add half of the prepared milk ice cubes** to each glass.

*Or, substitute with low-fat chocolate milk to create an iced mocha coffee.

**Size and amount of ice cubes may vary depending on ice cube tray.

Nutritional Facts per serving for meal recipe:
Calories 100, Total Fat 2.5g, Saturated Fat 1.5g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 130mg, Calcium 30% Daily Value, Protein 8g, Carbohydrates 12g, Dietary Fiber 0g

Homemade Low-Fat Granola
Recipe created by 3-A-Day™ of Dairy

Makes 9 servings
Prep time: 12 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

For the granola:
4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup raisins

Serve with:
1 cup fat-free milk, per serving
fresh berries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir together oatmeal, almonds, cinnamon and salt, if desired, in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk maple syrup, apple juice and vegetable oil; pour over oatmeal mixture and stir to coat thoroughly. Spread mixture in an even layer onto a 15x12-inch baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. Cool mixture in the pan before adding raisins. Store granola in an airtight container. To serve: Pour 1 cup of milk over a heaping 1/2 cup of granola. Top with fresh berries, if desired. Serving suggestion: Instead of milk, top 1 cup of fat-free yogurt with the granola.

Nutritional Facts per serving for meal recipe:
Calories 320, Total Fat 6g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 105mg, Calcium 35% Daily Value, Protein 16g, Carbohydrates 53g, Dietary Fiber 5g