Did you know there are at least four great reasons to eat less fat?
- It can assist in weight loss or weight maintenance since you will be eating fewer calories.
- It can help reduce your risk of heart disease by reducing saturated fat, which will help lower blood cholesterol levels.
- It may help reduce your risk of cancer.
- Eating fewer high-fat foods means more room for fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans.
- Here are some tips to help get you started on reducing the amount of fat in your diet, and keep you going.
- Use reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings.
- Use nonfat or lower fat spreads, such as jelly or jam, fruit spread, apple butter, nonfat or reduced-calorie mayonnaise, nonfat margarine, or mustard.
- Use high-fat foods only sometimes; choose more low-fat and nonfat foods.
- To top baked potatoes, use plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream, nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese, nonfat margarine, nonfat hard cheese, salsa or vinegar.
- Use a little lemon juice, dried herbs, thinly sliced green onions, or a little salsa as a nonfat topping for vegetables or salads.
- Use small amounts of high-fat toppings. For example, use only 1 tsp butter or mayonnaise; 1 tbsp sour cream; 1 tbsp regular salad dressing.
- Switch to 1 percent or skim milk and other nonfat or lower fat dairy products (low-fat or nonfat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream).
- Cut back on cheese by using small (1 oz) amounts on sandwiches and in cooking or use lower fat and fat-free cheeses (part-skim mozzarella, 1 percent cottage cheese, or nonfat hard cheese).
- Try small amounts of these low-fat treats: fig bars, vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, angel food cake, jelly beans,, gum drops, hard candy, puddings made with low-fat (1 percent) skim milk, nonfat frozen yogurt with a fruit topping, or fruit popsicles. Try pretzels or popcorn without butter or oil for an unsweetened treat.
- Save french fries and other fried foods for special occasions; have a small serving; share with a friend.
- Save high-fat desserts (ice cream, pastries) for special occasions; have small amounts; share a serving with a friend.
- Choose small portions of lean meat, fish, and poultry; use low-fat cooking methods (baking, poaching, broiling); trim off all fat from meat and remove skin from poultry.
- Choose lower fat luncheon meats, such as sliced turkey or chicken breast, lean ham, lean sliced beef.
- Once a week or more, try a low-fat meatless meal or main dish that features beans (tacos or burritos stuffed with pinto beans; chili with kidney beans; black beans over rice.
- Try kidney beans or black-eyed peas. It's a fast and easy way to use beans and peas without cooking them from scratch.
- Use beans as a dip for vegetables or filling for sandwiches.
- Serve soup made from beans or peas - minestrone, split- pea, black bean, or lentil (once a week or more).
- Try black-eyed peas or black beans as a vegetable side dish with meat or fish.
- Add beans to salads. Many salad bars feature kidney beans, three-bean salad, or chick peas (garbanzo beans).