23 Ways to Cut Fat from Your Diet:

BREAKFAST

1) Choose English muffins, bagels, pita breads or toast over croissants, muffins, doughnuts or Danish pastry.

2) Spread jam on toast instead of butter. Fifteen millilitres (one tablespoon) of butter contains 11 grams of fat; jam none.

3) Try apple butter as a topping for toast; it's an apple purée that contains no actual butter and has little - if any - fat.

4) Top pancakes, waffles and French toast with fresh fruit, jelly or maple syrup rather than butter.

5) Instead of greasing muffin tins, use paper liners or spray them lightly with a nonstick cooking spray.

6) Drink skim or 1% milk instead of 2% or homogenized milk.

7) Omelettes made with one egg and two egg whites are light, fluffy and lower in fat than the three-egg version. Cook them in the microwave so you won't have to add any fat.

8) Eat a high-fibre cereal with low-fat milk - it will keep you feeling full until your next meal.

9) Make low-fat muffins using less oil - they taste great and are much lower in fat than those found in coffee shops. But be careful not to put them in paper liners because they might stick.

10) If you want bacon, have the leaner Canadian bacon, or back bacon, instead of the regular high-fat side bacon. Two slices of Canadian bacon contain four grams of fat; two slices of side bacon, about seven.

LUNCH

11) Choose broth-based soups, such as beef barley, vegetable or chicken noodle, instead of cream-based soups.

12) Spread sandwiches with spicy mustard, horseradish, cranberry sauce or low-fat mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise. Fifteen millilitres (one tablespoon) of mayonnaise packs 11 grams of fat, while the equivalent amount of the other spreads contains less than one gram (note, though, that you're not always saving on calories).

13) Choose canned fish packed in water or broth instead of in oil.

14) Instead of regular mayonnaise in tuna, salmon and egg salads, use a small amount of light mayonnaise, low-fat sour cream or fat-free ranch dressing.

15) Choose lean or low-fat deli meats, such as chicken and turkey, over the high-fat varieties, such as salami and bologna.

16) Crackers can contain lots of hidden fat. Look for those with two grams of fat or less per 100-calorie serving, such as soda crackers and melba toast.



17) With a few exceptions (avocados and coconuts), fruits and vegetables are low in fat, so eat more of them - at least five to 10 servings every day.

18) Go crustless with quiche, or have a frittata instead.

19) Add flavour, texture, fibre and colour to your sandwich with fresh, roasted or grilled vegetables, such as peppers or alfalfa sprouts, or sliced fresh fruit.

20) Try yogurt cheese flavoured with garlic and herbs as a sandwich spread. To make yogurt cheese, combine one litre (four cups) of Balkan-style yogurt with one millilitre (1/4 teaspoon) of salt. Line a fine-mesh sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth or a dampened coffee filter and place over a bowl. Pour the yogurt mixture into the sieve; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Discard the liquid in the bowl; add another millilitre
(œ teaspoon) of salt and your favourite herbs to flavour as desired.

21) Brown-bag it. Pack up leftovers from your healthy dinner to take for lunch the next day - it takes the guesswork out of making the best choices in fast-food restaurants and saves you money as well.

22) Instead of a turkey club sandwich with bacon and mayonnaise, order a plain turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mustard - you'll save about 18 grams of fat.

23) Try a roasted-garlic spread on bread or crackers or to flavour dressings and sauces - it's delicious and has little fat. To roast garlic, cut off the top of a head of garlic to expose tips of cloves; brush cut side with oil. Place, cut side down, in greased pie plate. Roast in 375F (190C) oven until softened, about 25 minutes; let cool. Squeeze out cloves into food processor; purée.