There are at least four great reasons to eat less fat:

1. It can assist you in losing weight or maintaining your present weight because you will be eating fewer unnecessary calories.
2. It can help reduce your risk of heart disease by reducing saturated fat. This will help lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack or stroke..
3. It can help you reduce your risk of cancer.
4. Eating fewer high-fat foods means more room for fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans which means overall better health and well-being.

Reducing Fat In Your Diet

Here are a few suggestions to help get you started in reducing fat from your diet. These same suggestion can also help you to keep fat out of your diet in the future. Try one or two of these suggestions immediately and as you are successful increase until you have all of them covered.

1. Eat smaller portions of lean meat, fish, and poultry.
2. Cut off all visible fat before cooking.
3. Use low-fat cooking methods: baking, poaching, broiling, BBQ, or use a George Foreman Grill.
4. Remove skin from poultry.
5. Eat less processed meats and when you do eat processed meats, purchase only low-fat luncheon meats, such as sliced turkey or chicken breast, lean ham, lean sliced beef.
6. Use reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings or use no dressing at all.
   
7. If you must use a salad dressing consider using Balsamic vinegar, lemon alone, salt and pepper or salad seasoning. If you must use an oil-based dressing, use olive or canola oil only.   
8. Use a little lemon juice, dried herbs, thinly sliced green onions, or a little salsa as a non-fat topping for vegetables or salads.
9. Use non-fat or lower fat spreads, such as jelly or jam, fruit spread, apple butter, non-fat or reduced-calorie mayonnaise, non-fat margarine, or mustard.
10. Use high-fat foods as little as possible, choose more low-fat and non-fat foods.
11. Top your baked potatoes with plain non-fat or low-fat yogurt, non-fat or reduced-fat sour cream, non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese, non-fat margarine, non-fat hard cheese, salsa or vinegar or eat it dry.
12. When absolutely necessary, use only small amounts of high-fat toppings, for example, use only 1 tsp butter or mayonnaise, or 1 tbsp sour cream, or 1 tbsp regular salad dressing.
13. Switch to 1 percent or skim milk and other non-fat or lower fat dairy products (low-fat or non-fat yogurt, non-fat or reduced-fat sour cream).
14. Cut back on cheese as much as possible. If you must have cheese then use only small amounts (1 oz or less) on sandwiches and in cooking or use lower fat and fat-free cheeses (part-skim mozzarella, 1 percent cottage cheese, or non-fat hard cheese).
15. 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, non-fat frozen yogurt with a fruit topping, or fruit popsicles. Try pretzels or popcorn without butter or oil for an unsweetened treat.
16. Better still eat more fruits and vegetables, they are healthy and can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
17. Eliminate french fries and other fried foods as much as possible. If you have to have them limit them only to special occasions and have small servings.
18. Save high-fat desserts (ice cream, pastries) for special occasions; have small amounts; share a serving with a friend.

 
Which are the leanest cuts of meat available to lower fat in my diet?