Trim The Fat In Your Diet - 5 Ways

Maybe you're trying to shed a few pounds or perhaps you need to lower your cholesterol. The first thing you need to do is take a look at what you eat and start "trimming the fat". For most of us, it's easier to lower the amount of fat coming in, than it is to try and burn it off after the fact.

Here are 5 ways to lower the amount of daily fat you take in:

1. Cut the cheese.
You have 2 choices - either eat cheese with a lower fat content (like mozzarella, or "lite" versions of other cheese), or just eat less cheese. Experiment and find what you like. Some cheese is still quite good even if it's made from 2% or skim milk. Sometimes you want the full flavor, so just cut back on the amount you eat.

2. Slimmer, trimmer meats.
Choose types of meat that naturally have less fat. Trim fat off meats before cooking. Look at the labels for the percentage of fat. Hamburger, for example, comes in different packages based on fat percentages.

3. Less butter is better.
Use sparingly. Don't use butter at all when you can't really tell the difference in taste. Use seasonings to enhance flavors, instead of butter.

4. Good-bye deep fry.
Tons of fat here. Try frying in a pan with cooking spray, or use the broiler in your oven, or use a George Foreman-type grill.

5. Read labels and take the low-fat road.
There are a lot of options these days for lower fat versions of many of your canned goods. Just be sure to read labels carefully as some fat-free versions may still have lots of calories and sugar. Better than eating canned would be to eat fresh when possible. Fresh vegetables and fresh fruit eaten raw or close to raw are excellent choices.

Sure, fat makes food taste good, but you can also enhance flavor with seasonings. And while our bodies do need some fat, most of us eat way too much of it. Try the above tips for lowering your fat intake. Remember, it's usually easier to do it this way than to try and get rid of it later.