Training my taste buds to accept low-fat, low-sugar food items was easy in comparison to weaning myself off whole milk, soft-drinks, and Koolaid. I changed from whole milk to skim milk, from Cokes to diet Cokes, and from koolaid to sugar-free koolaid. And now I drink water most of the time. When I crave something sweet I eat small portions of Blue Bell Free ice cream, graham crackers, animal crackers, fig newtons, or a variety of other low-fat products.
You can replace butter with powdered butter or Liquid Butter Buds. Instead of high-fat cheese use fat-free cheese such as Alpine Lace. Use ninety-seven percent fat-free Hormel hot dogs rather than eighty-five percent fat-laden hot dogs. Instead of mayonnaise, use Kraft Free mayonnaise, or mustard. Sour cream may be replaced with low-fat cottage cheese or non-fat yogurt. Munching on greasy chips can be replaced with the crunch of pretzels, popcorn, or Guiltless Gourmet chips. Eat non fat salad dressings and non-fat ice cream. Use evaporated skim milk rather than cream. If you are in a hurry, mix up a meal replacement product or microwave a snack and eat it on your way out the door.
BETTER FAST FOOD CHOICES
Wendy's Baked Potato: 270 calories, less than one gram of fat.
Arby's Light Roast Turkey Deluxe: 249 calories, 4 fat grams.
Jack In The Box Chicken Fajita Pita: 292 calories, 3 fat grams.
Hardee's Grilled Chicken Sandwich: 310 calories, 3 fat grams.
McDonald's Apple Bran Muffin: 180 calories, less than 1 fat gram.
Long John Silver's Baked Fish: 300 calories, 6 fat grams.
Hardee's Pancakes: 280 calories, less than 1 fat gram.
Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon 'N' Raisin Bagel: 250 calories, 2 fat grams.
Taco Bell Soft Chicken Taco: 213 calories, 4 fat grams.
KFC Mashed Potatoes: 35 calories, 1 fat gram.
Six inch Subway Turkey Sandwich: 322 calories, 2 fat grams.
Read Labels:
1. "Cholesterol-free" means the cholesterol has been removed from theproduct.
2. "Light" means that the product has either half the fat, halfthesodium, or two-thirds the calories of the regular version.
3. "Low-fat" means that the product gets no more than thirty percent ofits calories from fat.
4. "Reduced fat" means that the product has to have at least twenty fivepercent less fat than the regular product.
5. "Fat-free" means that the product has less than half a gram of fat per serving.
The following snacks may satisfy your sweet tooth or salt craving:
Sugar-free gelatin
Sugar-free, fat-free pudding
Non-fat potato chips
Spicy flavored rice cakes
Non-fat tortilla chips dipped in salsa
Air-popped popcorn
Pretzels
Non-fat cookies
Sorbet
Sherbet
Non-fat frozen yogurt
Graham crackers
Vanilla wafers
Fig bars
Sugar-free popsicles
LOW-FAT SNACK CALORIE COUNTER
Twenty low-fat tortilla chips: 110 calories
Fifteen pretzel chips: 120 calories
One fat-free caramel corn cake: 50 calories
Thirteen reduced-fat mini chocolate chip cookies: 130 calories
Two fat-free fig bars: 100 calories
Forty reduced-fat mini cheese crackers: 130 calories
One fat-free oatmeal raisin cookie: 100 calories
Two honey graham crackers: 120 calories
One molasses cookie: 120 calories
Twenty-four Teddy Grahams: 140 calories
Five gingersnaps: 130 calories
Eight vanilla wafers: 140 calories
