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Reducing fat in your diet doesn't mean you will face a life of tasteless dry meals and fat-free cookie boxes in your cupboards. Whether you need to lose weight or just trim the fat, the following tips will help you achieve your dietary goals.

1. Steam, boil, broil, or microwave vegetables, or stir-fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil.

2. Season vegetables with herbs and spices rather than sauces, butter, or margarine.

3. Try lemon juice or fat-free dressing on salad, or use a yogurt based dressing instead of mayonnaise or sour cream dressing.

4. To reduce saturated fat, use vegetable oil or tub margarine instead of butter or stick margarine when possible.

5. Replace whole milk with skim or low-fat milk in puddings, soups, and baked products. Substitute plain nonfat yogurt, blender-whipped cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream, or buttermilk in recipes that call for sour cream.

6. Choose lean cuts of meat, and trim any visible fat from meat before and after cooking. Remove skin from poultry before or after cooking. Monitor portion sizes. (Lean meats end in "loin".)

7. Roast, bake, or broil meat, poultry, or fish, so that fat drains away as the food cooks.

8. Use a nonstick pan for cooking so added fat will be unnecessary, use a vegetable spray for frying.

9. Chill broths from meat or poultry until the fat becomes solid. Spoon off the fat before using the broth.

10. Eat a low-fat vegetarian main dish at least once a week.

Warnings

* You need to have some fat in your diet. The ones that are best for you are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which come from plant sources like peanuts and olives.

* If you have any questions or concerns, contact a physician or other health care professional before engaging in any activity related to health and diet. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.