• Pan-fry or saute foods with a non-stick spray or low-calorie butter substitute – and bake or broil your foods rather than frying them in oils or fats.
• Eat high-fiber foods, such as a bran muffin instead of a donut.
• Use sugar substitutes when sweetening foods and beverages.
• Order from the light menus now offered at many restaurants, or purchase low-calorie or reduced-fat products at the grocery store.
• Try a meal plan using "exchange lists" based on foods grouped together according to similar food values. Most exchange lists include several "free" foods: those lower than 20 calories per serving, such as many low-calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages.
• Never skip meals. Eat three to six times a day in smaller portions to keep from getting hungry.
• Choose a smaller plate at mealtime to satisfy your psychological need to see a full plate.
• Eat and chew slowly. Learn to stop eating before you feel full (it takes up to 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it is full).
• Weigh yourself on a regular schedule, but don’t become a slave to your scale.
• When you reward yourself, do so with pleasures other than food. For example, treat yourself to some new clothes, get a different hair-style, see a movie, visit a friend, etc.

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