Many New Year's resolutions involve losing weight and eating healthier. By cutting back on fat in the foods eaten, many calories can be saved for the benefit of weight loss and possibly heart health. Here are a few ideas for fat reduction.

• Use non-stick spray in pan rather than cooking in oil or use a non-stick pan. Try to limit fried foods.
• Use skim milk in cooking rather than higher fat milk or cream.
• Cut back on butter, margarine or oil used in a recipe. Often the amount can be reduced by half and substitutions for the reduced amount of fat can be applesauce or other fruit puree.
• Decrease the amount of chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut by half in your recipe.
• Prepare soups or stews ahead of time, place in the refrigerator, and when fat solidifies on top it can be easily removed. Canned soups can also be refrigerated in the same way to remove excess fat.
• Substitute two egg whites for one whole egg in a recipe. The yolk is where the fat is found in eggs.
• Use lean (lower fat) meats more often and trim fat from meat as much as possible.
• Use low-fat or fat-free products in place of the full fat version. Many products such as sour cream, cream cheese, and salad dressing come in reduced fat options. Just keep in mind that these products that are reduced in fat may have higher carbohydrate content so account for this in your meal planning.