Eating Right

Healthy Meals

These low-calorie alternatives provide new ideas for old favorites. When making a food choice, remember to consider vitamins and minerals. Some foods provide most of their calories from sugar and fat, but give you few if any vitamins and minerals. This guide (brought to you courtesy of Guidelines on Overweight and Obesity: Electronic Textbook which was printed from the NIH website. Please visit that site for more information.

High Fat and Low Fat meals

Dairy Products
Cereal, Grain, and Pasta
Meat, Fish, and Poultry
Baked Goods
Snacks and Sweets
Fats, Oils, and Dressings
Miscellaneous

Dairy Products

Higher Fat Foods Lower Fat Foods
Evaporated whole milk Evaporate fat-free (skim) or reduced-fat (2%) milk
Whole milk Low-fat (1%), reduced-fat(2%), or fat-free (skim) milk
Ice cream Sorbet, sherbet, low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt, or ice milk (check label for calorie content)
Whipping cream Imitation whipped cream (made with fat-free [skim] milk) or low-fat vanilla yogurt.
Sour cream Plain low-fat yogurt
Cream cheese Neufchatel or “light” cream cheese or fat-free cream cheese.
Cheese (Swiss, Cheddar, Jack, etc) Reduced-calorie cheese, low-fat calorie processed cheeses, etc
American Cheese Fat-free cheese Fat-free American cheese or other types of fat-free cheeses
Regular (4%) cottage cheese Low-fat (1%) or reduced-fat (2%) cottage cheese
Whole milk mozzarella cheese Part-skim milk, low-moisture mozzarella cheese
Whole milk ricotta cheese Part-skim milk ricotta cheese
Coffee cream (½ and ½) or nondairy creamer (liquid, powder) Low-fat (1%) or reduced fat (2%) milk or nonfat dry milk powder.

Cereal, Grains and Pasta

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Ramen noodles Rice or noodles (spaghetti, macaroni, etc)
Pasta with white sauce (alfredo) Pasta with red sauce (marinara)
Pasta with cheese sauce Pasta with vegetable (primavera)
Granola Bran flakes, crispy rice, etc Cooked grits or oatmeal Reduced-fat granola
   

Meat, Fish and Poultry

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Coldcuts or lunch meats (bologna, salami, liverwurst) Lower-fat coldcuts (95 to 97% fat-free lunch meats, low-fat pressed meats)
Hot dogs(regular) Lower-fat hot dogs
Bacon or sausage Canadian bacon or lean ham
Regular ground beef Extra-lean ground beef such as ground round or ground turkey (read labels)
Chicken or turkey with skin; duck or goose Chicken or turkey without skin (white meat)
Oil-packed tuna Water-packed tuna (rinse to reduce sodium content)
Beef (chuck, rib, basket) Beef (round, loin) (trimmed of external fat) (choose select grades)
Pork (spareribs, untrimmed loin) Pork tenderloin or trimmed, lean smoked ham
Frozen breaded fish or fried fish (homemade or commercial) Fish or shellfish, unbreaded (fresh, frozen, canned in water)
Whole eggs Egg whites or egg substitutes
Frozen TV dinners (containing more than 13 grams of fat per serving) Frozen TV dinners (containing less than 13 grams of fat per serving)
Chorizio sausage Turkey sausage, drained well (read label) Vegetarian sausage (made with tofu)
   

Baked Goods

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Croissants, brioches, etc. Hard french rolls or soft brown ‘n serve rolls
Donuts, sweet rolls, muffins, scones or pastries English muffins, bagels, reduced-fat or fat-free muffins or scones
Party crackers Low-fat crackers (choose lower in sodium)
Cake (pound, chocolate, yellow) Cake (angel food, white, gingerbread)
Cookies Reduced fat or fat-free cookies (graham crackers, ginger snaps, fig bars) (compare calorie level)
   

Snacks and Sweets

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Nuts Popcorn (air-popped or light microwave), fruits or vegetables
Ice creams, e.g., cones or bars Frozen yogurt, frozen fruit or chocolate pudding bars
Custards or puddings (made with whole milk) Puddings (made with skim milk)
   

Fats, Oil, and Salad Dressings

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Regular margarine or butter Light spread margarines, diet margarine, or whipped butter, tub or squeeze bottle
Regular mayonnaise Light or diet mayonnaise or mustard
Regular salad dressings Reduced calorie or fat-free salad dressings, lemon juice, or plain or herb flavored wine vinegar
Butter or margarine on toast or bread Jelly, jam or honey on bread or toast
Oils, shortening, or lard Nonstick cooking spray for stirfrying or sauteing As a substitute for butter or oil, use applesauce or prune sauce in baked goods.
   

Miscellaneous

Higher Fat Lower Fat
Canned cream soups Canned broth-based soups
Canned beans and Franks Canned baked beans in tomato sauce
Gravy (with fat and/or milk) Gravy mixes made with water or homemade with the fat skimmed off and fat-free milk
Fudge sauce Chocolate syrup
Avocado on sandwiches Cucumber slices or lettuce leaves
Guacamole dip or refried beans with lard Salsa