By making just a few small changes in your diet and replacing certain foods, you will be able to decrease the number of calories you eat and avoid adding extra pounds.
The truth is that by replacing, for example, one slice of bread with regular cream cheese, with a whole-wheat slice of bread and lowfat cream cheese or cottage cheese, you will be saving around 41 calories and 5 grams of fat. So you can still enjoy bread with cheese, but with less calories and fat. 
Keep in mind that lowfat- or low-calorie products are not necessarily foods you can eat in larger amounts. The idea is to be able to enjoy them and reduce calories and fat.
Here are some examples of healthier substitutes for some of your favorite foods :
| INSTEAD OF: | USE: | AND YOU WILL SAVE: | |
| Whole milk | Skim milk | 20 calories | 2.5 grams of fat |
| Regular mozzarella cheese | Lowfat mozzarella cheese | 10 calories | 1.2 grams of fat |
| Breakfast cereal with sugar | Whole-wheat cereal | 23 calories | 0.7 grams of fat |
| Regular sugar | Artificial sweetener | 16 calories | 0 grams of fat |
| Chocolate chip cookie | Chocolate chip granola bar | 61 calories | 5.5 grams of fat |
| Regular Ranch dressing | Lowfat Ranch dressing | 51 calories | 6.5 grams of fat |
| 1 tablespoon cooking oil | Nonstick vegetable oil spray (Pam) | 120 calories | 13.6 grams of fat |
| Regular soft drink | Diet soft drink | 155 calories | 0 grams of fat |
| TOTAL | 456 CALORIES | 30 GRAMS OF FAT | |
You will notice that this list includes foods that most people eat regularly. With these small changes alone, you can lose up to 1 pound per week or, more surprisingly, you can avoid gaining 1 pound a week. That adds up to 4 pounds each month!
So now you know that eating healthier doesn’t mean you can’t eat the foods you like; it is about selecting the healthiest foods and limiting your serving sizes.
