Eat Your Food Naked

Lean, healthy salads, fish and chicken quickly turn into high-calorie indulgences with the addition of dressings and sauces. Particularly when you're dining out, order salad dressings and other sauces on the side. This way, you have control over how much or how little you add. When you order grilled fish or vegetables, ask that the food either be grilled without butter or oil or prepared "light," with as little oil or butter as possible. Fat, salt and other diet disasters can hide in the least likely places when you eat out. For example, that filet you order at a steakhouse is likely slathered in butter before it's cooked. Look on the menu for high-fat "buzzwords," like cream sauce, au gratin, stuffed, breaded, creamy, crunchy or battered. "Safe" words include baked, broiled, boiled, grilled and steamed.