Eating healthy and managing your weight are key components of the recommendations for living a heart-healthy lifestyle from the American Heart Association.  Preparing meals at Let’s Dish! each month is a great way to stock up on healthy and portion-controlled, main-course meals, but what about the rest of the time?   Being conscious of what and how much you eat is key - and sometimes you’ll need to work a little harder to choose healthy over unhealthy!  We asked Catherine Joiner, registered dietician and our AHA resource this month, for some advice.

Here are some simple ways to cut calories while still enjoying your favorite foods:

Breakfast:

• Eat one whole orange (47 calories) instead of your 12-ounce glass of orange juice (140 calories) and save 93 calories
• Make your omelet with 4 egg whites plus ¼ cup of egg substitute (94 calories) instead of 3 whole eggs (258 calories) and save 164 calories
• Eat a small plain bagel (195 calories) instead of a flavored bagel (up to 400 calories) and use 2 tablespoons of fat-free cream cheese (32 calories) instead of regular cream cheese (102 calories) to save up to 275 calories

For Your Coffee Break:

• Use nonfat milk or fat-free half and half instead of regular half and half or whole milk
• Use a sugar substitute in your coffee rather than regular sugar (1 teaspoon = 16 calories)

Lunch & Dinner:

• Substitute mustard for mayonnaise on your sandwich and save 100 calories per tablespoon
• Omit cheese from your sandwich and save about 100 calories per ounce.
• If you eat fast food, choose small fries (230 calories) over large fries (520 calories).