Earlier this week, we talked about some simple strategies to help keep you on the track with weight maintenance or weight loss. Today, let’s continue that conversation with a few more ideas that are easy to implement.

1. Eat off a plate in stead of eating straight out of a large box or bag. This goes along with sitting down at a table vs. eating while standing at the counter.

2. To help control the intake of higher fat/calorie foods, focus on increasing your vegetables and salads (but watch the toppings!). Watch those desserts and dishes with heavy cream.

3. When cooking in large quantities, be sure to freeze food that you aren’t going to serve right away. I even stick my dark chocolate in the freezer, so that when I do eat it, I savor it slowly. When you freeze, freeze leftovers in amounts that can be used for a single serving or a family meal another day.

4. When buying snacks, look for single serving prepackaged items and foods that are lower calories options. Or, be sure to divide them up yourself into individual serving sizes to eliminate “box” eating mentioned above.

5. When treating yourself to chips or ice cream, measure out 1/2 cup of ice cream of 1 oz of chips as indicated portion sizes found at www.nutritiondata.com . Better yet, however, replace snacks like chips or soda with low-fat yogurt, fruit, or whole grain crackers or rice cakes. A handful of almonds is a wonderful snack.

6. Be sure to eat regularly throughout the day. Try not to let more than 2-3 hours pass without at least a snack. Skipping meals causes drops in blood sugar which can often lead to overeating when you do eat.

7. Be sure to familiarize yourself with serving sizes. This can also be found at www.nutritiondata.com . Portion distortion can wreak havoc on your diet plans if you aren’t careful.

There you have it. Seven more simple strategies to help you COMBAT THE FAT.