Are you one of the many who have vowed to eat more healthfully in the new year? Are you stumped on how to cut fat without feeling deprived? A good start is to take a look at your cooking techniques. Some small changes can make a big difference. Follow this low fat cooking advice and don't let the way you cook weigh you down.

• Choose lean cuts of meat and trim fat before cooking. Remove skin and visible fat from chicken. Use a marinade of fruit juices or flavored vinegars and fresh herbs to help tenderize lean meats. Place meats on a cooking rack and let fat drip into a pan.
• Season vegetables with herbs, lemon juice, stock or small amounts of flavorful oils such as olive oil, sesame oil or chili oil.
• Use non-stick pans. They require little or no fat. For sauting items such as onions, use 1 to 2 tablespoons of water instead of oil.
• Instead of butter or shortening, use non-fat vegetable spray on baking pans.
• To retain natural juices in foods, wrap them in foil or edible pouches made of steamed lettuce or cabbage leaves before cooking.
• If you baste meats and poultry, use stock or broth instead of butter or margarine.
• Buy lean ground beef, pork and turkey (15 percent fat or less) and drain fat after cooking. For the leanest ground beef, ask your butcher to grind a sirloin steak for you. When cooking ground meat, don't add any extra fat.
• Substitute ground turkey for ground beef in casseroles, spaghetti and chili.
• Make your favorite cheesy casseroles with low-fat or reduced-fat cheese. Sprinkle sharp cheese or Romano on top for extra flavor.
• Use plain low-fat yogurt instead of sour cream or mayonnaise.
• Avoid fried foods when possible. If you fry foods for an occasional treat, reduce the fat by coating food with flour, egg white or cracker meal instead of batter. Also, use corn oil, which is polyunsaturated. To really cut fat, use an alternative cooking method such as boiling, baking, steaming or poaching.
• Make low fat gravy by using defatted broth. To remove fat, chill the broth until the fat becomes solid at the top; then scrape it off. To make the gravy, use 1 cup of defatted broth, and place the following in a jar with a tight lid: cup of broth plus either 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of flour or 1 to 2 tablespoons browned flour (browned flour gives the sauce a rich mahogany color). Shake until smooth. Heat the remaining cup broth in a saucepan, add the mixture from the jar and desired seasonings; then simmer.