1. Throw away the deep fat fryer unless you have the discipline to use it only once a week. Chips provide eight per cent of the fat in the Irish diet. Also, reheated fat produces free radicals which can cause cancer, so that oil should be used for frying once only. This makes deep fat frying very expensive.

2. When eating a cheese sandwich, keep the amount of cheese to one ounce and eat it with lots of bread and salad and butter or mayonnaise, not both. If you're still hungry eat another sandwich, not a pastry, which is high in fat.

3. When sauteeing onions and other vegetables for casseroles and pasta sauces, toss the ingredients in only one tablespoon of hot olive oil, then cover and steam.

4. Biscuits and cakes account for 11 per cent of the fat in the Irish diet. Make them an occasional treat rather than a daily part of the menu.

5. In pasta dishes, use tomato based sauces rather than oil or cream based ones.

6. To make a low fat roux as a basis for a cheese sauce for lasagne, simply stir cornflour and milk together and heat until thickened.

7. Snack on low fat foods such as fruit, yoghurt and fortified cereals with milk, rather than cakes and biscuits. Adding a spoonful of sugar or honey to a bowl of fruit and yoghurt will make it tastier and won't make you fat.

8. Lean beef is lower in fat than chicken with the skin on it. Always eat chicken without the skin.

9. If drinking low fat milk, always use the type fortified with calcium and Vitamins A and D in order to avoid osteoporosis.

10. Don't cut out milk and dairy products in an effort to avoid fat; they are relatively low in fat already. Nor is there any need to use the low fat versions unless it's convenient for you.