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Do You Have Fatty Habits?
Fat has earned a bad reputation because of the health problems to which it contributes when we eat too much of it. The questionnaire below will help you think about the amounts and types of fat that you generally eat. For each general type of food or food habit, circle the response category that is most typical for you. If you never or almost never eat any items of a particular food type, just skip that type.
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Food Type/Habit |
High Fat |
Medium Fat |
Low Fat |
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Chicken |
Fried with the skin |
Baked, broiled, or barbecued with the skin |
Based, broiled, or barbecued without the skin |
|
Fat present on meats |
Usually eat |
Sometimes eat |
Never eat |
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Fat used in cooking |
Butter, lard, bacon grease, chicken fat |
Margarine, oil |
Nonstick cooking spray or no fat used |
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Additions to rice, bread, potatoes, vegetables, etc. |
Butter, lard, bacon grease, chicken fat, coconut oil, cream cheese |
Margarine, oil, peanut butter |
Butter-flavored granules or no fat used |
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Pizza toppings |
Sausage, pepperoni, extra cheese, combination |
Canadian bacon |
Vegetable |
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Sandwich spreads |
Mayonnaise or mayonnaise-type dressing |
Light mayonnaise, oil and vinegar |
Mustard, fat-free mayonnaise |
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Mile and mile products (e.g., yogurt) |
Whole milk and whole-milk products |
Low-fat milk and milk products |
Skim milk and milk products |
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Sandwich side orders |
Chips, potato salad, macaroni salad with creamy dressing |
Coleslaw, pasta salad with clear dressing |
Vegetable sticks, pretzels, pickle |
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Salad dressings |
Blue cheese, ranch, Thousand Island, other creamy type |
Oil and vinegar, clear-base dressing |
Oil-free dressing, lemon juice, flavored vinegar |
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Typical meat portion eaten |
6-8 ounces or more |
4-5 ounces |
2-3 ounces |
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Sandwich fillings |
Beef or pork hot dogs, salami, bologna, pepperoni, cheese, tuna or chicken salad |
Turkey hot dogs, 85% fat-free lunch meats, corned beef, peanut butter, humus (chickpea paste) |
95% fat-free lunch meats, roast turkey, roast beef, lean ham |
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Ground meats |
Regular ground beef, sausage meat, ground meat, ground pork (about 30% fat) |
Lean ground beef, ground chuck, turkey sausage meat (20%-25% fat) |
Ground turkey, extra lean ground beef, ground round (about 15% fat) |
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Deep fried foods (e.g., french fries, onion rings, fish or chicken patties, egg rolls, tempura) |
Eat every day |
Eat once a week |
Eat once a month or never |
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Bread for sandwiches |
Croissant |
Biscuit |
Whole wheat, French, tortilla, pita or pocket bread, bagel, sourdough, or English muffin |
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Cheeses |
Hard cheeses (e.g., cheddar, Swiss, provolone, Jack, American, processed) |
Part skim mozzarella, part skim ricotta, low-fat cheeses |
Nonfat cheeses, nonfat cottage cheese, no cheese |
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Frozen desserts |
Premium or regular ice cream |
Ice milk or low-fat frozen yogurt |
Sherbet, Italian water ice, nonfat frozen yogurt, frozen fruit whip |
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Coffee lighteners |
Cream, liquid or powdered creamer |
Whole milk |
Low-fat or skim milk |
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Snacks |
Chips, pies, cheese and crackers, nuts, donuts, microwave popcorn, chocolate, granola bars |
Muffins, toaster pastries, unbuttered commercial popcorn |
Pretzels, vegetable sticks, fresh or dried fruit, air-popped popcorn, bread sticks, jelly beans, hard candy |
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Cookies |
Chocolate coated, chocolate chip, peanut butter, filled sandwich type |
Oatmeal |
Ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, animal crackers, fruit newtons |
Scoring: (_____ x 2 ) + (_____ x 1) + (_____ x 0) = _____ Total Score
Once you have completed the questionnaire, count the number of circles in each column and calculate your score as follows: multiply the number of choices in the left-hand (high-fat) column by 2 and multiply the number of choices in the middle by 1. Any number of choices in the right-hand column will equal 0.
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Less than 10: |
Excellent fat habits |
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10 to 20: |
Good fat habits |
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20 to 30: |
Need to trim some fat |
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Over 30: |
Very high fat diet |
If your score is 20 or above, try to substitute more foods from the middle (medium fat) column or, better still, the right (low fat) column for foods in the left-hand (high fat) column.
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