A little here, a little there. Cutting calories is easier than you think! Think small! Trimming even just a small percentage of your body weight can do wonders for your health.

And eating just a bit less is the way to do it. Shaving calories here and there is easier than you think.

All it takes are a few no-sweat efforts like the ones that follow. Pick two a day and you'll cut 100 calories. Burn 100 more calories a day (a 15- to 20-minute walk will do the trick) and you'll lose almost half a pound a week. That may not sound like much, but it adds up to 20 pounds a year!

1. Leave the cheese off your sandwich.

2. Use 1 cup skim milk instead of 1 cup whole milk.

3. Use a nonstick spray instead of 2 teaspoons oil.

4. Drink seltzer or diet soda instead of regular soda.

5. Have an English muffin instead of a doughnut

6. Use 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise instead of 1 tablespoon regular mayo.

7. Eat 2 tablespoons less ice cream.

8. Drink 4 ounces less juice.

9. Use 1 tablespoon less cream cheese.

10. Order small fries instead of large fries.

11. Use 1 tablespoon less salad dressing.

12. Use one less pat of margarine

13. Substitute 4 ounces ground turkey for 4 ounces ground beef.

14. Have 1 ounce of pretzels instead of 1 ounce of potato chips.

15. Substitute 1 tablespoon jam for 1 tablespoon butter.

Cutting a few calories at every meal will add up to real calorie savings. Her are some culinary "special effects" that you can try to trim some calories and fat.

# Substitute leaner meats for fattier ones, such as white-meat poultry for dark, lean ground turkey for ground beef, or pork tenderloins for ribs.

# Bake or broil instead of frying in oil, which saturated whatever you're cooking, especially if the food is breaded.

# Remove skin from poultry, trim visible fat from meat, and throw out the egg yolks. Why worry about hidden fat when the fat you can see -- and remove -- does most of the harm?

# Buy low-fat or sugar-free products. If you haven't recently tried low-fat or fat-free foods (especially cheese), try them again: They've gotten better. If one brand doesn't taste good to you, try another. And you'll always save calories by replacing whole milk with fat-free or using naturally lower-fat cheeses such as mozzarella instead of higher-fat ones such as cheddar.

# Mix higher-fat meats, cheeses, and other foods with lower-fat versions if you don't want to make wholesale substitutions.