Oil your bread

Can't give up the bread basket? Use olive oil instead of butter: You'll eat 23 percent less bread and 16 percent fewer calories, according to a 2003 study in the International Journal of Obesity

Downsize your plate

Eat what your family eats, but put your serving on a kid-size plate

Sweeten up your morning

Embrace "breakfast dessert." In a 2012 study, researchers at Tel Aviv University Medical Center found that dieters who ate a large breakfast that included a sweet treat lost 37 pounds more over eight months than those on an equal-calorie diet with a smaller, low-carb breakfast.

Serve from the stove

Leave serving dishes on the stove instead of at the dining table and you'll eat nearly 10 percent less. [And] pack snacks into single-serving bags. Eating out of a large container ups consumption by 61 percent

Set aside leftovers

Serve yourself, then immediately pack the leftovers in a Tupperware container and store in the fridge

Floss for dessert

Brushing my teeth after dinner makes me less likely to eat again before I go to bed

Set limits, then go nuts!

In the cafeteria I use a 4-by-4-inch Styrofoam box, and I put whatever I want in there. It's almost impossible to overeat