8 small changes in your kitchen to help you lose weight

6. Downsize your plates, glasses and utensils

It’s hard to figure out the right amount of food to serve yourself, so you often end up using cues around you, like the size of your plate. But while 4 ounces of pasta on a 9-inch plate looks like a lot, the same amount on a 12-inch plate looks like an appetizer, so you might just add more pasta.

Simply downsizing your plates or bowls makes a difference: If you switch from a 12-inch to 10-inch plate, you’ll serve about 22 percent less, Wansink said.

If you use a table spoon rather than a “big honking serving spoon,” you’ll serve about 14 percent less, he added.