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To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume, which inevitably means one thing: portion control. But you're not necessarily doomed to a growling stomach until you reach your goal.

"Portion control doesn't mean you have to eat tiny portions of everything," says Lisa Young, author of "The Portion Teller Plan: The No-Diet Reality Guide to Eating, Cheating, and Losing Weight Permanently." "You don't want to feel like you're on a diet, but you have to eat fewer calories."

Here are 14 easy ways to cut portions, trim calories and lose fat without counting the minutes until your next meal.

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Drink 16 ounces (a big glass) of water before you eat, suggests Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of "The Flexitarian Diet." Filling your belly with water will naturally make you less likely to overeat, she says. Plus, some symptoms of dehydration may actually be what's causing your rumbling belly, so sipping some water before you eat may eliminate your "hunger" altogether.

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We're not suggesting you squeeze into pants that are too tight. However, wearing an outfit with a waistband or perhaps a jacket with buttons can serve as a tool to prompt you to slow down and assess how you feel during your meal, says Young. As your clothing begins to feel a little snugger, it may keep you from going back for seconds.

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Bulking up your meals with veggies is one easy way to cut calories while filling you up fast. Spinach can be used as a sandwich topper or can add fiber and nutrients to pasta and stir-fries, says Blatner. Other ideas to eat more veggies: swap in mushrooms for half the ground meat in most recipes, make oatmeal more filling with diced apples, and use a whole-wheat pita in place of bread so you can stuff it with more veggies.

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The color of your plate may influence how much you eat, according to a 2012 Cornell University study. The researchers discovered that when a plate and the food on it had a low color-contrast (like pasta with Alfredo sauce on a white plate), people at a buffet served themselves 22% more than when there was a higher color-contrast (like pasta with red sauce on a white plate or pasta with Alfredo sauce on a red plate).

The study conclusions suggest that if you want to eat less, select plates that have a color contrast to the food you're eating for dinner. Or if you want to eat more healthy foods, like a bigger salad, eat greens from a large green plate or bowl!

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Rethink the way you use grains and starches. Take a breakfast parfait: Instead of starting with a granola base, fill your cup with yogurt and then sprinkle just a tiny amount of granola on top for crunch. Making a stir-fry? Load up your plate with veggies and a serving of lean protein, and then add a quarter-cup of brown rice.

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Dim lights and listen to relaxing music to set the tone for a more leisurely meal, suggests Blatner. "Taking your time while eating increases enjoyment and decreases portions," she says. Remember to chew slowly, put down your fork between bites, and sip water to make your meal last longer.

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Here's another way to slow down your eating: munch on foods that require shelling, peeling or individual unwrapping, suggests Blatner. Oranges, edamame and pistachios in their shells are healthy options.

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When you sit down with a bag of chips, do you really know how many you're eating? Researchers from Cornell University sought to answer this question in a study and found that people ate 50% more chips when they were given no visual cues as to how large a portion should be. So if you buy a bag of pretzels or tin of nuts that contains 10 servings, divide the contents of the container into 10 smaller baggies ahead of time.

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Before you dive into your entree, have some soup. Though it may seem counterintuitive to add to your meal, research shows that starting a meal with soup may help you reduce your overall calorie intake. In a 2007 study, people who ate soup before their lunch entree reduced their total calorie intake by 20%. Your best bet: a broth-based soup, preferably with veggies to help you feel full from natural fiber, says Young. Here are a few healthy soup recipes to get you started.

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In a Cornell University study published in the journal PLoS One, researchers observed people at two separate breakfast buffet lines that featured the same seven items: cheesy eggs, potatoes, bacon, cinnamon rolls, low-fat granola, low-fat yogurt and fruit. One line presented the foods from healthiest to least-healthy, while the other line had the order reversed.

Regardless of which line they passed through, more than 75% of diners put the first food they saw on their plates; the first three foods they encountered in the buffet made up two-thirds of all the foods they added to their plate. So take a stroll around the buffet or dinner table before you serve yourself, suggests Young.

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It's OK to have a cocktail with your meal if that's what you really want, but keep it to one glass and enjoy it slowly, suggests Young. To trick yourself into believing you're having more, pour your drink into a tall, thin glass. A 2005 study published in the journal BMJ revealed that practiced bartenders who poured what they thought was a shot of alcohol (1.5 ounces) into a short, wide glass poured 20% more than when the glass was tall and thin. Add extra ice to your drink to make it look like even more!

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Turn off the TV and put your smartphone away while you eat. A recent review of studies found that people who watched television during meals tended to consume more than those who ate without any distractions. And for you office dwellers? Consider taking your lunch break away from your desk: In an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, people who played computer solitaire while having lunch felt less full at the end and went on to eat more later in the day than those who didn't play the game.

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Turns out that even food experts aren't so savvy about eyeballing portion sizes. In a Cornell University study, 85 nutrition experts gathered for an ice cream social to celebrate the success of a colleague. They were randomly given either a small or large bowl, or a small serving scoop or large serving scoop. Then, the nutritionists were asked to complete a brief survey while the study researchers secretly weighed their bowls.

Those given the larger bowls served themselves 31% more without realizing it, while those who used the larger scoop unknowingly served themselves 14.5% more. Moral of the story: Dish up your own food with a small utensil onto a small bowl or plate, and chances are you'll eat less.

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Many people have trained themselves to expect a sweet treat at the end of a meal, says Blatner. Swap in a healthier ritual after meals to signal that you're done eating. She recommends brewing a flavorful decaf tea like peppermint, cinnamon, chocolate or one of your favorite fruity varieties for a low- or-no-calorie sweet-tooth satisfier.

This article originally appeared on Health.com.

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14 ways to cut portions without feeling hungry

CNN —

It’s more bad news for America’s growing waistline: Excess belly fat is associated with a higher risk of early death from any cause, regardless of how much overall body fat you have, a new study finds.

In women, each 10-centimeter increase in belly fat raised the risk of death from any cause by 8%. For men, each 10-centimeter increase in girth raised the risk of by 12%.

The better news: Larger hips and thighs are associated with a lower risk of early death,according to the study published by the The BMJ on Wednesday. That may be due to a protective effect that fat on those areas provide toward higher cholesterol and blood sugar levels, according to prior studies.

Those findings are a result of an analysis of 72 studies involving more than 2.5 million participants who were studied from three to 24 years. All of the studies explored various measures of weight around the middle of the body, long thought to be a significant risk factor for metabolic resistance, which is a precursor to diabetes, heart disease and more.

“Our results suggest that measures of central adiposity (fat) could be used as a supplementary approach, in combination with body mass index, to determine the risk of premature death,” the authors said.

The role of belly fat

Most measurements of weight focus on the body mass index or BMI, which takes your weight in kilograms and divides it by the square of your height in meters. (there are online tools you can use to calculate your BMI).

If your BMI is less than 18.5, you’re considered underweight. Your weight is considerednormal if your BMI falls between 18.5 and 24.9. You are deemed overweight when your BMI is between 25 and 29.9 – over 30 BMI indicates you are obese.

But critics point out that BMI doesn’t differentiate between lean body mass and fat mass and doesn’t give an indication of where the fat resides. That’s a problem because existing evidence suggests more fat around the middle – and abdominal fat often known as “beer bellies” in men and belly fat in women – are more associated with chronic disease than an overall rating of obesity.

Here’s why the fat around the middle is so dangerous. Too much belly fat points to a buildup of a unique type of fat, called visceral fat, around various internal organs, such as the liver, pancreas and intestines.

Visceral fat is called ‘active fat’ because it affects hormone function by secreting a protein that leads to an increased resistance to insulin, thus setting us up for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, excess cholesterol, heart disease, some cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

Visceral fat is different from the pinchable fat we see in our arms, legs, thighs and “love handles” on the hips. That’s called subcutaneous fat, which doesn’t affect hormones.

Besides eating too much and exercising too little, just why does belly fatoccur? Scientists think cortisol, the stress hormone, may play a role – cortisol increases insulin resistance, which adds to fat deposits.

Do you have excess belly fat?

To tell if you have potentially dangerous abdominal fat, take out a soft tape measure. Then, while standing straight with a relaxed stomach (no sucking in allowed), measure your tummy a few inches above your hips.

Are you in belly fat danger? For women, the key figure is thought to be 35 or more inches (89 centimeters) around the stomach, for men it’s 40 inches (102 centimeters).

What to do?

Doing crunches isn’t going to melt visceral fat; that will only tone your abs.

Diet and exercise, however, seem to be better at tackling visceral fat than subcutaneous fat.

You need to make sure you have more calories going out than calories in to make that happen – by either limiting your calorie intake or exercising more:

Focus on a plant-based diet full of fresh or frozen veggies and fruits
Choose lean sources of protein and low-fat dairy products
Eat only whole grains – not processed cereals, breads, muffins and the like
Cut back on sugar – avoid processed cakes, cookies and sugar-sweetened beverages
Watch your portion sizes (Tip: use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate)
Add muscle strengthening and weight training to your routine. Muscle burns more calories than fat.
Jump start exercise by doing moderate aerobics, such as brisk walking, for at least 150 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity, such as running, fast biking, swimming or team sports, for at least 75 minutes a week

Tip: Use the talk test to check your level of intensity, suggests the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Can you talk but not sing? Then you’re exercising at a moderate level. Can’t say more than a few words without stopping to take a breath? You’re doing a vigorous exercise.

You may not see the results on the scale, so experts suggest taking a waist measurement before you begin your war on belly fat and measuring periodically to check. You may find inches dropping off your waist before your hips – and that’s a good thing.

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Belly fat linked to early death, study finds

14 ways to cut portions without feeling hungry

The role of belly fat

Do you have excess belly fat?

What to do?