What’s less likely to derail your diet: a big bowl of frozen yogurt or a small chocolate chip cookie? If you guessed the cookie, you’re right—and you’re in the minority. In one recent survey, 62% of people said that the kind of food you eat matters more than how much you eat when you’re trying to lose weight. But new research on portion control says that’s wrong. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who shrank their portions by 25% slashed 250 calories a day—enough to help them lose a half-pound a week—and still felt full. Ready to downsize? Here are five easy ways to get started.

Start Smart
Begin lunch and dinner with a veggie-rich salad or broth-based soup, says Pennsylvania State University satiety expert Barbara Rolls, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. “That lets you fill up first on a big volume of low-calorie food and ends up displacing some of the foods you’ll eat next

Sneak a snack
“Ten minutes before each meal, eat some healthy fat (around 70 calories or fewer): a handful of nuts, a few slices of avocado, or a spoonful of peanut butter, for example. That helps activate ghrelin, a hormone that lets you know you’re full,” says Michael Roizin, MD, co-author with Mehmet Oz, MD, of You on a Diet: The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management.

Try the 3-hour rule
“The secret to losing weight comes down to keeping your metabolism alive and active,” according to fitness guru Jorge Cruise, author of The 3-Hour Diet. [ital book title] How do you do that? By eating every 3 hours, give or take 10 to 20 minutes, he says, which translates to three moderate meals with three snacks (100 calories each) between meals. Though other experts say there’s nothing magic about 3-hour intervals, eating small, frequent, portion-controlled meals and snacks can keep your blood sugar level steady, your energy up, and keep you from overindulging.