Are you trying to lose weight and looking for the best ways to cut calories from your diet? Ways that don’t leave you so hungry that any food that comes within arm’s reach of you is in extreme danger of being devoured similar to an animal who has managed to catch its prey?

Here are three of the best ways to effectively reduce the amount of calories you consume without making yourself crazy hungry in the process:

• Reduce your portion sizes. Instead of trying to eliminate your favorite foods, focus on just eating less of them. If you try to lose weight by depriving yourself of the tastes you love most, you’re only setting yourself up for future binges when the urge to eat them becomes too strong to ignore. However, if you allow yourself your favorites but keep the portions in check, you’ll be able to continue to eat the foods you love while losing weight in the process.

• Increase the amount of veggies you eat. Not only are vegetables extremely low in fat and calories, but they are also very filling which means that you aren’t left walking away from the dinner table still hungry. Eat a salad for lunch, add a side of veggies to your dinner or incorporate them into your main meal (they make great fillers for casseroles and stews). Juice them and have a vegetable packed power shake for a snack or just munch on them when you want something crunchy to eat.

• Drink lots of water. As thirst and hunger cues are very similar, you may be driven to eat unnecessary calories when what you really desire is water. If you keep your body hydrated though, you won’t run the risk of misinterpreting what your body needs. Keep a glass or bottle of water by you at all times and you’ll find that you automatically eat less when it comes to both meals and snacks.

Don’t make the struggle to lose weight any harder than it has to be. Try these suggestions and it won’t be.