I used to be a fat affiliate. Well, I wasn’t an affiliate at the time, but I was fat.

Today, I’m about 40 pounds lighter than I was at my peak. I didn’t use any magical diet, acai berry pills or even colon blow – I ate a sensible diet and started exercising. For me, exercising was the easy part, but dieting was tough. I had to learn how to eat less, and still feel full.

For a few months, I measured what I ate and followed the old Weight Watcher’s points formula, which is (Calories + (Fat x 4) – (Fiber x 10)) / 50. That taught me how to look for healthy foods. I quickly learned Fiber is your friend. It fills you up and has other healthy benefits.

However, I plateaued and needed to find ways to enhance my diet. Here are a few tips I picked up along the way, and one I made up myself:

• Drink plenty of water – you’re supposed to drink 64oz of water daily; when I’m seriously dieting, I try to double that number.
• Eat on a smaller plate – when you use a smaller plate, you’ll take less food, but your plate will look fuller so you’ll think you have more food.
• Eat with your left (or non-dominant) hand – this feels funny, and is harder than it sounds, so you’ll eat slower. You want to eat slower because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register your stomach is full.
• Set your fork down between each bite – you’re doing this for a few reasons. First, you’ll chew your food better which makes it easier for your stomach to digest. Second, you’ll eat slower (see above). And third, you need your hand for the next tip…
• Take a sip of water between bites – this will not only fill you up quicker, but help you achieve your daily water goals. I try to drink 8oz of water before I eat dinner, and I’ll drink at least another 8oz with dinner.
• Eat every 3 hours – I’m not talking about a full meal, but eat something. Not only will this help with any hunger, but it’ll level out your energy levels, too.
• And finally… my own tip: after dinner, brush your teeth, floss and rinse with mouthwash. Later in the evening, when you’re ready for that bedtime snack, you’ll realize you’ve already brushed & flossed and, if you’re lazy like me, you won’t want to go through that again & just have a glass of water. Believe me: you’ll feel different in the morning if you skip that bedtime snack.

Using these tips, plus regular exercise and eating sensibly, I was able to go from 22% to 11% body fat in just over 1 year. Good luck!

Eric is an affiliate marketer specializing in PPC & SEO. He blogs at ericnagel.com or you can follow him on Twitter @esnagel.