I found that food portion control and daily exercise was the key for me to lose weight and burn fat fast. I did not really know how much one cup of pasta looked like. I discovered that I was eating three times the amount that I needed to stay in control of my calorie count. To help out, I bought plates that have built in dividers. The meat goes in one section, the bread in another section, and three sections get filled with vegetables and fruits. The sections of the plate are not very big so once they are full, that is it. No second helping allowed or needed.