When you're trying to lose weight, it's important to come up with ways to eat less. Obviously you don't want to reduce your caloric intake too low because you'll only slow down your metabolism, but you definitely want to avoid overeating too.

Below is a list of 10 easy ways to eat less and lose weight:

#1 Way to Eat Less - Drink More Water

The more water you drink, the less hungry you'll feel. Drinking one glass of water right before each meal has been proven to help you eat less and still feel just as satisfied after the meal. Of course, drinking water between meals is a good idea too, because it helps you feel fuller and avoid unnecessary snacking.

If you're thinking about following a very low calorie diet to lose weight, you may want to think again. It's true that you can initially lose weight quickly by eating very few calories, but the cost of doing so may not be worth the benefits.

The first thing to consider is that by restricting your calories so severely, you will not only be losing fat, but muscle. You also run the risk of becoming malnourished and deficient in very important vitamins and nutrients like potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, and phosphorus, among others.

The term "healthy eating" often makes people think about deprivation and boredom, but it certainly doesn't have to be that way.

Take a look below at 10 tips for healthy eating that will tantalize your taste buds AND contribute to a strong, lean body:

Healthy Eating Tip #1 - Better Quality Foods

Healthy eating is really all about choosing foods that give the most nutritional value possible. That means limiting sugary, fatty, processed foods and gravitating toward whole, organic, nutrient-rich foods.

Not many of us actually enjoy being on a diet. It can be annoying having to eliminate foods we enjoy eating and eat foods we really don't enjoy eating. Blah. Most of us would agree that the sacrifices are worth the payoff in the end, but knowing there is a payoff still doesn't make the process any more enjoyable.

What if you could take that "no pain, no gain" attitude and toss it right out the window? What if there was a way to actually ENJOY your diet?

There is one "ingredient" you can add to any diet that will immediately spice it up and make it more exciting: PASSION.

Feelings of passion make everything more exciting, right?

Here are four easy ways to make your diet passionate:

If you know me at all, you know I'm a huge fan of calorie counting. There's nothing like being aware of how many calories you eat in a day to really put your eating habits in perspective. That's one of the reasons why I created the FitWatch Fitness Tracker, so you can keep track of your calories online.

But what if you're not into counting calories or you want to take a break from counting calories? How else can you not go overboard with eating?

Here are two simple alternatives to counting calories:

It's happened to all of us at one point or another - we're going along great on our healthy weight loss plan, when all of a sudden we careen out of control and eat something we really shouldn't have. While this is a common experience that all dieters share, it does not have to mean disaster if you keep your senses and take action to minimize the damage.

Here are a few do's and don'ts after 'cheating' on your diet:

Have you ever found yourself elbow-deep in a carton of ice cream, a bag of chips or a package of cookies and realized that you were having a binge eating session? Even worse, maybe you didn't even recall making the decision to eat all that food; you just kind of "woke up" during the middle of it?

Binge eating can be a sign of a serious eating disorder, but sometimes it's merely a knee-jerk response to emotional triggers. Below are 5 clues that a binge could be imminent, along with tips to nip it in the bud before it can blossom into dietary destruction.

You don't always have to follow an official diet plan to lose weight - there are plenty of small yet powerful changes you can make to your eating habits that will help you lose weight.

Below are three easy ones to get you started:

There are good and bad times to start a diet or fitness program. The most common times seem to be right after the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year holiday season, and right before summer (bathing suit season). But even beyond considering the time of year, there are other times that starting a new diet may not be the best idea.

Here are a few you may want to consider. You should never start a diet when...

Are you one of those people who gobbles down your food so quickly that you barely taste it? If so, you may want to rethink that habit if you want to lose weight and keep it off. Eating too fast is one of the major causes for overeating, for two reasons. First, if you eat so fast that you barely taste the food, you won't feel satisfied and you will keep craving more. Secondly, eating too quickly doesn't allow time for your body to signal that it has had enough food, so you feel compelled to keep eating. Below are three good ways to change the habit of eating too quickly: