ave you ever wondered if all those diet tips you're always reading about ever work? Can you really lose weight by cutting out soda? (Yes.) Do smaller plates really help you eat less? (Maybe.) Self magazine recently asked some of their readers to give the more common weight loss tips a try, and then to share their results.

Some women loved what they learned. Eliminating multi-tasking during meals helped one women pay attention to what she ate. Another woman found that keeping junk food out of the house reduced her tendency to snack, but she couldn't see keeping it up long term. The thing that all of these tips have in common is that they are easy to carry out and demand little preparation, perfect for the low-maintenance dieter.