I never had any doubt about it after my teens as my grand mother knew it well and taught us the importance of dietary habits. She always use to tell us "eat one chapati lesser than you actually need" that will keep  your body and mind fit. I think my 73 Kg for my 73 inch height are proof enough of her wisdom. 

That is so true and exactly what our parents, grandparents and family doctor has been telling us always. Moderation is the best way to maintain our health and well being.

In Karnataka in some agriculturist households , they have the practice of measuring out just enough rice for the day from the hay basket into which it is stored. The women normally put away one cup of rice into another tin, which is a thrift and health measure since it keeps the entire household eating just enough and keeping them trim and fit !  Drinking a large glass of water 20-30 mins before every meal also helps in reducing weight 

Reducing weight is depends of our eating habits, what we are eating and how we are eating. Include whole grains and raw grains in meal is helpful is reducing weight. Whole grain and raw grain required more time to chew. Chewing for more time help us in reducing our meal quantity. Eat less chew more is golden rule for reducing weight.

Very true, the more processed food we eat, the more weight we tend to gain..The more natural food in its natural form like Salads and also cooked using less oil makes it much more healthier. When you eat salads , you have to chew more, besides which vegetables have less calories.In fact all pulses can be sprouted and eaten raw or eaten par boiled ..

Sprouted pulses contain 100 times more enzymes than uncooked fruits and vegetables. The fiber in the Sprouted pulses, is critical  to weight loss. Essential fatty acids increases during sprouting process.

Eating smaller meals is the best way of controlling overeating since your stomach remains reasonably full at all times and each time we eat 25 % of calories are used up for digestion ..Drinking water, added with 5 or 6 meals makes practical sense when one is working and needs to have energy all the time..

Fasting intermittently allows the body to use fat as it's primary source of energy instead of sugar.. Fasting helps in losing your weight, Intermittent fasting makes you eat lesser calories and optimizes some hormones related to weight control

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

That is so true and exactly what our parents, grandparents and family doctor has been telling us always. Moderation is the best way to maintain our health and well being.

In most of the South Indian homes they believe in stuffing your plate with food, some people are very careful while serving food. In my own ancestral house , my granny and my aunts would serve just a spoonful of rice at a time and more if one wanted , some of the relatives would feel that they were being miserly ! But, on looking back , I feel that it is better to be frugal rather than generous in helpings if you have to stay fit and healthy.. 

We, in my home, keep everything on the table. we request the guest to serve himself, so that, there won't be any force.Either my wife or myself stand and say the usual things like, "How about some more rice ?" etc

By this, excess serving that leads to wastage of food can be avoided.

One should eat sparingly and always ensure that there is be some emptiness in the stomach. This enables the digestive juices to make digestion easy. Stuffing the food up to neck will lead to many digestion related ailments.