Just a general comment on this - I do find that trip planning did the most for lightening my load in general - I used to be much more inclined to take lots of "just in case" stuff. or "a little extra wouldn't be bad to have".

I found as I was lightening up from my heavy hiking days, while the gear mattered, I really did lose a lot of weight in the kitchen and food area - just by considering how much I really needed, what I enjoyed, and how much fuel and equipment it needed to cook.. This really became apparent when I started making alcohol stoves, and adapting to simple boil water only meals. while yes, and alky stove was a lot lighter than my whisperloud - it wasn't the difference in weight of stove that made the most difference for me. it was the fact that using the alcohol stove required more careful menu planning, and changing my food around some to accomodate FBC style cooking. The planning actually meant I did my research to find stuff I liked, and ended up taking not worse food than I *cooked* before on the whisperlight, but lighter food that I enjoyed more, a lot less kitchen stuff, etc.

So in a sense, it's the planning itself that lets you take the lighter load. I wouldn't be taking the tiny little kitchen rig and still enjoying myself if I hadn't done the research (and the try it at home) to find stuff I really enjoyed and could make with it. all that is planning.