Body fat is one of those confusing body issues that we know is bad, but don’t know exactly how to get rid of. Essentially, your body composition is made up of bone, muscle and, yes, fat. You have significant control over your bone, fat and muscle. You can actually control the quality and quantity of all three by your lifestyle choices—how you treat your body each and every day. What you eat, your level of physical activity, and your genetic pool mostly determine body fat. Even if you think you have been cursed with ‘bad genes,’ you should know that there are many things you can do to help control your body fat.

Get to Know Your Body Composition

In order to control your body fat, you will need to know your body composition. Excess body fat and muscle that is not lean enough not only makes you susceptible to being overweight, it also makes you susceptible to any number of diseases. When you have too much body fat, your body will naturally feel overburdened, and this can lead to long-term damage of your weight-bearing joints, including your hips, ankles, knees and lower back.

Understanding Body Fat Numbers

There are many calculations and numbers associated with body fat, but what are good and bad fat numbers? In general, here are some simple guidelines that can help you understand so-called good and bad fat numbers. Generally speaking, good body fat numbers for men should range anywhere from15 to 25 percent. As men age, it is normal for their fat numbers to extend slightly beyond this range. However, a fat range of 30 percent or more should be a definite cause for concern. This type of body fat number is strongly linked with serious health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

Body Fat Numbers and Women

For women, the body fat numbers are different. Women naturally carry more body fat than men. When women enter adolescence, it is normal for them to reach a body fat range of 12 to 15 percent, and then quickly shoot up to 18 to 25 percent. Women naturally produce and need more body fat because their bodies are preparing them for pregnancy. The thighs, buttocks, hips and breasts are all involved in creating the nutrients that are needed to feed a newborn infant. As for a healthy adult woman, her ideal body fat range should lie somewhere between 20 to 25 percent. As a woman ages and enters maturity, it is normal for her to create more body fat. However, as a woman enters menopause, it is important for her to remain as close to 25 percent body fat as possible. Getting to 30 percent body fat or beyond is strongly linked with disease and health complications.

Why Measuring Body Fat is More Important Than Counting Calories

Many women spend the entirety of their lives counting calories, when it is actually more important to measure body fat. While they struggle to keep their weight down, many women unknowingly allow their body fat to creep back up. In order to feel good and be truly healthy, pay attention to how many fats your body is carrying. Why is it so dangerous to carry around excessive body fat? Excessive body fat is strongly linked to many cancers, including breast cancer. Fat, especially belly fat has also been linked to diabetes and heart problems.

Keep Your Waistline and Health In Check

An easy way to measure whether you are keeping your body fat under control is to measure your waistline. Using a tape measure, measure your waistline across the belly button. For men, a healthy waistline should measure less than 40 inches. For women, a healthy waistline should measure less than 35 inches.

Are you worried that your child may succumb childhood obesity?

Indeed, many dieticians have declared a crisis among our younger generation. There is a frightening statistic that claims that today’s young children constitute the first generation that may live fewer years than their parent’s generation. Here are eight things you can do right now to help combat childhood obesity worries.

1. As a parent, propose to get as fit as you can. Don’t go on a diet or lose weight for the sake of losing weight. Instead, choose a healthier lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle consists of making healthy choices each and every day. Substitute low fat and healthy choices for tempting but fatty foods whenever you can. Be as active as you can on a regular basis. Research has shown that if parents adopt a healthy lifestyle, their children will also.

2. Schedule active time with your child. Part of preventing or combating childhood obesity is to stay active. Staying active can be difficult if you are not drawn to sports or exercise. No matter how busy you are it is important that you take the time to stay active. Schedule active time with your child on a regular basis. Ideally, you will want to spend at least a few minutes every day moving with your child. For young children, consider a special ‘dance’ time each and every day that allows you and your child to move and have fun. Or consider taking the dog for a walk together every afternoon. If you want to make a solid commitment, consider enrolling in a ‘mommy and me’ fitness class.

3. Cook with your child. One of the best ways to help prevent or combat childhood obesity is to spend some quality time cooking with your child. Most children love to help around the kitchen. Even if you don’t consider yourself a gourmand, or you think you simply do not have enough time, set aside a small block of time a few times a week in which your child can help you put together healthy snacks. Make fun and healthy snacks together, such as Ants on a Log—celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins.

4. Enroll your child in a movement activity that they enjoy. Most children today are not as active as they once were. There are too many temptations that keep children inside, including video games and 24-hour cartoon channels on television. Try to instill a recurring and fun activity into your child’s life. If your child loves sports, enroll him or her into a sport they enjoy. If your child is not sports-oriented, find a movement activity that they can enjoy, such as dancing, yoga, cheer, baton—anything to keep them moving.

5. Schedule an outdoor play date. Children are much more inclined to run and play when they are with other children. One of the best ways to keep your child active and healthy is to schedule and outdoor play date with other children. Have them play, run and chase each other around under supervision.

6. Speak to your child openly about health and nutrition. Although you don’t want to lecture about the habits of proper eating habits, children are smart and they will understand your motives and ideas if you just explain it to them. Explain to your children that you are concerned about their health, and the differences between healthy and unhealthy eating.

7. Put together a healthy snack food menu. With your child, create a menu of favorite healthy snack foods. Next time your child is hunting the kitchen for a snack, refer to your healthy snack menu to find something that he or she wants to eat.

8. Get a pet. If you are an animal lover and you have the space to keep a pet, consider adopting a friendly friend. Pets can help you and your family bond and stay active.

Those are some eight easy to implement methods to bead childhood obisity

Are you ready to live your best life? It can be hard to live your best life with your body dragging around excess body fat. Here are eight effortless ways to lose weight so you can live your best life possible.

1. Walk. Sounds simple enough, right? Even if you think you already walk plenty, chances are that you could stand to walk a lot more. Here are some simple ways to make sure that you are getting enough walking. First, are you taking advantage of all your walking opportunities? Do you cruise around, burning fuel and hunting for the closest parking space to the mall entrance? Save yourself the stress and burn off some calories. Park as far as you can bear and let the simple act of crossing a parking lot help you burn away those calories.

2. Eat more colorful fruits and vegetables. One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to simply eat more. That’s right. You don’t have to starve yourself in order to lose weight. Simply choosing more colorful fruits and vegetables can be enough to help you lose weight. The next time you do your grocery shopping, take a long detour in the produce section. Explore the different colors, smells and textures you find there. Research has shown that simply adding a diversity of fruits and vegetables to your diet can help you lose weight.

3. Drink more water. That’s right, you’ve heard it before. But it bears repeating because most people don’t drink enough water each day. Simply staying hydrated can help you feel full, and prevent you from splurging on that candy bar you have been eying in the vending machine down the hall. Moreover, there are a lot of ways to drink your water that can help you feel satisfied and stave off hunger pangs. Drinking your water with lemon has been shown to help reduce cravings. Also, drinking water with ice has been proven to boost your energy and metabolism.

4. Keep a food diary. It works. Simply sit down at the end of your day and make a quick note of all the foods that you eaten that day. This simple process helps make you more aware of all that you are eating. On a subconscious level, you will eventually begin to recognize poor eating habits and negative patterns that may be causing you to gain weight.

5. Take a low fat cooking class. Most of us get stymied when we crave our favorite fatty foods. Instead of feeling deprived, try to feel empowered by food. One of the best ways to get food on your side is to learn to prepare a few key low fat meals. If you are not capable of learning on your own, consider taking a low fat cooking class where you can learn new and delicious recipes on a step-by-step basis.

6. Drink tea. Making the switch to healthier beverage choices is a fast and painless way to lose weight. If you find it hard to part with sugary, carbonated beverage drinks, try to find ways to fulfill your sweet tooth without going the way of soda. Replace your fizzy drinks with something healthier, like tea. Start by brewing fruit teas, such as raspberry.

7. Learn to marinate your foods. Many times, diets are ruined because we seek out flavor. The truth is that there are many ways to add flavor to your food without having to resort to melted cheese or extra butter. Learn to marinate your foods with low fat alternatives, such as non-fat plain yogurt instead of sour cream.

8. Take up a fun hobby or activity. If you find it nearly impossible to exercise on a regular basis, switch to a hobby, sport or any kind of activity that you enjoy and that keeps you on your feet. Gardening, biking and hiking are easy and fun activities that help burn calories in the process.

There are many things you can do to lose weight, and they don’t have to involve mind-numbing will power, starvation or fad diets. Here are eight common sense ideas that can help you start shedding those pounds in a healthy, sensible manner.

Curb Your Drinking for Sensible Weight Loss

Did you know that alcohol contributes to those extra calories that end up causing you to gain weight? Too much alcohol in your diet can cause you to lower your inhibitions and thus increase your appetite. Just as drinking alcohol can cause you to impair your judgment about driving, it can cause you to choose the wrong things to eat. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to cut alcohol out of your life completely. In fact, many studies have shown that low to moderate amounts of red wine can actually be good for your cardiovascular system.

Use the Food Pyramid to Decide What to Eat

If you feel like you have no clue as to what you should eat, use the very common sense food pyramid to guide your choices. The food pyramid shows you that it is smart to eat diverse types of foods, not just one food. According to the federal government’s food pyramid, this is a great way to keep your calories in line. Use the food pyramid to make sure you are eating enough foods from certain groups. Are you overeating certain types of foods? Are your servings too small or too big? Let the pyramid guide you.

Use Less Sodium to Lose Weight

One of the easiest things you can do to lose weight is to cut back on salt and sodium. Why should you cut back on salt? Salt itself does not cause you to lose weight, but many salty foods also happen to be high in fat. Salty foods can also cause you to experience water retention and bloating.

Eat Lots of Whole Grains

Choose foods made from whole grains, such as rice, wheat, corn and oats. These are often naturally low in fat. They are full of fiber, minerals and vitamins. Whole grains are always a good bet.

Choose the Right Kinds of Beverages

Even if you are eating all the right foods, choosing the wrong kinds of beverages can ruin an otherwise sensible diet. Avoid beverages containing high amounts of processed ingredients, such as high fructose corn syrup. However, drinking sugary beverages can be part of healthy diet if done so in moderation.

Cut Down on Your Saturated Fats

The single most important thing you can do to eat a healthy, balanced diet that can help you lose weight is to cut back on fat. More specifically, cutting out on saturated fats is one of the most effective ways to cut calories from your diet. Foods rich in saturated fats include meats, eggs and dairy products.

Choose the Right Kinds of Fats

That said, you don’t have to give up on fats forever. In fact, eating fats is absolutely necessary as part of a whole, balanced diet. Fats are what help food taste good—what makes food satisfying. The human body needs fats to function properly. Choose healthy, heart-friendly fats such as olive oil, and the essential fatty acids that can be found in fish and nuts.

Incorporate a Variety of Vegetables and Fruits into Your Daily Diet

Instead of eating less, eat more—fruits and vegetables, that is. These are packed with minerals, vitamins and fiber. Be adventurous and choose according to color, scent, texture and size. Dieticians tell us that the greater variety of fruits and vegetables that you eat, the better for your body.

You don’t have to be a dietician to know that certain foods can slow you down, while others can imbue you with the kind of energy you need to keep you going through the day. Food is essentially fuel for our bodies, so what we choose to put in our mouths really matters. There are some foods that can always be relied upon for a quick shot of energy (think: high sugar), and there are others that should be sought out if you want long-term energy. Here are some tips to choosing the right foods in order to boost energy to get through the day.

How Food Turns Into Energy

Choosing the right kinds of foods is a lot easier if you understand the process by which food turns into energy. Your body will use food for energy by turning it into glucose, or blood sugar. Carbohydrates are known to convert most easily into fuel. This means that carbs often as a kind of macronutrient when it comes to eating for energy. Your body needs carbohydrates to create energy. The problem lies in that many simple carbohydrates have the tendency to break down too fast. This causes the notorious sugar crash. If you want to avoid these kinds of energy crashes, avoid foods high in refined sugars.

Carbohydrates That Keep You Humming All Day Long

There are the bad carbohydrates, rich in processed ingredients and refined sugars, and these are notorious for their energy-crashing tendencies. But there are other types of carbohydrates, and these can keep you humming all day long. When you are looking for these supercarbs, think complex carbohydrates such as grains and whole-wheat food products.

Keeping a Balance for Optimal Energy

There are many things you should keep in mind when eating for optimal energy. The key is to achieve a balance between many different kinds of foods. Your body is a complex organ that needs many kinds of foods to keep it healthy. Your ideal meal should contain a healthy dose of complex carbohydrates, a moderate amount of protein and just a little fat.

Eating for Maximum Efficiency and Energy

There are many things that you can do to eat for maximum energy and efficiency. Part of the trick has to do with how you distribute your calories during the day. Ideally, you will want to make sure that your calories are distributed among breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, it is best if you consume most of your calories earlier in the day. Why? The time of day in which your body most needs fuel is in the morning. For the best energy boosting results, eat a large breakfast, a medium-sized lunch and a small dinner. Consume energy boosting snacks between meals. Most people who consume large dinners have trouble keeping the weight off. This is because large dinners just tend to settle and then become processed into your fat stores. Eating larger meals earlier in the day not only provides your body with the nutrient fuel it needs to stay going strong all day, it also provides you with the opportunity to burn more calories and thus prevent weight gain.

Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day

Many people overlook the importance of staying hydrated. If you feel yourself lagging, despite having taken each meal, pour yourself a tall glass of cool water. Many times, lagging energy is a symptom of dehydration. Drink at least eight glasses of water each day. Recent studies have shown that drinking water with ice can help you lose weight. The next time you feel tired or dragging, pour yourself a tall glass of water with ice.

Losing weight is not simply a matter of how you look—it’s really a matter of how you feel. When you are at your ideal weight, you will feel freer, more energized and healthy than if your body is burdened by excess weight. It is important to approach any weight loss program with a healthy sense of purpose. Why are you losing weight? Is it so that you can fit into that bridesmaid dress, or because you want to look and feel better? Short-term goals rarely result in solid, long-term weight loss. Here are some important guidelines that have to do with eating your way to lose weight and gain better health.

Keeping Perspective – Do Not Eliminate an Entire Food Group from Your Diet

One of the best ways to eat your way to losing weight and gaining overall better health is to keep a healthy sense of perspective. Do not trust diets that cause you to eliminate entire food groups from your diet. In order to be truly healthy, your body needs all kinds of foods to thrive, including carbohydrates, proteins, and yes, even fats. Our bodies need a healthy balance of all three to be at its optimal best.

Feeding Your Body Right

Here are some general guidelines that can help you feed your body right. In general, carbohydrates and fats should be your primary sources of caloric energy. Your body uses protein as a fuel, but also depends on them mostly as raw material for growing strong body structures. Eating a balanced diet can provide the right kind of calories in order to replace those that have been used up in the course of living. But your body needs just the right mix of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in order to meet your body’s complex needs.

The General Characteristics of the Ideal Diet

Knowing that your body needs a variety of different nutrients, what does the ideal diet look like? In general, the optimal diet has variety. That means that you are eating enough different kinds of foods so that all of your nutritional bases are covered and that the intake of harmful foods and elements are generally minimized. Freshness is another important factor. The higher the percentage of fresh foods in your diet, the better you will feel. Another important characteristic of a healthy diet is unprocessed foods. The fewer processed foods that are in the diet, the healthier you will be. Another main characteristic of a healthy diet is an abundance of fruits and vegetables. In general, the more fruits and vegetables that are in your diet, the more protective nutrients that your body is absorbing.

How Many Calories Are OK Each Day?

The amount of calories that you should be consuming each day depends strongly on your body size, sex and activity level. However, in general, most adults need to consume between 2,000 and 3,000 calories. Most women need fewer calories than men. Also, the more active that you are, the more calories you will need in order to keep up with your body’s demands. If you are eating the right kind of calories and not varying the degree of activity, you should find that your weight does not vary significantly. There is also a recommended distribution of calories that you should aim for. In general, you want 50 to 60 percent of your calories to be consumed from carbohydrates. You should aim for 30 percent of your calories to be from fat, and about 10 to 20 percent of your calories to be from protein. Of course, these numbers will vary according to your specific body type, activity level, age and sex.

People try all kinds of complex and complicated diet plans to try and get their weight under control, but the reason they usually fail is pretty simple – they just get hungry. If you are going to stick to a diet, no matter what it is, you have to become comfortable with a little bit of portion control. And of course, if you are going to stick to portion control in the long term, you can’t be hungry. You have to get to the point where you aren’t eating “portion controlled” foods but rather are eating portions that are reasonable and satisfying. To tide you over until you get to that point, it helps to have some ways to control your appetite. Conquer your appetite and you will conquer your overeating battles.

There are two main approaches to controlling your appetite. One involves taking your mind off of eating altogether, and the other involves eating certain things, in a certain way, so that you still full longer. Combining the approaches is the key to achieving successful appetite control.

One thing you can do to keep your appetite in check is eat! Sure, it sounds obvious, but eating small things often will keep you blood sugar on an even keel. When you blood sugar is stable, you will feel less hungry and you will encourage your metabolism to keep burning instead of storing calories as fat for later. Shoot for eating a little something every three hours to get the maximum benefit of blood sugar control, and therefore, appetite control.

When you do snack, foods that have a lot of fiber, a lot of water, or preferably both, are ideal. These foods keep you full, and they usually do it for a minimum amount of calories. Think fiber rich fruits and veggies, which are chock full of water (and that water will also keep you hydrated, a key component in weight management).

Next, when it comes time for meals, make sure they are balanced. The best meals have a combination of protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Any meal that is lacking in one of these components is destined to leave you feeling hungry later. This rule can be a good thing for dieters. For instance, dry lettuce leaves might be low in calories, but eating them alone is a big diet no-no. Add some salad dressing (fat), a little bit of chicken (protein) and some high fiber crackers, and suddenly those boring leaves becoming a meal that is diet friendly and pleasurable to eat.

If you still feel hungry after you eat, give yourself permission to eat more – after a little break. Your appetite takes about 20 minutes to get the message that you have had enough, so waiting that long before you eat some more will give you time to decode the real message. Knowing that you CAN eat some more if you are still hungry will take the pressure off, and 20 minutes later, you can evaluate how hungry you really are – chances are, you won’t want to eat.

Mind over manner is a great technique to use when controlling your appetite, but you can give your will power a boost by avoiding tricky situations completely. Unless it is time to have a snack or a meal, stay away from food. If it is not right there, you won’t eat it. Make reaching for food work, so you have to decide you really want to have it before you can eat it.

Last but not least, give yourself a break. Appetite control is hard work, and some days, you’re going to fall off the wagon. Remember that this is a process, not something you do or don’t do – take the long-term view, and you’ll have much more success in the short term.

Counting calories is one of those weight loss methods that has lost favor over the years. And no wonder: counting calories is by no means glamorous or fun. But counting calories is a proven, time-tested way to lose weight. If you have tried all the fad diets, the expensive (or inexpensive) weight loss machines, expensive prescription weight drugs or the scary herbal supplements, and still find that you are not losing any weight, you will find that counting calories is actually a refreshing way to approach the battle of the bulge.

What’s the Deal with Counting Calories?

If you have never tried counting calories as a means of achieving your weight loss goals, perhaps you are wondering what it is all about. Counting calories is actually a proven method for losing weight. Essentially, counting calories ensures that you burn off more calories than you consume in a day. This is the basic process of losing weight. Although it may sound scientific and technical, it is actually quite a simple equation. If you consume more calories than you burn up in a day, those extra calories will be naturally stored up in your body, and may eventually become fat. If you burn up more calories than you consume in a day, your body will need eventually need to reach into those pesky fat cells for some energy nutrients, and you will begin to lose weight.

Figuring Out Your Personal Calorie Equation

The first thing you need to do if you are interested in losing weight by counting calories, is to figure out how many calories you need to consume each day in order to maintain your current weight. Fortunately, dieticians have already done this work for us, and we know now that most women need approximately 2,000 calories a day in order to maintain their natural weight. For men, this figure is more like 2,500. Of course, these figures will vary according to several factors, including your natural built, your height, your muscle content and other genetic variables. But these figures can be helpful for devising your calorie weight loss plan, especially if you are of average height and build.

How to Lose Weight by Counting Calories

So you have figured out your personal calorie equation, now it’s time to figure out how to lose those pesky pounds. Fortunately for us again, dieticians and research studies have done a lot of the legwork for us again. The basic caloric equation for losing weight is that you need to burn more calories each day than you consume. A helpful formula is that if you consume 500 less calories each day than you need, you will lose approximately one pound each week. If you consume 1,000 calories less each day, you will lose weight at a rate of approximately two pounds each week. Why is this possible? Because when you reduce your caloric intake, your body is forced to turn fat stores into caloric energy. In other words, your body needs calories, and if it isn’t getting them from you, it will find them from somewhere else—like your fat stores.

Creating a Healthy Caloric Deficit

Your goal in counting calories is to create a healthy caloric deficit that maximizes weight loss without causing you to be strained or as if you are sacrificing yourself. If you constantly feel hungry or strained, chances are you will not be able to retain a healthy and sensible weight loss program. For healthy weight loss, consume foods that are filling, fresh and healthy. Balance out your weight loss program by slowly integrating more movement into your life.

The popular Atkins Diet has revolutionized the way people eat these days. Once upon a time, many people were not even capable of pointing out a carb, even when it was sitting right in front of them. But is the popular Atkins diet right for your needs? Are carbohydrates your enemy or friend? Should you be cutting carbs from your diet, or is there more to them than what meets the eye.

Carbohydrates – Friend or Foe?

Carbohydrates are complicated things. They are not merely just good or bad. They are actually a complicated, and very necessary, part of your diet. First, get to know your carbohydrates. Carbohydrates in the standard American diet tend to be found in the following foods: yeast breads, cookies, cakes, soft drinks, quick breads, muffins, dough nuts, sugars, syrups, potatoes, jams, cereals, pasta, milk, rice and other cooked grains, fruit drinks, juices, frozen dessert, potato chips, crackers, popcorn and many vegetables. With such a laundry list of carbohydrates, maybe you think that it is nearly impossible to avoid them. You would be right—it is very difficult, and truly unnecessary, to avoid carbohydrates altogether.

Things You Should Know About Carbohydrates

There are many things that you should know about carbohydrates. First, understand that carbohydrates make up such a large part of the standard American diet because they are relatively inexpensive. They make up an inexpensive filling in many foods, and they are often very satisfying, at least right after consuming them. You should know that many people crave carbohydrates, which can lead to over consumption of them. The Atkins Diet tends to emphasize the dangers of carbs. The Atkins Diet informs us that carbs are often bad because they are the chief cause of weight gain and obesity. However, although the Atkins Diet is right that many of us gain weight because we consume too many carbs, research also tells us that it is unwise to shun them altogether.

Two Classes of Carbohydrates

There are two basic types of nutritive carbohydrates. These are starches and sugars. Sugars consist of basic glucose and more complicated sugars such as sucrose, or table sugar. Sugars can be found in ripe fruit, in seeds and even some vegetables. Sugars also occur naturally in syrup and honey. Starches are a bit more complicated. Many plants use them in order to store energy in their roots. Plants that store starch include sweet potatoes, tubers and seeds.

Carbohydrates – Simple Versus Complex

What is the difference between these two, and which ones are right for your weight loss diet? Many dieticians have advised patients to avoid the Atkins shun-all-carbohydrates approach and instead separate carbohydrates into these two categories. In general, you should minimize the consumption of simple carbs, and increase the consumption of complex carbohydrates. Simple carbs include high glycemic foods such as potatoes, sweet drinks and bread. These can often cause a fast rise in your blood sugar. These simple carbs cause your pancreas to secrete insulin, which allows glucose to enter your cells. Insulin also has a strong influence over your weight, cardiovascular function and fat metabolism. The Atkins Diet is right when it states you should avoid a diet high in simple carbohydrates, as these often lead to weight gain.

Why Your Body Needs Carbohydrates

However, you should not avoid carbohydrates altogether. Carbohydrates are necessary as easily digested sources of energy for your body. Choose healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains, squash, beans and fruit. Avoid highly processed and refined foods, as these are often chock-full of simple carbohydrates. Sources of simple carbohydrates include pastries, crackers, chips, processed bread and cheese and other foods, and should be a minimal part of your diet.

If you have ever been on a diet, you know the drill. Watch your carbs, eat all carbs, don’t eat red meat, only eat meat, eat more fruits and veggies, only eat certain fruits – the list of dietary recommendations from weight loss “gurus” goes on and on, but most doctors have another idea in mind when it comes to weight loss. Essentially, according to the medical community, it all comes down to calories. You have to burn more calories than you eat every day if you want to lose weight, and you have to have a good balance between intake and outtake if you want to maintain your weight. Now, of course there are other reasons to choose healthy foods to heap on your plate, but the simple fact is, if you want to lose weight, stop worrying so much about what you eat and start counting the calories in the food you do choose to put in your mouth.

What exactly is a calorie? The word gets bandied around a lot, but many people don’t actually have a good handle on what it is. A calorie is simply a measure of energy. One calorie is equal to the energy needed to cause the temperature in one gram of water to increase by one single degree Celsius. The calories you see listed on the back of food packages are actually not strictly “calories” in the scientific sense. Instead, according to science, these calories are actually kilocalories, or kcals. Each kcal is made up of 1,000 calories. However, for practical purposes, the food industry uses the term “calorie” for the kcal count in their food.

The calories in your food essentially list the energy load they will bring to your body. To think of it another way, if the calories in your food were not powering your body, they could be powering something else. For instance, the calories in one piece of cheesecake with cherry topping have enough energy to burn a 60-watt light bulb for over an hour. When you put those calories into your body, they run your body’s “engine.” They are used up during the metabolic process and help you produce enzymes you need to spur on other body functions.

If you end up taking in more energy, or calories, than you need, you will end up gaining weight. The extra energy from the calories is stored in fat in your body; this is your body’s way of making sure it has an extra supply of energy on hand if you need it. Although the amount differs based on weight, height, and activity levels, among other factors, a general rule of thumb is that taking in 3,500 calories more than you need is equal to gaining one pound of fat. As you repeat that process, you accumulate more fat.

That number is the only one that really matters when you are trying to lose weight. Purely from a weight loss perspective, your body doesn’t care if you get all of your calories from chocolate cake, nachos, pizza, or carrots. As long as you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. However, there are good reasons to keep the source of your calories in mind. First is staying satiated while you diet – you can eat a whole lot more carrots than you can chocolate cake for the same amount of calories. Next is your overall health. Unhealthy eating takes a toll on all of your body systems, not just your waistline. Maintaining a healthy weight is not the only component is maintaining your overall health – getting your calories from good sources is the key to staying trim AND healthy.