Tip of the Day--CALORIES

Exercise is only half the battle against the bulge. Actually it is less than half....about 20%. The other 80% is nutrition (or the lack thereof). So not only should you be exercising daily (yes! daily) you need to get the nutrition part under control.

Now you know that I am no expert on nutrition, but I have read enough about it to know the basics. First and foremost you need to calculate the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your weight. And then, if you are trying to lose weight you can deduct 500 calories per day from that amount. Oh, and you should also be eating the right things to fill your suggested daily caloric intake.

If it were that easy everyone would be fit and trim. But it's not so simple. If you are lucky enough to figure out that magic number (daily calories needed) you still need to count your calories and keep a journal, running total, or whatever works for you. There are plenty of sites online to help you figure out calories in almost ALL foods. My favorites are http://calorieking.com/ and http://dietfacts.com/. At Calorie King you can figure out calories in a lot of fresh and packaged foods. Also some restaurant information is found on this site. Diet Facts has a huge array of restaurant nutrition facts. Even more than looking up individual restaurant websites.

So you are probably asking yourself, how do I figure out the magic number? This is the best site I have found for daily caloric needs: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm. Just enter your information and try the suggested daily calorie number. It is not always cut and dry...you are going to have to play with those numbers a bit and find out what works. Easy? Nope. Worth it? Yep!

Good luck!