Why are calories king? It’s a simple equation really. If you only monitor fat, you’re bound to eat too many carbs; if you only count carbs, you’ll overdo the fat. But by balancing calories, you catch both carbs and fat in the same net.

If you pull away the trappings of any effective weight loss program, you’ll find all that’s left in the end is calorie balancing – calories are the bottom line. It’s a simple, logical truth that how much you put into your body determines how much your body weighs. If you pour water into a glass, it gets heavier - and it doesn’t get any lighter until the water is used. Altering the color of the water, the bottle it comes from, or the shape of the glass doesn’t make a drop of difference!

It’s the same with your body. If you eat more calories than your body can use, you gain weight. Of course, if you eat fewer calories than your body uses, you lose weight, but… if you eat too few calories your metabolism may slow down and burn calories at a slower rate. Effective weight loss is all about balancing calories-in with calories-out. For most people, this means figuring out how many calories you need per day to retain your current weight, and then eating less and exercising more to reduce that calorie intake by 500-700^[1]. (Click on the Free Profile link below to calculate your recommended calorie intake for weight loss).

When counting calories, keep these helpful tips in mind:

Read labels carefully. Most packaged foods list calorie, fat and carbs on the package but be sure to check the serving size. For example, a muffin that lists 160 calories per serving might seem fine, but, hidden in smaller letters you might find that there are actually two servings in the one muffin – 320 calories. Also allow for extra calories in packaged foods, which base calorie content on net weight (the minimum legal weight), but the actual weight can be up to 50 percent more!

Control portion sizes. Most restaurant servings are several times the portion sizes listed anywhere! If you think one plate equals one serving, think again. If you can’t calculate how many actual serving sizes the meal equates to, simply avoid extra calories by eating less of it. Portion control equals calorie control equals weight control.

Keep track of what you eat. There’s no way you can control your caloric intake if you don’t know how many calories you are eating! Most people who only “guess” underestimate the amount of calories they actually eat by 25 percent. Three words: Write-It-Down!

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Having said that, don’t obsess about being 100 percent accurate all the time. Remember, it’s not the five calories here or there that are the problem. It’s the hundreds of extra calories you habitually eat day in, day out that cause weight gain.