Why should I keep track of my calories?
If your goal is to lose weight, remember we said that you need to burn more calories than you consume Tips for Weight Loss. In order to lose one pound of fat, you must burn an excess of 3,500 calories. It is realistic and safe to lose one pound per week which would require you to burn an excess of 500 calories per day. So, you would need to cut your calorie intake by 500 calories per day in order to lose 1 pound per week. If you're not keeping track of your calories, you won't know if you are meeting this goal or not.

A rough estimate for caloric intake for females trying to lose weight is between 1400-1800 calories per day.
Men should eat more than women because on average they have more lean body mass and therefore require more energy.

A rough estimate for caloric intake for males trying to lose weight is between 1600-2000 calories per day.

For a more accurate measure of how many calories "you" need, click here to calculate your caloric intake.

Should I eat more protein or carbohydrates? What about fat?
You need a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in your diet because each one of these nutrients has a very specific role in the human body. It is recommended that you take in about 50% of your calories from carbohydrates, 15-20% from protein, and less than 30% from fat (to avoid high cholesterol levels, which may lead to heart disease).

Calculate your fat intake:
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Multiply your total number of calories per day times 25%.
EX: 1600 calories x .25 = 400 calories from fat per day.
There are 9 calories in each gram of fat.
So, to calculate grams of fat per day, divide fat calories by 9.
EX: 400 calories from fat divided by 9 = 44.4 grams of fat per day.

Calculate your protein intake:
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If you are exercising, you should take in about 1.2-1.4 grams of protein for each kg of body weight. If your goal is to lose weight, use your goal weight in this calculation. Weight in lb divided by 2.2 = weight in kg x 1.2 = grams of protein per day. Ex: 150lb / 2.2 = 68kg x 1.2 = 82g of protein per day

If you are training for a marathon or are a competitive athlete, you may need up to 1.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight.

Does it matter when or how often I eat each day?
Skipping meals may slow down your body's metabolism because when your body goes for a long time without food, it will adapt to survive on less. Breakfast is especially important because your body has already gone for several hours without any food, which explains how "Breakfast" got it's name because you are "breaking the fast". It may also help to maintain a higher metabolism if you eat more often (in smaller amounts) throughout the day. When considering how late you can eat, the number of calories consumed per day is more important than what time you had your last meal.

What about portion sizes?
It is very important to measure your food at least for the first several days of changing your eating behavior because one serving size of pasta to you might be to fill your whole plate, where one serving size may actually only be 1 Cup of pasta. So, you may think you're taking in 200 calories from pasta when in actuality you're taking in closer to 600 calories.

Does it ever get easy?
The good news is that we tend to be creatures of habit, so once you've calculated and measured out what you can eat and still be within your calorie and nutritional goals, you won't always have to measure. For example, if you know that for lunch you can have 400 calories and you like to each sandwiches, if you count up calories for 2 slices of bread, 2 slices of turkey, one slice of swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and light mayonnaise; plus a piece of fruit or low-fat pretzels/chips and a drink that fits in that 400 calorie goal, you won't have to calculate that again.