In order to lose weight you must consume less calories than your body uses but how do you determine your ideal calorie intake? The most accurate way to measure is with a high tech device called the bodygem but this can cost you anywhere from $100 to $500 and is only available at certain hospitals and health clubs. The next best thing is one of many high tech formulas but these are usually complicated and confusing. Another option is an online calculator but these can be off by as many as 600 calories. I know because I've done all three and I've found that the cheapest, easiest, and most accurate way to find your ideal calorie intake requires two easy steps: First multiply your weight by 10 if you have a slow metabolism, 11 if your metabolism is normal, or 12 if your metabolism is fast. How do you know what type of metabolism you have? Easy, slow if you normally get sleepy and lethargic after a meal, normal if you feel the same after a meal, and fast if you get fidgety and hyper after a meal. The second step is to multiply that number by one of the following activity levels:

• 1.3 sedentary, sitting most of the day, cooking, light housework
• 1.4 light activity, housework, take care of kids, exercise 2-3 x/week, stand or walk at work
• 1.5 -1.6 moderately active, all the above daily activities, exercise for one hour 3-4 x/week
• 1.7 very active, all the above daily activities plus exercise 1-2 hours every day of the week

For example I have a slow metabolism, weigh 120 pounds, stand at work, exercise 3-4 times a week plus take care of a 3 year old. My ideal calorie intake is 120 x 10 = 1200 x 1.5 = 1815 if I want to maintain. If I wanted to lose weight I would need to cut 500 food calories because exercise is already factored into the equation. So now that you've figured your ideal calorie intake you have to monitor those calories.

Counting Calories
If you have the time using nutrition software is the best way to go because it tracks everything from calories to fat, carbs, protein, vitamins, and so much more. The only disadvantage is that it's time consuming to get in the habit of logging and entering all your favorite foods that are not included in these programs. If you don't have time for this your next best option is to read the food labels of all the food you eat and jot everything down in a small notebook. Most foods have nutritional info on the labels. Just be sure that you're accounting for each serving. So if you bought a bag of chips that contains four servings and you ate half the bag, you must multiply the nutritional info per serving times two. You should also buy a calorie counter that lists nutritional info for fast food, restaurant food, and other food items that are not required to list nutritional info. The best calorie counter is:
The Doctors Pocket Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter: 2002 Edition, Plus 101 Fast Food Chains and Restaurants

Slash 500 calories
Once you start tracking the first thing you will find is that you are definitely eating more than you should be and you will need to slash calories in order to lose weight.

Easy ways to slash about 100 calories include:
• Replace 1/2 cup of granola with 2 cups of Cheerios
• Use 1 tablespoon of all-fruit jam instead of 1 1/2 tablespoons butter on your toast
• Reduce the size of your steak from 4 1/2 ounces to 3 ounces
• Grill a cheese sandwich with nonstick cooking spray instead of margarine
• Cut the peanut butter on your sandwich from 2 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon
• Use 3 teaspoons of dijonnaise instead of 4 teaspoons of mayonnaise on your sandwich
• Eat a turkey sandwich instead of a chicken salad sandwich
• Switch to sugar-free yogurt instead of eating regular yogurt
• Rinse cooked ground beef with water
• Eat fresh fruit instead of fruit juice
• Use splenda instead of sugar in coffee or when cooking

Burn More Calories
If you don't want to deprive yourself of the foods you love then increase or double your activity level. A 30 year old woman who is 5'4" and 150lb can

burn extra calories a day with these activities:
• burn 25% more calories a day just by eating breakfast (ie 1200 x 25% means 312 extra calories burned for me)
• burn 184 calories an hour ballroom dancing
• burn 107 calories cleaning house for 30 minutes
• burn 77 calories cooking for 30 minutes instead of getting take out
• burn 184 calories hiking for 30 minutes
• burn 92 calories bowling for 30 minutes
• burn 122 calories gardening fo 30 minutes
• burn 227 calories inline skating for 45 minutes
• burn 204 calories jumping rope for 20 minutes
• burn 138 calories pushing a power mower for 30 minutes
• burn 122 calories playing miniature golf for 40 minutes
• burn 82 calories doing 10 minutes of pushups
• burn 102 calories running at 6.0mph for 10 minutes
• burn 80 calories with 60 minutes of hot sex
• burn 390 calories in a 45 minute step class
• 20 minutes of tai chi burns 82 calories
• 20 minutes of treadmill walking at 4mph and 15% incline (my favorite!!!) burns 249 calories
• 20 minutes of treadmill walking at 4mph and 5% incline burns 137 calories
• 20 minutes of beach volleyball burns 163 calories

Activity is cumulative so do as much as possible on a daily basis and you'll be dropping those pounds in less time. Be sure to read part II for info on how to translate calories into grams and when calories don't count.