When it comes to losing weight or maintaining a current healthy weight one of the most important things is portion control. Portion control is so simple and yet companies like Jenny Craig, Medifast, Nutrisystem, and various other companies make a fortune selling meals that are nothing more than 300-500 calories per serving. Not to mention I'm sure many of these meals have a ton of preservatives in order to keep them "fresh" and they end up losing a lot of their nutritional value because of this. All you have to do is read the ingredients on the box and I'm sure that you haven't heard of 90% of the ingredients. So many experts tell people that if they don't know what the ingredients on the box or package are you shouldn't eat it and I couldn't agree more. Look up some of these ingredients on an online search and you'll be astonished about what they are. It's pretty amazing what ingredients these companies put in their products and it's even more surprising that people are willing to consume them on a regular basis.

Being someone who has been a health and fitness fanatic for about 15 years now I can't begin to tell you how many books, articles, blogs, and various other publications I have read on health and fitness. One thing that most publications, personal trainers, and doctors all agree on is that eating small meals throughout the day is crucial if you want a healthy and fit body. One of the biggest reasons eating small meals is so important is because your metabolism speeds up when your body is processing food. This is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It breaks your fast from the 7-8 hours of sleep you've hopefully just had since you didn't eat when you were asleep and gets your metabolism cranking to start your day. Experts say that people who skip breakfast typically have a higher body fat percentage than people who don't because their bodies store fat in the absence of food. There are so many people who feel that if they skip meals and work out that their body will use their body fat for energy and burn it right off. This is completely false. Your body will feed off your lean muscle before it starts feeding off your body fat for energy. That is why it's so important to eat healthy foods every 3-5 hours depending on your calorie needs for the day. The average American eats about 2,000 calories a day but keep in mind everyone's calorie needs are different depending on age, activity level, sex, weight, and height. To give you an example of how many calories you should consume here is the formula I use on a daily basis to maintain my current weight of 155 lbs. When I have tweaked it to get to a desired weight it has also never failed me:

The first thing you want to figure out is your Basal Metabolic Rate, also known as BMR. Use this link to figure out your BMR:

BMR Calculator

My BMR is 1684.45. I'm a 5'8" 31 year old male who weighs 155 lbs. Here is how BMR is actually calculated in case you're wondering:

Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 X weight in lbs.) + (12.7 X height in inches)-(6.8*age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in lbs.) + (1.8 X height in inches) - (4.7 X age in years)

Once you know your BMR the next step is to determine your activity level to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. You can also adjust the weight in the formulas above to reflect your desired weight which will allow you to set your daily calorie intake to help you achieve your goal of weight loss or more simply use the website link above and put in your desired weight on the site.

Now figure out your activity level to figure out how many calories you need:

Sedentary (little or no exercise)=BMR*1.2

Lightly Active (exercises 1-3 days a week)=BMR *1.375

Moderately Active (exercises 3-5 days a week)=BMR*1.55

Very Active (exercises 6-7 days a week)=BMR*1.9

Using myself as an example I need to consume about 3,200 calories per day since I'm very active. Doing this is very easy but it does take dedication and calorie counting. I measure my food by reading food labels to determine serving sizes and I use a measuring cup religiously so I know how many calories I'm consuming during each meal. I have been doing this for about 2 years now and it has never failed me.

As far as meals go I recommend eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein such as chicken and fish. I also recommend cutting out alcohol or allowing yourself a couple of drinks a week. This was the hardest part for me since I'm a single guy who likes to go out to the bars with friends. It's still something I do once in a while but I don't drink as much as my college days. By doing so I feel much better and I have seen mo body fat percentage drop significantly by doing so. When you consume alcohol your liver starts metabolizing the alcohol as soon as you take your first sip and will ignore processing body fat when it does this. It can take 2 hours for your liver to process up to 2 drinks during this process.

In conclusion, work on eating small meals of 300-500 calories throughout the day until you reach your recommended caloric intake. Make sure you put healthy foods into your system and cut back on alcohol intake. Even if you don't exercise, controlling your caloric intake will keep your body weight in check and make you feel great.