Not only is it important that we make good food choices, but it is essential that we monitor our daily caloric intake as well.  There is no rocket science involved in how to lose weight.  It's very simple and it works like this: If you consume more calories than you burn you are in a "positive energy balance".  When you are in a positive energy balance you will store the extra energy as fat, no matter what source the energy is from- protein, carbohydrates, or fat.  On the contrast, if you expend more than you intake (a negative energy balance), weight loss occurs.  If they are equal, weight is maintained.

Calories provide fuel your body needs to function, whether it’s from protein, carbohydrates, or fat.  Each day you expend a certain amount of energy based off or your metabolic rate and by doing daily activities. This energy is fueled from the calories you consume or breaking down energy stores- such as fat.  Therefore, the more active you are the more calories you burn.

Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) usually accounts for about 60-70% of daily expenditure of calories.  Energy to maintain cardiac function, neural function and repair the body’s cells and structures are included in your RMR.  In addition, the more muscle mass you have, the higher the RMR- so you will burn more calories.  Other factors that contribute to the total calories burned are body temperature and thermal activity of eating.  Thermogenesis (heat production stimulated by food intake, substances, cold exposure, and stress) accounts for about 15% of daily energy expenditure.  Metabolizing food also expends energy and accounts for 5-10% of total energy expenditure each day.  The metabolism of protein has the highest energy cost, a good reason to intake sufficient amounts of protein each day.

These caloric fueled activities can come from any type of food sources.  So hypothetically someone could eat an entire pizza each day and still lose weight, as long as they expend more calories than they consume.  It doesn’t matter what the source is.  It boils down to simple math- calories in and calories out.  Now I would not recommend anyone have lard as their nutritional source, for health reasons of course, the point is that calories cause you to gain or lose weight.

So that means if you want to lose weight, your strategy should be to limit your caloric intake and engage in physical activities to burn additional calories.  You need to create a calorie deficit, but in a healthy manner.  You still need to eat from all of the five food groups so your body can function properly and you remain healthy.

The FDA recommends a daily recommended value (DRV) of 10% protein, 60% carbohydrates, and 30% fat (10% of that being saturated).  Additional protein intake has been established for special groups, such as athletes.  These recommendations are for sedentary people that don’t exercise nor are trying to build muscle.  I recommend a balanced diet that consists of 30-40% protein, 40-50% carbohydrates, and 20% fat.

Other committees and organizations suggest lower and higher amounts of protein, as high as 70%.  I believe neither approach would be successful.  You need a sufficient amount of protein to build muscle and recover from you workouts.  However, an excess of protein can put an unhealthy strain on your liver and kidneys.  Not only that, but whatever your system cannot process will be stored as body fat.  The key thing to remember about losing fat is that calories are the primary factor.  If you expend more calories than you consume, you lose weight- it’s as simple as that.

Once you have structured your diet in the percentages of protein, carbohydrates, and fats outlined above, you can determine your daily caloric intake that maintains your body weight.  Then slowly reduce your calories by reduced debiting 150 calories each day.  Each week assess yourself and adjust your total calorie intake accordingly.  Lower your calories by another 150 if you are not dropping 1-2 pounds in one week’s time.