Snacking, especially caloric beverages account for a full fourth meal of the day!

Americans, and probably others around the world, snacking outside of a regular meal continues to increase. Research presented to the Institute of Food Technologists indicates that more than 25% of daily calorie intake is now coming from snacks, especially caloric beverages.

PositiveTip: Avoid snacking! This alone could make a huge difference in the battle of the bulge.

Small dietary changes can combat the skyrocketing obesity challenge.

Ben Franklin said, "A penny saved, is a penny earned." Yet we haven't yet learned the corollary: A few calories skipped, results in significant long-term weight loss. NHANES data reveals that between 1971 and 2002 Americans increased their daily caloric intake by 200 calories for men and 300 for women. Yet, the calories per eating episode increased by only 60 calories (5 per day).

PositiveTip: Small cuts in calories over time can make a significant difference, positive or negative, over time! Skipping a snack or two per day will make an impact.

Food tables don't always use the same serving size that you do!

Frustrated with your weight loss efforts? Try some honest realism. A quick visit to MyPyramid Tracker will reveal that the average baked potato served in America has 2.5 times more calories than the one listed in the food tables, thus underestimating actual calories. Or maybe one day you did eat 1200 calories, but the next two days you splurged on much more. 

PostiveTip: Accurately keep track of what you eat, including the snacks. It will help you learn what contributes to your total calorie intake over time.

The accuracy of manufacturer calorie counts in reduced-energy foods questioned.

Tufts University researchers analyzed the caloric content of 29 chain-restaurant dishes and 10 frozen dinners--each one claiming to be a reduced-calorie option. The numbers varied widely, but on average the restaurant items contained 18% more calories than stated, and the frozen dinners 8% more. A few items contained as much as twice the number of calories as stated on the label! If this error had only been 5%, the difference could easily result in a 10 pound weight gain in just one year!

PositiveTip: Eating wholesome foods you have prepared at home is not only the most economical, but also the most healthy for you.

It's not magic! Losing weight is simple math--calorie math.

Here’s how to break it down: 3500 calories is equal to one pound.  There are 7 days in a week. So in order to lose about a pound per week—which is a healthy rate for weight loss—you need to cut out 500 calories each day. This can be done by either eating less calories or burning off more calories. There are 52 weeks in a year, so at this rate you can lose approximately 52 pounds per year! It’s that easy! If you want to gain weight, just reverse these steps.

Positive Tip: Take control of your weight—keep track of those calories.

Diet plans don't count--it's the calories that do!

Obscured in the media headlines over the findings of the largest controlled trial of weight loss plans ever conducted is the fact that losing weight is hard work, and keeping it off is even harder--regardless of the plan or diet followed.

The good news from this study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is that you can toss out those fad-diet books that promise you can lose the "easy way." More than 800 participants in this two year study were randomly assigned to four different diets that varied in the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrate levels. They all lost an average of 9 pounds regardless of which diet they followed. It was the calories, and sticking to it, that made the difference!