Links on this page - RMR  | Good Protein/Starch/Grains  |  Food Labels | Best Snack on Earth!

Your RMR is the number of calories you burn at rest. 

Regardless of where they come from, calories you eat are either converted to physical energy or stored within your body as fat. Unless you use these stored calories — either by reducing calorie intake so that your body must draw on reserves for energy, or by increasing physical activity so that you burn more calories — this fat remains stored within your body.

Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight.

Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'd lose approximately 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

Cutting calories doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, it might be as simple as forgoing one extra item a day, swapping foods or trimming serving sizes. The number of calories you save is likely to translate into pounds lost.  This data is from the mayoclinic.com.

In regard to exercising, the number of calories you burn depends upon your weight, the activity you are doing and the intensity level you are exercising at. Any activity that you perform can be done at a variety of intensity levels. If you exercise at a higher intensity level, you will be working harder, expending more energy and burning more calories than someone who is not working quite so hard.

This table gives the caloric expenditure after 10 minutes of activity for various body weights. This data was obtained from Reebok Instructor News, Volume 4, Number 2, 1991.

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Good Protein/Starch/Grains

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Food Labels: Know what you're getting - You can start to make healthy choices for your life right now — just by getting a few food packages from the kitchen and reviewing the following explanations of "Nutritional Facts." If you're counting calories, fats or carbohydrates, it's important to know how those numbers are calculated in the food you eat.

Serving Size: Defines what is considered a normal serving of this food based on portion size or measurements like cups, tablespoons, etc. Information on calories, amounts of protein, fat, etc., is based on this measured size. Total Fat: Look at the grams of total fat in a serving. A low fat food is defined as containing 3 grams of fat or less per serving. Total Carbohydrate: Look at the grams of total carbohydrate, rather than the indented grams of sugar. If you look only at the sugar number, you may end up excluding foods such as fruits and milks thinking they are too high in sugar, while you may overeat foods such as cereals that have no sugar, but do contain significant amounts of carbohydrate. The grams of sugar and fiber are counted as part of the grams of total carbohydrate. If a food has 5 grams or more fiber in a serving, subtract the fiber grams from the total grams of carbohydrate for a more accurate estimate of the carbohydrate content. Sugar alcohols (also known as polyols) include sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol, and have fewer calories than sugars and starches, although use of the sugar alcohols in a product does not necessarily mean the product is low in carbohydrate. Always remember to check the label for the grams of carbohydrate. The grams of sugar alcohols are indented under the total carbohydrate heading and aligned under dietary fiber and sugars. The grams of sugar alcohols are required on the label only when a claim is made about sugar alcohols or sugars when sugar alcohols are present.

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The Best Snack on Earth

By Denny Watkins

Full-fat cheese is not only loaded with protein, calcium, and flavor, but the fat it contains just might help you lose your gut for good.

It's unavoidable advice:

If you're going to eat cheese, it should be the fat-free or low-fat kind. Trouble is, that usually limits your choices to mass-produced, vacuum-sealed cheeses that have had much of their flavor sucked out along with the fat. So it's hardly an appetizing proposition. And for what real benefit? Fewer calories and a lower risk of heart disease? Not so fast.

"The combination of protein and fat in regular, full-fat cheese is very satiating," says Alan Aragon, a nutritionist in Westlake Village, California, and the Men's Health Weight-Loss Coach. "As a result, eating full-fat cheese holds your appetite at bay for hours, and I've found that it cuts down my clients' food intake at subsequent meals." Aragon's advice: Enjoy snacks of full-fat cheese especially if you're on a diet. "Just don't eat it mindlessly," he says.

And if you're worried about your cholesterol, chew on this: Danish scientists found that when men ate a whopping 10 daily 1-ounce servings of full-fat cheese for 3 weeks, their LDL (bad) cholesterol didn't budge. Which isn't to say you should live on the stuff--just that you don't need to fear it. Full-fat cheese can be a healthy snack and a great way to make a bland meal taste better. "Cheese is the new wine," says Terrance Brennan, chef and owner of Artisanal Fromagerie, Bistro & Wine Bar and Picholine restaurant, both in New York City. "There are thousands of different aromas, textures, and flavor profiles."

So look beyond the singles and strings and into the gourmet cheese section of your supermarket (or shop online at artisanalcheese.com), and use our guide to discover the best cheeses you aren't eating.

The superspread:

Robiola

Step away from the Cheez Whiz: Robiola is the best way to top a Triscuit. This Italian cheese is soft, like Brie, and it tastes as rich as butter. Spread it on a whole-grain cracker or baguette slice, and round out the snack with grapes or cantaloupe. For another great spread, try Brillat-Savarin, which is so creamy it's been called the cheese equivalent of ice cream.

The anytime snack:

Roncal

A firm sheep's-milk cheese, Roncal's nutty flavor and chewy texture make it a fine stand-alone snack. Or, to add a touch of sweetness, you can give it a light glaze of cherry or raspberry preserves. A delicious alternative is Comté, one of the most popular cheeses in France. Besides being a great snack, Comté can also be a tasty filling for a grilled-cheese sandwich.

The salad enhancer:

Sainte-Maure

This French goat cheese makes any salad taste better. But don't try to crumble Sainte-Maure like you would other kinds of goat cheese--it's too soft. Instead, serve it on the side of a mixed-green salad. For the dressing, combine 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 1/3 cup walnut oil, 1 tablespoon finely diced shallots, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and some black pepper. Nab a bit of cheese with your fork, stab some lettuce, and bite down. The lemon and black-pepper flavors of the cheese blend perfectly with the earthy walnut oil.

The flavor king:

Aged Gouda

Most cheeses can be aged for weeks to months, but a well-produced Gouda has spent 3 to 5 years in a cave. "Cheese is aged to develop its flavors," says Scott A. Rankin, Ph.D., an associate professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The result is like a good Parmigiano Reggiano, but with rich caramel flavors. Eat thin slices with a green apple or pear.

The beer buddy:

Montgomery's Cheddar

When you chomp into this cheese, don't expect it to taste like the factory-formed orange bricks you find in your supermarket's dairy section. This is authentic cheddar, from Manor Farm in Somerset, the county in England where the cheese originated. Its lingering flavors of buttermilk and horseradish balance well with any kind of beer and make American cheddar seem bland. "English farmhouse cheddars from Somerset are the cheddars of choice," says Steven Jenkins, the author of Cheese Primer.

The wine companion:

Hoja Santa

This creamy goat cheese from Texas is wrapped in leaves of hoja santa, an herb that imparts licorice and mint flavors. Serve it with a glass of Riesling or sauvignon blanc. White wine is usually a better complement to a cheese plate than red is, because its acidity balances the fat in most cheeses, says Brennan. Another great cheese to eat with vino is Cypress Grove Chevre Purple Haze, a goat cheese from northern California.

The dessert cheese:

Bayley Hazen Blue

After biting into this Vermont-made blue cheese, many of our tasters exclaimed, "It tastes like chocolate." The fudgelike flavor even has a hint of apricot--quite a feat considering this is just moldy milk. Eat it alone, or drizzle a drop or two of honey on it for an even sweeter (but still healthy) treat.

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