calorie counting

Prevention Editor-in-Chief Liz Vaccariello (remember the Flat Belly Diet?) is back with the 400 Calorie Fix.

If you read Prevention you are probably aware of the 400 Calorie column - which focuses on menus and meals that total up to 400 Calories.

And the bad news..?

We just got a press release from Coke stating that they will be printing Calorie information on the front of all their products worldwide by 2011.

Have you ever wondered what 100 Calories of certain foods look like?

You're in luck because we've compiled a pictorial list of popular foods (and one drink) to give you a visual representation of 100 Calories.

Calorie counting. Just reading those two words probably made your face wrinkle up a bit with discontent. Who the heck has time in their day to calculate how many calories are in each meal they consume, let alone their total caloric intake for a day, week, month, etc.? Besides, calories aren't the real problem anyway, right? Um...not exactly.

Control calories or control insulin... or both? Which is more important when it comes to battling extra pounds? Hint... there's no simple answer.

If you've read any diet book released in the past 5-10 years, you are probably convinced that excess calories are off the hook and the insulin is the devil when it comes to packing on the pounds.

How does one cut portion size when in most of the western world portion size has grown exponentially in the last 20 or so years.

I remember when the 7-Eleven Big Gulp came on the scene in 1980 and how everyone was amazed that you could actually purchase a drink that size. It was 32 ounces back then, now you can buy a Super Big Gulp that's a whopping 64 ounces.

No wonder there's such a weight epidemic in many developed countries as people are constantly enticed with ever growing portions.

Here are some illustrations of just how portion sizes have changed in the last 20 years.

At first, five restaurants--Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Popeye's, Sbarro and TGI Friday's--were cited for FAILURE to compile, but they've since gotten their act together.

So, many months later, how are actual New Yorkers taking to the new menus?

According to the NY Post, the Olympic swimming sensation eats... 12,000 calories per day.

Here's what a days food intake looks like:

Some diets promise extraordinarily fast weight loss - achieved by cutting calorie intake to (dangerously) low levels. If you're ever tempted to follow a Very Low Calorie diet, make sure you know the facts first.

And you can make those changes without ever feeling hungry or deprived, and without giving up any of your favorite foods. Just pick five of these simple swaps every day: each will save you 100 calories.

Here are 31 in-depth tips and guides to help you eat right, and maintain (or lose) weight.

Don't forget to look in the comments area of each post - amazing amounts of useful information can be found there.

There are dozens and dozens of on-line diet trackers.

Most of them pretty much offer the same thing - find a food, select the quantity, and see how many calories you've taken in.

A new tracker - with the unusual name of Figwee - offers a few extras - and is worth a mention.

We're not talking about alcoholism this time, though alcohol is apparently one of the culprits. According to researchers at the University of North Carolina, the number of calories American adults get through their beverages has nearly doubled over the past 37 years.

How many additional calories does this add up to? And what are the health implications?

Two new services allow nutrition information to be accessed from your mobile phone.

Many nutritional experts agree that keeping a food diary is critical to weight loss success. A food diary creates a conscious awareness of food intake and eating patterns.

After keeping a diary many people are often surprised at how that "occasional" big dessert turns out to be a regular occurrence.

While some factors such as age or genetics are outside of our control - we can make choices about what foods we eat.

Here are some basic guidelines for keeping a food diary.

When it comes to portion control, there are several tools - both on-line and off-line - at your disposal. These range from color-coded or specially marked plates to the software packages designed to track your daily food consumption and make appropriate suggestions.

It's the latter option I'll be looking at today, beginning with a few personal favorites.