Most Americans over the holiday have packed on a few pounds. And now that the New Year is beginning the gyms are going to be full. Everyone is going to have resolutions and goals to drop weight and gain more muscle. But depending on your diet you may remain the same size or even gain weight.

The holiday festivities may have resulted in tighter pants but it doesn’t have to stay that way. If you are on a diet and count your calories on a daily basis instead of a weekly basis you may be missing the boat. In order to get the best results you need to watch what you eat and exercise.

But here’s where the trouble is. If you’re eating pretty well during the week and then eat whatever you want on the weekend you can eat up to 400 extra calories on Saturday and Sunday than you do on a typical weekday. So if you’re eating whatever you want on the weekdays to make up for what you felt you missed on weekdays the diet will be unsuccessful.

You will also struggle if you are tallying your calories and keeping track of what you ate on a daily basis. If you eat a big breakfast then skimp on lunch you’re probably going to consume more calories than you wanted to at dinner. Because of the fact that you realized you skimped on lunch so you can eat more for dinner in order to make up for it..

But if you want to lose weight and keep it off then you should keep track of your eating on a weekly instead of a daily basis. Professor J. Jeffrey Inman at the University of Pittsburgh remarked “If you monitor your intake during the week you can make sure you don’t go too crazy on the weekends.” The idea is that you can keep better track of your eating on a weekly basis because you’re looking at the big picture instead of getting caught up in all the little details. And you can better scrutinize your food gorging on the weekends.

In America the saying is “live to eat” while in the rest of the world it’s “eat to live. Sadly eating is a huge part of our culture and it’s affected the obesity rates in the U.S. In the last three decades the U.S. has sharply increased in the number of obese Americans from 15 percent in 1976 to 33 percent in 2003 and it’s not getting better, only worse.

Government and health officials have tried to bring awareness to the issue. They believe that the lack of exercise and growing number of fast food chains have led to an increase in obesity rates. The eating habits of Americans have changed for the worse and it is affecting everybody’s health.

Heart disease, diabetes, and many other health problems are diet and weight related. The risk of developing these diseases is higher for individuals that don’t take care of their bodies. But because of the obesity epidemic, individuals are learning more about how to stay healthy. If you need or want to go on a diet remember to watch what you’re eating on a weekly basis and get as much exercise as you can, because those are the keys to a healthy life.

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