Here are some very basic, straightforward, common sense, and hopefully easy tips on ways to eat a healthier diet by making only the changes you are comfortable with at your own pace.  My intention here is to focus on recommendations that will be fairly easy to implement for the average person, who eats a somewhat typical american diet.

To start I will cover some very basic fundamentals about the constituents of the food that we eat and how our bodies utilize them.

All of the food that we eat, whether it is aniimal, vegetable, or fruit is comprised of only 5 unique and important nutrients. They are:

1. Protein
2. Carbohydrate
3. Fats
4. Vitamins & Minerals
5. Fiber

Of these 5 components the ones that I am going to focus the most attention on are the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.  Each of these essential nutrients have calories and this is important because excess calories can cause weight gain and reduced calories can accelerate weight loss.  It is therefore usefull to determine the average number of calories that your body burns in a 24 hour period under normal activity.  To do this we first need to determine what is called the 'basal metabolic rate'.  The human body burns calories 24 hours a day, even while we sleep.  The basal metabolic rate, which can be estimated by usiing a pretty simple formula, is the number of calories your body would burn if you were to lie in bed all day and do nothing physical.

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Once this number has been determined we can apply an activty multiplier to come up with a fairly accurate number of calories that your body needs to maintain its current weight.  Once this number is known it becomes very easy to calculate the number of calories you would need to eat to either gain or lose weight.

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

For a person trying to gain weight you would need to consume more calories then you burn.  A pound of body weight is roughly equal to 3500 calories, so if your goal is to gain one pound a week you simply divide by seven and come up with 500 extra calories each day.  When using this method to gain weight it is highly recommended that you also increase the amount of exercise you perform during this period to promote increased gains in lean muscle mass as opposed to increased levels of stored body fat.

For someone trying to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit, and remember each pound of body weight is equivalent to around 3500 calories.  Once again, to lose one pound of body weight a week, simply restrict daily calorie consumption to 500 below maintenance level each day and you should lose a pound a week.  The most effective way to lose weight is to combine calorie restiction with increased physical activity and exercise.  If you add 30 to 45 minutes of cardio-vascular exercise (which should burn between 300-500 calories) you would be approaching a 1000 calorie a day deficit which in turn is 7000 a week or 2 pounds of body weight loss.