Calorie Counting Fast Facts

A calorie is a calorie no matter how you look at it but some calories in foods can fill you up instead of filling you out. Plant-based foods that contain fiber and water such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains will make you feel full longer instead of expanding your waist line.

3500 calories equals one pound so if you're looking at losing weight, you'll have to restrict your intake or find ways to burn them. Here are some more calorie fast facts to helping you get the leg up on hitting your weight loss goals.

1. If you walk briskly for an extra 15 minutes a day, you'll burn 100 calories. Multiply that by 365 days and you'll lose a whopping 36,500 calories or 9.5 pounds a year!

2. A large order of fries from most fast food restaurants contain over 570 calories and 30 grams of fat. 47% of the calories are found in the fat alone. Switch to baked or roasted potatoes and eliminate those empty calories.

3. Find time to take a break and work in the garden, wash your car or walk the dog. These easy activities will get you burning 100 calories in 20 minutes.

3. Burn another 100 calories with 15 minutes of aerobics, dancing, jogging or rollerblading.

4. Take up yoga and the average 150 lb person will lose 240 calories in one hour. The great thing is that the heavier you weigh, the more calories you'll lose!

5. Replace sugar with stevia. Not only is stevia much healthier that sugar, it contains 0 calories (as opposed to 15 calories for sugar) and is 300 times sweeter than sugar.

6. Quitting drinking will not only save you lots of money but will easily help you lose weight. If you drink 1 beer everyday, you're drinking an extra 145 calories which works out to 15 lbs a year of extra weight.

7. Eggs contain 65-90 calories, depending in size. Switch to egg whites only and you'll only consume 17 calories per egg.

8. Switch to skim milk instead of whole milk. The difference in calories in one cup of skim (85 calories) and whole (150 calories) translates to 23,700 fewer calories, or 6.7 pounds over one year.

9. Next time someone tells you to take a hike, follow their advice and burn 170 calories in a 30 minute, cardiovascular-filled workout.

You don't need a crash diet or excessive exercise to lose weight. Be mindful of the calories you consume and of the ones you burn. Cutting your calories or increasing calorie burn by 500 a day results in 182,500 fewer calories in a year. This translates to 52 pounds lost in one year. That's a lot of weight!