The modern media has done a good job at extolling the virtues of a well rounded, consistent exercise plan and the need for diet control. However, when dieting is the topic, there is one message that is rarely made clear, and that is the importance of calorie counting.

Calorie counting is a simple concept, yet is often ignored and misunderstood. Simply put, know how much is going in! By keeping an exact account of how much you’ve eaten, in the form of how many calories you’ve consumed, you can get control of your weight. This information is almost always printed on food packaging or can easily be determined from online sources or easily obtainable books. Keeping in mind that the calories quoted on packaging are often “per serving” and each package may contain more than one serving.

Most of us don’t need more than about 2,000 calories per day and if we are trying to lose weight then that number should be less than about 1,500 calories per day.

You can take an even more exacting approach by first calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR tells you how many calories your body will burn in a day to run its normal systems if you were completely inactive. Know your height and weight and just head to any one of several web sites, such as www.fitwatch.com/qkcalc/bmr.html, to calculate your individual BMR. For example, a 30 year old woman, who is 5ft. 4 in. tall and weighs 140 lbs, has a BMR of 1416 calories per day. That means if she limits what she eats to a total of 1400 calories per day, all of her other activities will cause her to burn stored excess fat and allow her to successfully lose weight. All of the well-known weight loss programs employ some variation of this concept.

It is also best to divide your food intake into five small meals, spread evenly over the course of the day, to stem the pangs of hunger. The typical three large meals stimulate the need to gorge. Also avoid eating after 8 at night, as your metabolism slows way down while you sleep.

Even at ideal weights, many of us want to improve our shape and this is obviously where plastic surgery comes in. Read the rest of this newsletter for ideas on how to achieve ideal body proportions.

When spring is in swing, we all to start to dream about the good times that summer brings. Soon, the long days, warm evenings, afternoons at the beach and the long awaited vacations will be upon us. Thoughts of summer invariably make us conscious of our body shape and what we can do for improvement. Our thoughts lurch from exercise to dieting, to new clothes and in today's accepting culture, to plastic surgery.

When thinking about your body shape it is important to take a holistic, or total body view, to assess overall proportions. For women this means asking how close am I to the classic hourglass shape that is believed to be the ideal of feminine beauty. For men this means evaluating whether you have the classic v-shape or rhomboid-shape, where one is broader at that top, tapering in to the waist. Don't just think about one isolated area, such as the tummy, as most people do. In both sexes it is all about proportions. The chest should match the waist, which should match the legs.

In woman, the obvious place to start is with the breasts. The question is not just size, but how do they relate to the width of the chest. The outer curve of the breast should extend just beyond the edge of the chest. This is both pretty and sexy, but also adds to overall shape as this helps form the upper end of the hourglass. The eye will start at the sides of the breasts, move inward at the waist and out again at the hips. This is where breast augmentation or a breast lift comes in. Next in line is the abdomen and waist, where a tummy tuck or liposuction can help contour and flatten. Last, but not least, are the hips and thighs. Many patients look to flatten the tummy but ignore an overly wide and disproportioned lower body. Again, tumescent liposuction can play a crucial role in getting that part of the silhouette just right.

Men should be thinking along much the same lines. Starting at the chest, there should be some muscular fullness, but too much fat behind the nipples is often referred to as gynecomastia. This is often treated with liposuction or by direct excision. At the waist it is often the 'love handles' that men hate, but belly fat and loose skin are often common complaints as well. Depending on the individual, an abdominoplasty or liposuction could be the solution. Thighs tend to be less of a problem for men, but even for them, when the inner skin is touching, a little liposuction could do the trick.

With summer on the way, now is a good time to start thinking about body image and self--confidence. So when dreaming about playing in the sun this summer, remember exercise, diet and 'proportions.'

In this newsletter you can also read about the simplest, yet most effective way to diet.

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