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To figure out how many calories you should have, first start with where you are. In other words, figure out how many calories it takes to maintain your present size and then reduce from there. You can go about this in many ways. most people simply choose an arbitrary number like 1200 calories and that's what they eat, but in nearly every case that's not nearly enough calories to ensure adequate nutrition, not to mention the deprivation that sets up.

While losing weight and to this day, I eat over 2000 calories a day on average and I've maintained a good weight for my height for over 17 years. Remember, your body requires calories to maintain itself.

Basic Calorie Requirements Calculation Based on Activity Level:

Sedentary : 13 X weight = Avg. cal/day

Sedentary is not exercising at all

Moderately Active: 16 X weight = Avg. cal/day

Moderately Active is exercising approximately 3-4 times per week

Very Active: 19 X Weight = Avg. cal/day

Very Active is 5-7 strenuous exercise sessions per week.

If you weigh over 200 pound now, and you'd like to weigh closer to 150, here is a calculation you could use to get started: Assuming you are going to be adding enough exercise to quality as Moderately Active, we'll use 16 as our modifier:

150 pounds X 16 calories per pound = 2400 calories

Less 500 (Using the common 500 calories per day reduction) gives us a total of 1900 average calories per day

If you started to incorporate a plan that allowed an average of 1900 calories every day, you'd start to lose weight. The mistake most people make is to reduce calories too much, which ultimately sacrifices muscle plus sets you up for feeling deprived. It's far better in the long run to go more slowly, keeping as much muscle as possible while burning calories via exercise. Remember too, even if you don't eat quite that many calories on many days, you might eat more on the weekends for instance, so it ends up being closer to your goal of 1900 average per day. Take the total calories for the week divided by seven.

Remember, this average calorie number gives you plenty of wiggle room during the week. You can have some treats along with everyone else, or add more on weekends. Instead of constantly saying, "I can't, I'm on a diet," now you can say, "Thank you, that looks delicious," and enjoy some. It doesn't ruin your diet plan because you've got a large enough calorie allowance that if you are more careful some days than others, it will work out to the average number of calories you want. I tend to eat far less calories during the week than on weekends and my totals generally average out to 2000 to 2200 calories per day.

The 500 calorie reduction is a well accepted amount. You can reduce your calories further, but I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't benefit anyone to try for faster weight loss, in fact, if you reduce your calories too much you end up wasting muscle in the process, which is exactly what you do not want to do. If you want faster results, it's better to add more activity, thereby burning more calories at rest.

You may be thinking I'm nuts, recommending 1900 calories per day, but I can say for a fact that if you eat too little (1000 - 1200 calories is too few, IMO) then you set yourself up for all of the following:

Deprivation. You're going to feel deprived, mentally and physically. 1000 calories isn't enough for your basic metabolic needs, much less to fuel yourself for your activity needs. Add more food! Just have a bit more than you're already having, so for instance, if you are allowed 1/2 cup of vegetables is a whole cup going to ruin all your progress? I doubt it. Eat a whole cup, or go ahead and have two oranges. Fruits and vegetables are very low calorie but provide high nutrition.

Sure, some vegis and fruits are high in sugar, but it's natural sugar. I seriously doubt our planet grows any killer foods - it is more likely the food industry which has processed those foods to become nothing more than a dried powder, then add back more sugars, and chemicals so it will resemble the original product, is more harmful than a simple apple or banana?

If you are diabetic or must watch the sugars, have a small bit of protein along with the higher glycemic food, such as an ounce of cheese with your apple. Notice I said an ounce of cheese, not a slab big enough to feed a small country.

Metabolic Slow-Down Feeding yourself too few calories sets you up for metabolic slow-down. Studies have shown time and again that a heavier person can find it difficult to lose weight, even though eating very low calories, simply because their body's metabolism is burning at such a slow rate. As you probably already know exercise helps to speed up your metabolism but so does eating. That's why they say breakfast is so important, not only to fuel yourself but because it starts the metabolic furnace burning, and it continues to burn all day. If you don't eat anything until noon, you don't stoke your furnace to start burning until then either.

Has the ultra low calorie approach worked for you so far? If not, why not try something more reasonable? Tag along with a friend who doesn't have a weight problem and you'll see how sometimes they eat more, sometimes less, but on average they eat enough to fuel their body and maintain their weight.

Adding more food gives you additional eye appeal. If you split up 1000 calories over the course of an entire day you're looking at pretty skimpy portions on your plate each time you eat. I like to feel like I'm getting enough to eat and I do this by rounding out my plate with extra vegetables.

If I'm having a frozen entree for instance, I'll cook up a cup or more of frozen vegetables to add to my plate. The extra vegis really fill me up, providing the satisfaction I need, and I often have a bit extra vegetables to throw away. Is that wasting food? No, it's smart. Far better for me mentally to have extra food to toss away than to be licking the plate because I'm still hungry. I'm also not likely to start wanting something else to eat right after dinner if I'm feeling content with the amount I've eaten.

Make an effort to learn to like your food as is. Plain mixed vegetables with nothing on them are delicious. It took me awhile to stop putting butter on them, and then even quitting the Molly McButter (just chemicals and sodium). I eat them plain and yes, they are great. Nature made our fruits and vegetables naturally sweet and all those "extras" we are used to using like butter on vegetables or potatoes certainly make things taste all yummy but they also make us larger than we need to be. Those "extra" calories add up.

Slowly Make Adjustments to What or How Much You Eat

Wean yourself off adding sugar to your cold cereal. Read the label; all processed cereals contain a ridiculous amount of added sugar. There's no need to add more. My only exception is brown sugar on oatmeal. I don't sugar my cereal at all anymore but it took me awhile to make the change. start by adding a bit less, then next week cut back a bit more until you break the habit entirely. Tiny changes make up for big results over time.

If you feed yourself well, and focus on increasing your activity, even if only a little, then you will continue to lose fat, build muscle and get more shapely, all the while increasing your metabolism so you can eat more food!

~~ Kathryn Martyn Smith, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

Get The Daily Bites: Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending the Struggle with Weight loss.

I have been a plumber for twenty-seven years. I have been called by homeowners at all hours of the night for, broken water lines spewing crystal clear water everywhere making its beautiful presence known to carpet, seemingly to say, Im here to destroy you, or, I am going to drench you, and fade your pretty color. I have been called out to beautiful homes with sewage in every corner of the house, making it look like a barn rather than a mansion. Nothing is more frustrating than going to a home where the water heater is torn apart, and the homeowner is complaining that he must have hot water before morning, or he will surely die. Ive wanted to say, so many times, if you wouldnt have touched it, and just left it alone, then it would have been fine until morning. Had I said something like that, he would have been on the phone to my boss, and I can hear him now, Thats your job. You are on call. If you dont want to do the job, Ill find someone who will. So I bite the bullet, and talk nice to the home wrecker, I mean homeowner, while working on his screw up. After awhile I forget all about my irritation with him.

Anyway, enough said about why Ive had to replace water heaters in the middle of the night. I may be able to shed some light on the correct mode of installation in this column, which I so diligently write to evince a different plumbing problem every week.

One thing about plumbing is that every job must be done in a step-by-step manner, especially water heaters. Once youve determined that the leak is indeed, from the tank

1. Shut off the water to the appliance.

According to the Uniform Plumbing Code. (The Plumbers bible.) There is supposed to be a shut off, not more than two feet from the water heater on the inlet, or cold side of the appliance. It will most likely be a wheel valve. It should turn to the right to turn off the water, and it should turn to the left to turn on the water. Turn this valve to the right, until it wont turn anymore. The water should be off to the water heater. You will still have cold water in the house to all the fixtures. I recommend you dont use the cold water until the installation is complete, because you will get a back- feeding of water out of the pipes you disconnected from the water heater. If the house is very old, or the original plumber didnt adhere to the U.P.C. a shutoff may not have been included for the water heater. If you encounter this situation, youll need to shut off the water to the entire house at the main shutoff, which is usually located in the front of the house, on the wall outside. This act of necessity is not usually a problem for an experienced plumber, but can be a frightening experience for a homeowner, or novice repairman, because after you are finished replacing the water heater, and you cant turn the water back on because of a leak or another unforeseen problem. Wives, girlfriends, or kids tend to get irate when they dont have any water for showers or cooking. Also, it can almost ruin a marriage when you have to call a plumber at two in the morning on a Sunday, and pay him or her $2,500.00 for an emergency call, after you have worked on it all day.

2. Drain the water heater.

Locate the drain valve at the bottom of the water heater. It looks like an outside faucet, and you probably have two or three of them around your house at different locations. Screw your garden hose to the drain valve, and pull it outside to a location where you can let water drain. The water wont hurt the grass.

Sometimes these drain valves are clogged with sediment, and need to be cleared so the w/h will drain in a timely manner. (A wire coat hanger works well.) Next, locate the temperature pressure relief valve at the top of the water heater, (also required by the code) and open it manually. (Some people call these the pop off valve) This will force air into the water heater and allow it to drain. The reason I do this is the same principle as holding your thumb on a straw, with water in it. The water stays there. When you take your thumb off, the water drains out. Open this valve and start the heater draining.

3. Disconnect the old water heater.

Locate the unions on the hot (outlet) and cold (inlet) lines to the w/h. (Also required by the UPC, not more than 12 inches from the appliance.) Undo the unions with two pipe wrenches. Shut off the gas valve on the left side, at the bottom of the water heater, and disconnect that union too. Disconnect the vent, by unscrewing the three sheet metal screws from the draft diverter dead center on top of the waterheater. The water heater is completely disconnected, and you can proceed to the next step.

4. Prep new water heater for installation.

It is time to get the new water heater ready to install, in the place of the old water heater. I always use a x3 in. brass nipple, with a brass ball valve screwed onto it for the cold side. (Remember, the cold side is the inlet, where the shutoff is supposed to be.) By having brass screwed into the steel tank of the water heater, Im preventing electrolysis. Electrolysis occurs anytime copper is screwed into steel. It will greatly speed up the corrosion process, and the pipe will last about one third of the time, if you use dissimilar metals. Next, I screw a brass nipple into the hot side of the water heater, with a short piece of pipe, and add unions to both sides. Any home that is older than eight years or so, is probably copper, and will need to be soldered. The pipe and unions connecting the hot, and cold side of the water heater, will have to be cleaned with a piece of sand cloth made with aluminum oxide, and fluxed with a brand name flux, to make sure the solder takes well in the joints. Make sure the unions are at the same height from the top of the water heater, and solder everything. Also install a pipe from the new temp. and pressure relief valve to exactly six inches from the floor. (Also required by the Uniform Plumbing Code.) This completes the water hook up.

There needs to be a drip leg on the gas hook up to catch moisture, and sediment, as not to clog the pilot and burners. Install a new gas shut off, and reconnect the gas line to the gas control, on the left side of the appliance. Then make sure the vent pipe is the correct size in diameter for the B.T.U. rating of the new heater, and attach it to the new draft diverter. Make sure you use three sheet metal screws, in each joint of the vent. Drive them in with a screw gun.

5. Turn the water on.

Turn the water on after you have opened the hot side of the faucet only, on the bathtub. It is best to open the one farthest away from the water heater, to bleed the air out, and aid in a faster fills up. Also repeat the step that you did earlier, by opening the temperature, pressure relief valve, until you hear the water almost to the top of the heater. At first only air will come out. Once the water is flushed out good in the tub, close the tub faucet, and check the water heater area for leaks. Open the gas valve, and check for leaks at the gas line.

6. light the pilot

When lighting the pilot use a long match, because most people cant get their hand in the little firebox. If you can, youll probably cut your hand when you pull it out. Push down the red button, while the knob is on pilot, and light the pilot. Hold the button down for about 30 seconds or so. When you let the red button go, the pilot should stay lit. Turn the knob to the on position, and turn up the thermostat, to the position that is marked, normal. The flame on the burner should come on with a woosh! Dont be afraid, because this is normal. Inspect the flame from the burner. It should be a nice yellow color, with blue tips on the flame. clean up the area, in front of the water heater.

The last thing I should mention is that you will hear a drip, drip, drip sound, that you immediately think is a leak. Dont be alarmed! It is condensation from heating up forty gallons of cold water all at once. It will stop in about thirty minutes.

A new water heater has come out, and according to code, by September 4, 2007 the water heaters will be different with a sealed combustion chamber. These new ones will light by just pushing a button, and are much safer. You dont even need to elevate them above the garage floor 18 like used to be the code.

I hope it will be easier for you to replace that water heater when it starts leaking. Just remember though, dont panic. Put a towel around the old, leaking water heater, and wait until the next morning to tackle the task. If you need me in the daytime though, dont hesitate to call me!