This book focuses on foods that offer a lot of bang for your caloric buck. For example, broccoli is full of fiber, very filling, and extremely low in calories. You could eat more than 3 cups of broccoli for less than 100 calories. Once you did this, your stomach would feel like it was going to burst and you wouldn't want another bite of food for a few hours. Isn't it great that you can truly fill your tummy for less than 100 calories?

Lean meat is very similar. An entire cup of chopped, skinless, grilled chicken breast would only cost you about 230 calories, so it is also a very nutritious and low-calorie way to fill up!

On the flip side, one bagel could cost you as much as 400 calories while providing very little nutritional value. Not only that, but most folks are accustomed to topping their bagels with extra fat and calories, which would put them even further in the caloric hole.

Do the Math

Budgeting your calories is similar to budgeting your money. Let's do the math. Studies show that the average person burns about 9 calories per pound of body weight each day just going through his or her regular motions. That would mean a 150-pound man would burn about 1,350 calories each day.

A regular day includes getting dressed, working, shopping, running errands, and so on. If our 150-pound man consumed 1,350 calories each day, his weight would not change. If he chooses to eat more than 1,350 calories each day, he will have to burn them off through exercise or he will gain weight. If this man consumes 1,350 calories each day and exercises, he will lose weight. If he consumes less than 1,350 calories and exercises, he will lose weight more quickly.

As you can see, this is very much a math game, but this is where the strategy comes in. If you consumed only 1,200 calories worth of donuts each day and nothing else, you would lose weight. However, you would be hungry, tired, malnourished, and miserable. If you consumed only 1,200 calories each day based on the recipes in this book, you would be nourished, energetic, and satisfied. The moral of this story is spend your calories wisely.

Keep a Food Diary

An ideal way to manage your caloric intake and become more creative with your food choices is to keep a food diary. Most people tend to drastically underestimate the amount of calories they consume each day, which leads to confusion and frustration.

Each recipe included here provides nutritional content to help you through this process. If you stray from this book, look up the nutritional information for those other foods.

As you document your day, don't leave one bite or sip out, because it all counts. If you smear jelly on your breakfast toast, write it down. If you grab a jellybean out of your coworker's candy bowl, write it down. Even your beverages count. Document it all precisely and you'll learn where you are going right, where you are going wrong, and how you should move forward. Calorie management is one way to begin taking control over your layer of belly fat.