Calories have made quite the name for themselves over the years. Some experts recommend you count them often and some say it doesn't matter. Ultimately, calories are what help your body function properly and give you energy. Ironically, calories can also help you pack on the pounds. With everything, there has to be some sort of balance.

If you're looking to lose weight, maintain your weight, or decrease your weight there is a quick solution for calculating your individual caloric needs. The holidays are just around the corner so if you don't want to wake up New Years Day and say ?Oh my gosh I've gained 20 pounds!? then keep reading.

In order to figure out how many calories you're eating every day to maintain your current weight:

Multiply your current weight by 12, which will equal the number of calories needed daily to maintain your current weight.

Equation for maintaining weight: (current weight) X 12 = (number of calories)

As an example lets say you weigh 150 pounds, what you would want to do is multiply the 150 by 12, which will equal 1,800 calories.

So then the 1,800 calories is the number of calories you need every day to maintain your 150 pounds. If you weigh 125 pounds, the equation would be 125 X 12 = 1,500 cal, which means that a 125-pound person only requires 1,500 calories a day to maintain her 125 pound weight.

You still with me?

Lets take a look at it now from a weight loss standpoint. Keep in mind that decreasing your calories alone will not get you the desired results you must include some sort of exercise into your lifestyle.

A simple technique for losing weight is to reduce your caloric intake by 250 calories a day and burn 250 calories per day from exercise. When all is said and done you're able to lose 500 calories a day.

Recall that 3,500 calories make up 1 pound of fat. So if you stuck with losing 500 calories a day you'll be able to lose 1 pound of fat per week with very little effort.

Here's the equation: You're taking in 250 less calories per day and increasing your physical exercise to burn 250 calories per day. This equals to 500 calories lost per day, multiplied by 7 days per week = 3,500 calories.

500 cal X 7 days = a decrease of 3500 cal and a loss of 1 pound.

If you wanted to gain weight in a healthy manner you would want to increase your caloric intake. Add an extra 500 calories into your eating plan and within a week you'll gain a pound.

Keep in mind that you should still exercise and consume nutritious foods rather than gobbling down crap that will make you gain weight and make you unhealthy.

Remember to take your time and don't have the instant gratification mindset. Slowly making your caloric adjustments is the safest and most effective way to lose weight and maintain your weight loss forever.

The reason is because slow and steady weight loss conditions your body to make permanent changes in your eating habits, and regular physical exercise conditions your body to expect consistent physical activity every day.