1) When trying to drop pounds, what is the most important thing to watch?
A. Calories
B. Carbohydrates
C. Fat

2) Of course, if you're counting calories you need to know which foods pack the greatest caloric punch. See if you can guess- which of these items has the most calories?

A. A large soda
B. An omelet
C. A candy bar
D. A bakery bran muffin

3) So it's really about total calories, but what about low-fat foods? True or false. They can at least help in the battle of the bulge, can't they?

4) Portion size. It's a significant issue at dinner time. When it comes to protein, how many ounces do you need at a single serving?

5) According to federal guidelines, how much exercise should you be getting each day in order to lose weight and keep it off?

Is there a magic bullet to losing weight and keeping it off? Most experts say not really- but a lifetime of balanced eating and daily physical exercise can help you stay healthy-and at your ideal weight.

Answers:

1) It's calories.

"What's most important to count when you are trying to lose weight, or being aware of when you're trying to lose weight, is the energy balance, so calories in versus calories out is very important.

2) It's the muffin. Surprised?

"Unfortunately the way things have become super-sized in our society when you go out and you buy a nice fresh bakery, even bran muffin you are actually going to end up getting more calories in something like this (holds up muffin).

"I would say a good portion for something like this would be half of this muffin, and then compliment it with a dairy product and a fruit to get in the balance of what we need in a meal."

3) False.

"A lot of these sugar-free, fat free foods are not effective in weight loss or weight management in the long run. People end up going for the next food because these foods are not satisfying."

4) "We actually only need an average portion of about three to four ounces at a typical meal, like the palm of a woman's hand. So here's a chicken breast, so about a 3-ounce portion.

Unfortunately the average person is getting something more like this piece of steak which is about a six ounce piece of meat.

And if makes it much harder for a person to lose weight when they have more protein and more fat than their body needs in a typical day."

5) To keep weight off we need:

"60 to 90 minutes a day. It's a lot more than most of us want to hear. What I really try to emphasize is it's the total amount of activity in the day.

And so just becoming more active throughout your day, trying to park a little bit further from your office or from the grocery store, trying to take the stairs more often.

And your total amount of activity, of these various little bouts of activity should be equaling that 60 to 90 minutes."