You've heard all about how to lose weight - consume fewer calories than you burn up. That's how to lose weight, but if it was that simple, you would have already done it. Right? When you think about it, you can read food labels and do reasonable estimates of the caloric content of your food, but how do you estimate the calories you burn up?

Exercise tables estimate the calories burned by any specific activity. An example would be someone who weighs 155lb who runs at 5 miles per hour for 1 hour will burn up 563 calories. Someone of the same weight who walks at 2 miles an hour for one hour will burn up 176 calories.

If your exact weight is not listed in the table you need to do some calculations to come up with an estimate. Then there is the issue of how fast you are running or walking. If you don't get that right your estimate of calories burned won't be accurate.

What about the distance you have run or walked? It's now easier to come up with a precise measure. Pedometers worn around the waist that sense body motion and count steps are still around, and there are now systems that combine pedometers with mapping systems to help record distances travelled and calories burned during a running or walking workout.

More sophisticated speedometer/odometers now track speed and distance continually using GPS. They don't really count steps, but the advanced models will measure distance travelled up to 1/100th or even 1/1000th of a mile - the equivalent of 2 steps.

However that is an accurate measure of distance travelled only. You really don't know beyond a rough estimate from exercise tables how many calories you have burned, and we know that the key to losing weight is to burn more calories than are consumed.

A new device is now available that is worn on the arm 24/7, and accurately measures all physical activity and calories burned. The information is uploaded into a computer program, and turned into graphs that depict physical activity and a precise measure of calories burned. No tables, no estimates. This is an exact figure.

Food intake is then entered into the program, and there you have it - the calories burned up, and the calories consumed. This is the information you need to lose weight. Now it's a question of adjusting your activity level and what you eat to ensure the number of calories burned up is more than the calories consumed.

For more information check out my website.

Rhona Turner coined the term "The Anti-Aging Authority" after observing the effects of her"inside and out" approach to looking healthy and younger. Rhona's many happy customers have achieved similar results, and now Rhona shares with others - via her website - the benefits of the anti-aging strategies and products she and others have used with such success. Visit http://theAntiAgingAuthority.com for more free information and advice.