Mother Nature likes pack a wallop in the wintertime. She'll dump snow like there's no tomorrow -- which is what it feels like when you're in the middle of a blizzard! But the sun does shine the next day...on a vast expanse of endless snow that isn't going to shovel itself.

So, how many calories do you burn shoveling snow? Use my calories burned calculator to find out:

A common question when it comes to weight loss is, "How often should I weigh myself?" You'll find a variety of opinion as to whether it should be daily, weekly, monthly -- or not at all!

Here's a look at the different ways you can weigh yourself to help you decide what's best for you:

Have you ever felt confused about how you got yourself into the position of needing to lose weight? Maybe you were always skinny as a child, or you've been overweight for as long as you can remember. Maybe everyone else in your family is thin and you are the only one who is overweight. Whatever your personal story is, sometimes you aren't really sure where the problem began, and knowing that information can be helpful as you work on changing your habits and releasing the weight for good.

Below are a few common reasons why people gain weight:

When it comes to weight loss, there are endless little strategies you can use daily to help you stay on track. Eating slowly is one of those strategies. Many people have a strong habit of "wolfing down" their meals, practically inhaling them. If you have this habit too, there are two very good reasons why you may want to make a concentrated effort to slow down:

With most weight loss plans, there is a real danger of getting bored with the food choices. Somehow unhealthy food is so much more exciting, isn't it? Hmm, a fresh green salad, or a big plate of fried chicken with all the fixings? No question as to which makes your mouth water more! Obviously, if you want to stick to a healthy eating plan for the rest of your life, you've got to find ways to make your meals and snacks as exciting and tantalizing as your former guilty pleasures. But how?

Below are three great ways to spice up your meals on a weight loss plan:

Exercise workouts for beginners are a great way to gradually work up to physical fitness. If you have never worked out before, or if you have been avoiding exercise for years, you'll want to start very slowly to avoid injury. First things first; be sure to check with your doctor to be sure exercise is safe for you. Once that's done, consider what kind of exercise would be best for you:

The concept of self-love is uncomfortable for many people because they shudder to think about vain, egotistical people they've known. True self-love is nothing like vanity or egotism -- in fact, quite the opposite. True self-love is subtle and humble, never obtrusive.

Why is self-love important in the process of losing weight?

Because if you don't truly love yourself, you'll struggle to do what's best for you, including taking good care of your body and losing weight. When you really love yourself, you actually want to take care of yourself. You want to eat right and exercise. You want to get plenty of rest. You respect yourself and expect others to do the same.

If you don't yet have such a strong sense of self-love, here's how to develop it:

Protein is essential to the body for many reasons, including repairing and building muscle, strengthening the immune system, and promoting healthy heart function. Unfortunately, if you lose weight by reducing your calorie intake too low, you may not be getting enough protein and you'll end up losing muscle instead of fat. Most active adults require between 50 and 70 grams of protein daily.

If you don't get enough protein and you want to turn that around, take a look at this list of high protein diet foods:

Many people want to know, "Is there a way to eat all you want and lose weight?" The answer is yes -- but it depends heavily on exactly WHAT you are eating.

Can you eat all the potato chips you want and lose weight? Can you eat all of the pastries you want and lose weight? Not surprisingly, the answer to those questions would be no.

To eat all you want and lose weight, you need to look at two things:

So, you want to use calorie counting to lose weight? Good for you! Calorie counting can be an eye opening experience, if you've never tried it before.

Once you get an idea of how much food you eat in a day, you can then adjust the amount of calories so that you're burning more calories than you eat. The fat will start dropping off! At its most basic, weight loss is calories in vs. calories out. No matter what the diet companies would have you believe, you can't change the laws of physics.

Get control of how much you're eating and tweak what you eat to make it healthy. Here are a few FitWatch calorie counting tools and calculators to help get you started: