There are several key factors which determine your optimal daily caloric intake.
 This article will review two of the more important ones: your genetic blueprint and your body shape.
 Understanding these two key factors will help you better understand how to eat properly while watching your weight.
 More importantly, however, it will explain why these two factors are so important to people who are watching their weight and trying to eat healthy.
Your genetic blueprint is not really anything you can influence.
 This is basically made up of factors such as metabolic rate that you've inherited from your family.
 This is a major factor that determines how many calories your body needs to function.
 This is a factor that you simply cannot change.
 This is why your friend, who is at the same weight, height, and activity level as you, may be able to eat lots more calories than you but, yet, never gain weight.
While your genetic blueprint plays major role in body function and calorie intake requirements, your body shape and size also plays a key role.
 Since muscle burns more calories than fat, a solid person with more muscle in proportion to fat will usually have a higher metabolism.
 As a result, the lean person will burn calories more quickly than a less lean person.
 Additionally, larger people usually need more calories to function.
 As a general rule, the more a person weighs, the more calories that person needs on a daily basis to function properly.
Keeping these items in mind should assist you when trying to determine the best weight loss or weight maintenance program for you.