13 Hefty Facts About How You Actually Lose Weight

No matter how enticing the promises of the latest fad diet sound, here's the simple truth about losing weight: it really boils down to more calories out than calories in. Protein or carb, whichever it may be -- the number of calories in your food is what adds up and can lead to weight gain (although balance in your diet is important for long-term health).

Curious to learn more facts about weight loss? Did you know that a pound of fat is about 3,600 calories, which is the equivalent of four chocolate bars or 14 slices of pizza? If walking one mile can burn about 100 calories, it can be eye-opening to do the math and find out what it takes to burn off the calories of our favorite foods. For example, if you eat a double-patty burger you'll need to walk about five and a half miles!

Which is more important for weight loss: diet or exercise? Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day, and is it a bad idea to eat a big dinner? You'll find the answers to these popular questions and more in the video above. We'll leave you with this scary fact about fat cells: you can gain more them, but you can never lose them.

Check out the video above for 13 hefty facts about losing weight and the slideshow below for 15 breakfast mistakes that actually cause weight gain.