And, perhaps most important, they consumed far fewer total calories than we do.

Answer: I say focus on the total calories in your diet and the company they keep!

He advocates a diet in which fat makes up 20 percent of total calories.

At the same time, Americans eat fewer total calories today but are much more likely to be overweight than in the past.

To cut back on total calories, they advise, eat less fat.

Currently, most Americans get around 35 percent of their total calories from fat.

Experts recommend that 20% to 35% of your total calories each day come from fat.

So the total calories for the day was about 3,500.

Did you keep your fat intake to 30 percent or less of total calories?

Fat should provide 30% or less of your total daily calories.