Thank you for all your answers please keep them coming!

Fitday for me too.

And I'm going to agree with Kelly about eating foods that are easy to count. I don't feel like I eat the same things over and over but it's surprising how many foods that I eat are in "Recent Foods". And that could not be more simple.

Besides that, you can link fitday here and folks can go see what you're doing. Just in case you need some help -or- because you're so successful they want to emulate you ;)

I have a couple things:
1) Tools: I found my notebook and pencil were best because I'm not always near a computer. I also find the selecting of items very annoying on the computer programs. Methodology: I divide my paper to five categories (four meals and one exercise portion). Each meal is listed by ingredient. I have four columns. So, I track each item's calorie, main food group (veggie, fruit, protein, grain, calcium, and MUFA). I also count up how many servings of each food group I have eaten that day (i.e., 2-3 fruit, 3-6 veggies, 4 calcium, 7 protein, 2-3 grains, 4 MUFA). I'm tracking to be sure I always eat a calcium and protein each meal. I try to get several MUFAs a day (but I'm not eating enough calories yet to have a MUFA at each meal).

2) Learning: I found that this process of calorie counting was going back to the basics and learning from scratch. I had to manually look up each food item in my food guide, measure, and write it down. I had to learn what a portion equals for each food.

3) Changing: I also transformed my eating. I learned I had two choices: hard or easy. If I didn't have time to muck around, I just did old stand bys. Especially in the first few months. I knew all the info, knew it filled me, knew the containers to store in, etc.

If I wanted something out of the norm, it got hard. I couldn't eat just anything and write it down. I had to think if I had the calorie info in my guide. If not, I looked up on-line. Occassionally, I've added a few frequent favorites: canned beans, whole grains not listed, soy or tofu products.

But really, I simplified my eating. I found out about meal budgeting. I have to make my food portion for that 1/4 of my day's food last me until the next meal time.

I sometimes want a pizza at lunch. Well, I can only "afford" one slice of pizza and have to make a veggie salad on the side to make up the little remaining calories I have left. I also know this doesn't fill me for three or four hours. The real kicker for me is I can't afford dressing on the salad if I have pizza. Well, once I get all that out in my mind, I really don't want pizza anymore. Now I want to walk home because I know I have all the ingredients for a really yummy lunch that will make me happy, save money, fill me up, fit my calories, be healthy, and be easy to count.

These are my mental games I do when calorie counting the lazy way. I don't want to have to work through one thousand ingredients. I eat simply therefore I write simply. Ahh.

use "Lose-it" for the iphone or ipod touch (it will work for both). I swear this is the best thing ever...and it's free!!!

Originally Posted by harrismm:
Do you have an iphone or ipod.The application for counting calories sounds very conveinent.

I LOVE the LoseIt! app.

Originally Posted by nelie:
does the iphone app work on the ipod touch?

Yes, and it's FREE!

Originally Posted by Gretchenpdx:
Food scale and my Bodybugg (although GoWear it is the same device with slightly different measurements-more for less $ so I'd be likely to get GWF i starting up). But the next best would be one o the free sites that have been mentioned above. Also many foods are easier to weigh rather than measure and it is more accurate (and frequently you get more via weight than volume) : )

Good luck to you, you can do this!

These too.

I track my calories consumed on my iPod touch with my LoseIt! App. Then, I track my calories expended with my GoWear Fit (I upload one 'custom' food each day with all my information from the LoseIt! app) and that way I can SEE my calorie deficit. Measuring my portions is a HUGE help. I also try to only eat out where I can find nutrition information. That way, I can track my calories very accurately and easily.

Ok this thread was part of the reason I bought an ipod touch, although I've been thinking about it. Lose it! is definitely very simple to use. I am not sure I like that it tells me how many calories I have left to eat. It tells me I have 695 calories. That seems like a lot but not a lot at the same time :)

I use a pretty spiral notebook to write down what I eat and the calories. Sometimes I'll also include fats, sat. fats, carbs, and protein, fiber - making columns. Lately, it's just calories. I get my numbers from food labels, food scale, or calorieking.com . Calorie King is a great place to find out calories because you can get them in ounces, cups etc - all different amounts. This helps me for accuracy.

I like the spiral because it also leaves me a place to journal my feelings. Also, I can record different things like - where I ate (in front of TV, or at table, in car).

At the top of the page I'll have a W (for water - marking an x for every glass) SS - Stretching & Strengthening & an M (daily meditation). A good reminder of the things I want to do. Lately, I put down an F - to remind myself to put my fork down between bites and s-l-o-w down my eating.

After you've done it for a while, you'll know the calories, etc. by heart.

It's a very real way of living with food & the calories you eat.

Having a spiral works the best so it can open and lay flat etc.

When I first started counting calories, it was somewhat overwhelming. Now I repeat so many favorites and use so many prepackaged foods that I don't find it too much of a problem.

For me counting calories is the only way I can be totally honest with myself about how much I am eating, and writing my calories down is a very important part of that. A notebook by my favorite chair is easier for me than doing it on line.

There are several reasons that the notebook is essential. Most important is, as I said, it keeps me honest. Also, the daily ritual of entering my calories in my journal gives me something positive to do, and I find that sometimes, instead of going back for seconds, I pick up my journal and write down what I have just eaten and that keeps me occupied until that urge to put more food on my plate has passed.

I am so glad you asked this question because the responses you have received just show the different possible ways to do this and they have given me inspiration for additional things to try.

So if it is difficult at first, keep with it. It will get easier.

Originally Posted by StellarGirl:
use "Lose-it" for the iphone or ipod touch (it will work for both). I swear this is the best thing ever...and it's free!!!

OMG!!! I use this app and I SWEAR by it. It's seriously the best app out there for calorie counting. I love this app, I've been using it for a week and already lost 3 pounds.

I love it because my iPhone goes everywhere with me so it's so much easier for me to keep track of my calories.

Ive been using mydailyplate and I must admitt it is getting better! Im trying to stick with it!

As a side note, I actually find that sometimes the thought of having to figure out and put in the nutritional information, especially for complicated foods, helps me not to eat something that I would have otherwise eaten even though I wasn't hungry.

It doesn't stop me from eating something if I really want to or if I'm hungry, but if I was going to eat just because the food was there, the work of having to figure out the nutritional value sometimes makes me think about why I want to eat something and helps me to decide that it's not really worth it.